Experimental Demonstration of Coupled Sub-Harmonic Injection Locked Oscillation in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Relays

Abstract

The voltage dependence of DC-driven self-sustaining oscillation behavior of a micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) relay makes it possible to influence the phase of oscillation by coupling the gate or body, source and/or drain electrodes to other voltage signals. In this work, sub-harmonic injection locking and synchronized oscillation of electrically coupled MEM relays are experimentally demonstrated, representing a significant milestone toward achieving a MEM-oscillator-based Ising machine that can solve combinatorial optimization problems much more efficiently than conventional computer architectures.