Premium
A 0.2 V Micro‐Electromechanical Switch Enabled by a Phase Transition
Author(s) -
Dong Kaichen,
Choe Hwan Sung,
Wang Xi,
Liu Huili,
Saha Bivas,
Ko Changhyun,
Deng Yang,
Tom Kyle B.,
Lou Shuai,
Wang Letian,
Grigoropoulos Costas P.,
You Zheng,
Yao Jie,
Wu Junqiao
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201703621
Subject(s) - cmos , electronic circuit , materials science , voltage , biasing , electrical engineering , optoelectronics , engineering physics , engineering
Micro‐electromechanical (MEM) switches, with advantages such as quasi‐zero leakage current, emerge as attractive candidates for overcoming the physical limits of complementary metal‐oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. To practically integrate MEM switches into CMOS circuits, two major challenges must be addressed: sub 1 V operating voltage to match the voltage levels in current circuit systems and being able to deliver at least millions of operating cycles. However, existing sub 1 V mechanical switches are mostly subject to significant body bias and/or limited lifetimes, thus failing to meet both limitations simultaneously. Here 0.2 V MEM switching devices with ≳10 6 safe operating cycles in ambient air are reported, which achieve the lowest operating voltage in mechanical switches without body bias reported to date. The ultralow operating voltage is mainly enabled by the abrupt phase transition of nanolayered vanadium dioxide (VO 2 ) slightly above room temperature. The phase‐transition MEM switches open possibilities for sub 1 V hybrid integrated devices/circuits/systems, as well as ultralow power consumption sensors for Internet of Things applications.