A micromechanical relay with a thermally-driven mercury micro-drop

Author

Simon, Jonathan ; Saffer, Scott ; Kim, Chang-Jin

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. Aerosp. & Nucl. Eng., California Univ., Los Angeles, CA, USA

fYear

1996

fDate

11-15 Feb 1996

Firstpage

515

Lastpage

520

Abstract

We present a mercury-contact micro-mechanical relay. While microrelays have been introduced to MEMS on several occasions, all are based on solid contacts, leaving the same contact problems faced by macroscale mechanical relays. The goal of our device is to use mercury to eliminate surface degradation, signal bounce, and high resistance at contacts common in solid contact devices. Descriptions of the design and fabrication of a micromechanical relay with a thermally-driven 25 μm mercury micro-drop are presented, including the technique for formation of mercury droplets, as well as some data on the switching performance of the relay. Video demonstration of the actuation sequence will be presented

Keywords

drops; elemental semiconductors; mercury (metal); microactuators; semiconductor relays; semiconductor technology; silicon; 25 mum; MEMS; Si; actuation sequence; design; fabrication; high resistance; macroscale mechanical relays; micro-drop; micromechanical relay; signal bounce; solid contact devices; surface degradation; switching performance; thermally-driven mercury micro-drop; video demonstration; Contact resistance; Electrodes; Electrostatics; Fabrication; Micromechanical devices; Relays; Reservoirs; Signal generators; Solids; Surface resistance;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1996, MEMS '96, Proceedings. An Investigation of Micro Structures, Sensors, Actuators, Machines and Systems. IEEE, The Ninth Annual International Workshop on

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

Print_ISBN

0-7803-2985-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MEMSYS.1996.494035

Filename

494035