Microrelays With Bidirectional Electrothermal Electromagnetic Actuators and Liquid Metal Wetted Contacts

Cao, A.; Yuen, Pong Mo; Lin, Liwei

doi:10.1109/jmems.2007.893520

Cited by 47 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), Galinstan has already been used [6], [7] or is in line to replace mercury [8], [9]. It has, however, failed to produce many successful results in MEMS as initially anticipated, and mercury is still the common choice of liquid metal in research at room temperature.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Nontoxic Liquid-Metal Alloy Galinstan for Applications in Microdevices

Liu

Sen

Kim

2012

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

630

444

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-We have obtained interfacial properties of Galinstan, a nontoxic liquid-metal alloy, to help replace mercury in miniature devices. To prevent formation of an oxide skin that severely hinders the fluidic behavior of small Galinstan droplets and leads to inaccurate property data, we performed our experiments in a nitrogen-filled glove box. It was found that only if never exposed to oxygen levels above 1 part per million (ppm) would Galinstan droplets behave like a liquid. Two key properties were then investigated: contact angles and surface tension. Advancing and receding contact angles of Galinstan were measured from sessile droplets on various materials: for example, 146.8• and 121.5• , respectively, on glass. Surface tension was measured by the pendant-drop method to be 534.6 ± 10.7 mN/m. All the measurements were done in nitrogen at 28• C with oxygen and moisture levels below 0.5 ppm. To help design droplet-based microfluidic devices, we tested the response of Galinstan to electrowetting-on-dielectric actuation.[2011-0124]

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Nontoxic Liquid-Metal Alloy Galinstan for Applications in Microdevices

Liu

Sen

Kim

2012

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

630

444

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Liquid-metal wetted contacts have been used to create switches with less contact resistance and eliminate switch bouncing [58,59]. Essentially the cantilever or beam-switching element is coated with liquid metal to replace the typical solid-solid contact with a liquid-solid contact.…”

Section: Future Work: Electrical Actuation Of Liquid Metalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An issue with depositing gallium is its high boiling points and low vapor pressure. Nonetheless, it is possible at temperatures greater than 750 • C in a vacuum of at least 7.6 × 10 − 6 torr [68] and has been demonstrated for the fabrication of a liquid-metal microswitch [59]. Furthermore, deposition control of the size and density of gallium droplets has also been demonstrated [69].…”

Section: Commercialization Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid-Metal-Based Reconfigurable Components for RF Front Ends

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

All Rights Reserved AcknowledgmentsI feel that this is a rare opportunity for me to share a bit of candidness and hope to make the most of it. I truly owe the completion of this thesis to many friends and family members and am sorry that I cannot thank you all. hope we can all stay in touch and get a bite and a drink together every once in a while. To leave off I would like to quote Andy Morishita and say "memories are made together" and I will always cherish these past few years we all had. This thesis focuses on the development of liquid-metal-based reconfigurable components for radio-frequency (RF) front ends. Reconfigurable components allow the RF front end to dynamically change key radio parameters such as output power, signal carrier frequency, and bandwidth. These capabilities enable the radio transceiver to adapt to environmental and communication channel changes on the fly, according to programmed protocols and priorities. As a low-loss metallic conductor, the liquid metal Galinstan is well suited for RF applications, and its fluidic nature makes it a natural candidate for reconfigurable architectures. Three liquid-metal based components are described: a frequency-tunable substrate integrated waveguide cavity filter, an electromagnetic bandgap phase shifter, and a frequency-reconfigurable slot antenna. These components are designed, fabricated, and tested and the advantages and disadvantages of using liquid metal are discussed. iv

show abstract

“…The thick nickel MetalMUMPs process, chosen here, is very suitable for complicated in-plane moving structures (Cao et al 2007;Almeida et al 2007). In Sect.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A push-pull double-contact MEMS relay fabricated by MetalMUMPs process

Wang

Jin

2016

Microsyst Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

pull movements of leverages and torsion springs, high isolations (Hah et al. 2000) or high C off /C on ratio (Rangra et al. 2005) or high power handing (Song et al. 2012) MEMS relays are demonstrated. By using magnetostatic latching and electrothermal actuation, a bistable push-pull MEMS switch with lower power consumption is reported (Wu et al. 2010). However, the toggle and the leverage structures of these push-pull MEMS relays are not only hard to process but also complex to control.To retain the advantages of the push-pull method while avoiding its disadvantages, a push-pull double-contact MEMS relay is designed and fabricated by the MetalMUMPs process. The thick nickel MetalMUMPs process, chosen here, is very suitable for complicated in-plane moving structures (Cao et al. 2007;Almeida et al. 2007). In Sect. 2, the configuration and the principle of the MEMS relay is proposed. Contents in Sect. 3 describe the measurement and the verification of the MEMS relay. Finally, conclusion is given in Sect. 4. Configuration and principleThe schematic view of the push-pull double-contact MEMS relay is shown in Fig. 1. The MEMS relay consists of four moveable beams, four electrostatic-driven actuators, two contact parts, one DC bias line and input/output AC ports. Both AC ports are anchored to substrate and are connected to the movable beams. The end of each moveable beam is connected and driven by a differential parallel plate actuator. The four actuators share one electrode which is connected to the DC bias pad. The other electrodes of the four actuators are connected to the left AC ports and the right AC ports, respectively.Abstract This document presents a push-pull doublecontact MEMS (Micro ElectroMechanical System) relay. The MEMS relay is electrostatic driven and laterally actuating. Two push-pull structures form two parallel contacts for the proposed MEMS relay, which can make the contact resistance of the MEMS relay be smaller. The push and pull actions of the push-pull actuators can be accomplished simultaneously using only one action signal. In addition, high inductance DC bias line and substrate removal are used for additional electrical and/or thermal isolation. The fabrication of the proposed switch is based on the standard MetalMUMPs process. The measured pull-in voltage is 116 V and the switch-ON delay is 44 μs. Contact resistance of the MEMS relay is less than 1 Ω when the stress voltage exceeds 120 V.

show abstract

Microrelays With Bidirectional Electrothermal Electromagnetic Actuators and Liquid Metal Wetted Contacts

Cited by 47 publications

References 35 publications

Characterization of Nontoxic Liquid-Metal Alloy Galinstan for Applications in Microdevices

Characterization of Nontoxic Liquid-Metal Alloy Galinstan for Applications in Microdevices

Liquid-Metal-Based Reconfigurable Components for RF Front Ends

A push-pull double-contact MEMS relay fabricated by MetalMUMPs process

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About