Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital Logic
Abstract Nano and microelectromechanical relays can be used in lieu of transistors to build digital integrated circuits that can operate with zero leakage current at high operating temperatures and radiation levels. Four‐terminal (4‐T) relays facilitate efficient logic circuits with greatly reduced...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley-VCH
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Advanced Electronic Materials |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202200584 |
| _version_ | 1797772513853308928 |
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| author | James D. Reynolds Sunil Rana Elliott Worsey Qi Tang Mukesh K. Kulsreshath Harold M. H. Chong Dinesh Pamunuwa |
| author_facet | James D. Reynolds Sunil Rana Elliott Worsey Qi Tang Mukesh K. Kulsreshath Harold M. H. Chong Dinesh Pamunuwa |
| author_sort | James D. Reynolds |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Nano and microelectromechanical relays can be used in lieu of transistors to build digital integrated circuits that can operate with zero leakage current at high operating temperatures and radiation levels. Four‐terminal (4‐T) relays facilitate efficient logic circuits with greatly reduced device counts compared to three‐terminal (3‐T) relay implementations. Existing 4‐T relays, however, require two moving contacts to simultaneously land on two stationary electrodes, which can adversely impact reliability, or have complex out‐of‐plane fabrication methods that can reduce yield and increase cost while having poor scalability. In this work an in‐plane four‐terminal relay with a single moving contact is demonstrated for the first time, through successful fabrication and characterization of prototypes with a critical dimension of 1.5 µm. Body biasing is shown to reduce the pull‐in voltage of this 4‐T relay compared to a 3‐T relay with the same architecture and footprint. The potential of the 4‐T relay to build efficient logic circuits is demonstrated by fabricating and characterizing a 1‐to‐2 demultiplexer (DEMUX) circuit using only two devices, a saving of eight devices over a 3‐T relay implementation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:52:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3e60fedae1684fbd8fb04630c31854b6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2199-160X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:52:00Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley-VCH |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Advanced Electronic Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e60fedae1684fbd8fb04630c31854b62023-07-26T01:35:51ZengWiley-VCHAdvanced Electronic Materials2199-160X2023-01-0191n/an/a10.1002/aelm.202200584Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital LogicJames D. Reynolds0Sunil Rana1Elliott Worsey2Qi Tang3Mukesh K. Kulsreshath4Harold M. H. Chong5Dinesh Pamunuwa6School of Electronics and Computer Science University of Southampton University Road Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ UKDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering University of Bristol Woodland Road Bristol BS8 1UB UKDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering University of Bristol Woodland Road Bristol BS8 1UB UKDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering University of Bristol Woodland Road Bristol BS8 1UB UKDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering University of Bristol Woodland Road Bristol BS8 1UB UKSchool of Electronics and Computer Science University of Southampton University Road Southampton, Hampshire SO17 1BJ UKDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering University of Bristol Woodland Road Bristol BS8 1UB UKAbstract Nano and microelectromechanical relays can be used in lieu of transistors to build digital integrated circuits that can operate with zero leakage current at high operating temperatures and radiation levels. Four‐terminal (4‐T) relays facilitate efficient logic circuits with greatly reduced device counts compared to three‐terminal (3‐T) relay implementations. Existing 4‐T relays, however, require two moving contacts to simultaneously land on two stationary electrodes, which can adversely impact reliability, or have complex out‐of‐plane fabrication methods that can reduce yield and increase cost while having poor scalability. In this work an in‐plane four‐terminal relay with a single moving contact is demonstrated for the first time, through successful fabrication and characterization of prototypes with a critical dimension of 1.5 µm. Body biasing is shown to reduce the pull‐in voltage of this 4‐T relay compared to a 3‐T relay with the same architecture and footprint. The potential of the 4‐T relay to build efficient logic circuits is demonstrated by fabricating and characterizing a 1‐to‐2 demultiplexer (DEMUX) circuit using only two devices, a saving of eight devices over a 3‐T relay implementation.https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202200584body biasingdemultiplexersfour‐terminal relaymicroelectromechanical technologynanocrystalline graphitenanoelectromechanical technology |
| spellingShingle | James D. Reynolds Sunil Rana Elliott Worsey Qi Tang Mukesh K. Kulsreshath Harold M. H. Chong Dinesh Pamunuwa Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital Logic Advanced Electronic Materials body biasing demultiplexers four‐terminal relay microelectromechanical technology nanocrystalline graphite nanoelectromechanical technology |
| title | Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital Logic |
| title_full | Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital Logic |
| title_fullStr | Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital Logic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital Logic |
| title_short | Single‐Contact, Four‐Terminal Microelectromechanical Relay for Efficient Digital Logic |
| title_sort | single contact four terminal microelectromechanical relay for efficient digital logic |
| topic | body biasing demultiplexers four‐terminal relay microelectromechanical technology nanocrystalline graphite nanoelectromechanical technology |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202200584 |
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