Adhesion Limits and Design Criteria for Nanorelays

作者：Lin Kevin L^*; Cross Graham L W; Gleeson Peter; de Silva Johann P; Levander Alejandro; Munoz Jorge A; Pawashe Chytra; Potie Alexis; Theofanis Patrick; Boland John J; Kuhn Kelin J

来源：IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 2016, 63(1): 465-470.

DOI：10.1109/TED.2015.2496155

• Interface adhesion
• low-power computing
• nanoelectromechanical systems
• relays
• scaling

Microelectromechanical switches are of interest for low-power circuit applications due to their minimal OFF state leakage current. This paper uses 22-nm CMOS fabrication technology and the clamped cantilever geometry as the basis for establishing design rules for electrostatic nanorelays and estimates the design parameters needed for nanorelay actuation. The adhesive pull-off force of various substrate/cantilever combinations is simulated using molecular dynamics with a force field that parameterizes van der Waals interactions, and measured using atomic force microscopy. Both methods show that for the substrates studied, H-passivated Si produces the least adhesive surface with adhesive pressure close to the critical pressure required for pull-out. Experimental results quantifying adhesion and electrical current conduction show that it is impossible to simultaneously meet the adhesion and current conduction requirements of a nanorelay. We show that contact adhesion is the key parameter limiting the scalability of electromechanical relays at the nanoscale.

• 出版日期2016-1