Abstract
The development and application of magnetic technologies employing microfabricated magnetic structures for the production of switching components has generated enormous interest in the scientific and industrial communities over the last decade. Magnetic actuation offers many benefits when compared to other schemes for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), including the generation of forces that have higher magnitude and longer range. Magnetic actuation can be achieved using different excitation sources, which create challenges related to the integration with other technologies, such as CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), and the requirement to reduce power consumption. Novel designs and technologies are therefore sought to enable the use of magnetic switching architectures in integrated MEMS devices, without incurring excessive energy consumption. This article reviews the status of magnetic MEMS technology and presents devices recently developed by various research groups, with key focuses on integrability and effective power management, in addition to the ability to integrate the technology with other microelectronic fabrication processes.
Highlights
The microfabrication of magnetic structures for the production of integrated switching components has been a topic of great interest in academic institutions and the commercial world
While solid state devices employ electric fields to vary the conductivity of a channel, effectively closing or opening a conduction line, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches utilize mechanically moving parts to physically vary the distance between two conductive elements of a signal line in order to make or break an ohmic contact, or to increase or decrease the enclosed capacitance
The fabrication of magnetic MEMS requires the same manufacturing techniques typically employed in the production of conventional microelectromechanical devices, with additional challenges associated with the deposition and patterning of soft magnetic materials [87,88,89]
Summary
The microfabrication of magnetic structures for the production of integrated switching components has been a topic of great interest in academic institutions and the commercial world. The advantages include the generation of forces with a higher magnitude and longer range [7] This enables devices to be designed with larger contact gaps, and better isolation in the OFF state, and/or with stiffer mechanical structures, which offer greater robustness to stiction, wear and other failure mechanisms. Novel designs and technologies are sought to enable the use of magnetic switching architectures in integrated MEMS devices, without incurring excessive power consumption. This can be achieved by integrating latching mechanisms that hold the switched structures in the actuated state with zero constant power dissipation. A review of recently developed devices is presented, with discussions on the advances towards the goals of full integration with low power dissipation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
