Nanomechanical switches for power saving in CMOS applications

The performance of a nanomechanical switch for integration with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor electronics to reduce idle power consumption is presented. The DC performance shows a leakage current less than 100 fA, a through current of 10 A, and 1 mV/decade subthreshold slope. The operating voltage of the switch was approximately 13.2 V. The switch closure was measured at approximately 100 s, while the switch open was measured at less than 100 ns. A path forward is presented to reduce the operating voltage of future switches to 3.7 V and decrease the switching time to 27 ns.