Piezoelectric Deactuation-Based Bi-Stable MEMS Switch: MEM-Z NVM

Abstract

This letter proposes a bi-stable microelectromechanical impedance (MEM-Z) based non-volatile memory (NVM) element. The MEM-Z NVM cell has two stable impedance states. In context to bi-stable mechanical systems, the MEM-Z cell has a novel de-actuation mechanism. The MEM-Z shows ~20 times decrease in impedance from Off-state (logic-0) to On-state (logic-1). The letter also summarizes the fabrication and the design guidelines for the bi-stable MEM-Z NVM. Furthermore, the fabrication of the MEM-Z is important, because the bi-stability is the fine-play of locking of micro-ball ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula> -ball) and micro-socket ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula> -socket). The prototype bi-stable MEM-Z NVM is the first of its kind, and the reported fabrication is CMOS compatible. The device is tested in a vacuum for its operability and bi-stability. [2021-0135]