Magnetostatic bistable MEMS switch with electrothermal actuators

Author

Wu, Y.B. ; Ding, G.F. ; Zhang, C.C. ; Wang, Jiacheng ; Mao, S.P. ; Wang, Huifang

Author_Institution

Inst. of Micro & Nano Sci. & Technol., Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ., Shanghai, China

Volume

46

Issue

15

fYear

2010

Firstpage

1074

Lastpage

1075

Abstract

The design, fabrication, and an experiment, of a bistable MEMS switch with magnetostatic latching and electrothermal actuation for achieving lower power consumption are presented. The bistabilities feature a crisscross-shaped torsion/cantilever beam system and a permanent magnet for holding the closed state. Therefore, the device is suitable for bistable switching relay applications. Electrical performances have been characterised by a self-built test system using an Agilent oscilloscope. In addition, switching between two stable states of the microswitch was successfully validated with the WYKO NT1100 optical profiling system. Results show that the consumed exciting power is only 0.64 mJ in one DC pulse.

Keywords

actuators; built-in self test; cantilevers; microswitches; permanent magnets; Agilent oscilloscope; WYKO NT1100 optical profiling system; bistable switching relay applications; crisscross-shaped torsion-cantilever beam system; electrothermal actuators; magnetostatic bistable MEMS switch; magnetostatic latching; permanent magnet; self-built test system;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electronics Letters

Publisher

iet

ISSN

0013-5194

Type

jour

DOI

10.1049/el.2010.1264

Filename

5521381