Laterally moving bistable MEMS DC switch for biomedical applications

In this paper, we have designed a bistable microelectromechanical switch for an implantable lead electrode multiplexer application. Fabrication is based on a single mask process. State changes require an 18 V pulse to the actuators consuming only 0.2 nJ energy. The switch does not consume any energy in either the ON or the OFF state. Total chip size including bond pads is approximately 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm. The initial contact resistance is below 5 Ω with a contact force in the order of 10 μN. The contact resistance stays consistently below 30 Ω for the first 40 000 cycles. Breakdown voltage between the two contact members in OFF state is 300 V. We plan to further investigate applicability of this switch in the biomedical field.