Why hybridize NEMS with CMOS?

In this paper we advocate the use of nano-electro-mechanical switches (NEMS) to eliminate static power consumption, and propose a dual-voltage hybrid NEMS-CMOS scheme to also reduce dynamic power consumption. The main idea is to use a smaller voltage to propagate information, and a larger voltage to drive the NEMS. CMOS amplifiers are used to interface these two voltages. It follows that synthesizing gates with a large number of inputs is beneficial, which matches the optimal NEMS circuit topology. Simulation results based on a 4-input Boolean function, show that significant power reductions can be expected when using such a hybrid design approach.