Journal ArticleDOI
Study of contacts in an electrostatically actuated microswitch
Sumit Majumder,Nicol E. McGruer,George G. Adams,P.M. Zavracky,Richard H. Morrison,Jacqueline Krim +5 more
TLDR
In this paper, a clean metal contact resistance model was used to study the contact resistance of microswitches with gold contacts, and the measured contact resistance (measured as a function of contact force) with the characteristics predicted by the model showed approximate agreement.Abstract:
Surface micromachined, electrostatically actuated microswitches have been developed at Northeastern University. Microswitches with gold contacts typically have an initial contact resistance of the order of 0.1 Ω over the first 10 5 cycles of lifetime while cold-switching 4 mA, and have a current handling capability of about 20 mA. In general, the contact resistance decreases over the first few thousand switch cycles, and degrades progressively when the switches are cycled beyond approximately 10 6 cycles. In this work, the microswitch contact resistance is studied on the basis of a clean metal contact resistance model. Comparison of the measured contact resistance (measured as a function of contact force) with the characteristics predicted by the model shows approximate agreement. The discrepancies between the model characteristics and measurements are discussed briefly.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
A dynamic model, including contact bounce, of an electrostatically actuated microswitch
TL;DR: In this article, a time-transient finite difference analysis is used to model the dynamic behavior of two different electrostatically actuated microswitch configurations, including the electrostatic force from the gate, taking into account the squeeze-film damping between the switch and substrate, and including a simple spring model of the contact tips.
Journal ArticleDOI
Electrical contact resistance theory for conductive rough surfaces
L. Kogut,Kyriakos Komvopoulos +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a general electrical contact resistance (ECR) theory for conductive rough surfaces was derived from first principles, based on fractal geometry for the surface topography description, elastic-plastic deformation of contacting asperities, and size-dependent constriction resistance of micro-contacts.
Journal ArticleDOI
Unloading of an elastic-plastic loaded spherical contact
TL;DR: In this paper, the process of unloading of an elastic-plastic loaded sphere in contact with a rigid flat is studied by finite element method, where the sphere material is assumed isotropic with elastic-linear hardening.
Journal ArticleDOI
Friction and energy dissipation mechanisms in adsorbed molecules and molecularly thin films
TL;DR: In this article, an overview of recent advances that have been achieved in understanding the basic physics of friction and energy dissipation in molecularly thin adsorbed films and the associated impact on friction at microscopic and macroscopic length scales.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effect of nanoscale heating on electrical transport in RF MEMS switch contacts
Brian D. Jensen,Linda L.-W. Chow,Kuangwei Huang,Kazuhiro Saitou,John L. Volakis,Katsuo Kurabayashi +5 more
TL;DR: In this paper, contact heating in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) switches with contact spot sizes less than 100 nm in diameter was explored and experiments were conducted to demonstrate that contact heating causes a drop in contact resistance.
References
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Contact of Nominally Flat Surfaces
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a new theory of elastic contact, which is more closely related to real surfaces than earlier theories, and showed how the contact deformation depends on the topography of the surface, and established the criterion for distinguishing surfaces which touch elastically from those which touch plastically.
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An Elastic-Plastic Model for the Contact of Rough Surfaces
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The size effect and the non-local Boltzmann transport equation in orifice and disk geometry
TL;DR: In this paper, a variational approximation for the resistance of a circular orifice in a plane diaphragm at which the scattering is specular is obtained. But the results for the intermediate regime can be applied to the transport of electricity and heat by electrons and to phonons which are dominated by elastic scattering (e.g. by crystal imperfections).
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Point-contact spectroscopy in metals
TL;DR: In this article, a theoretical analysis involving an iterative solution of the full non-linear Boltzmann equation for the transport problem of a current through a point-contact geometry is able to show that the observed second-derivative signal is proportional to Eliashberg's form of the electron-phonon interaction alpha 2F( omega ), with a slight modification due to a transport efficiency function.
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Micromechanical switches fabricated using nickel surface micromachining
TL;DR: Micromechanical switches have been fabricated in electroplated nickel using a four-level surface micromachining process as mentioned in this paper, with three terminals, a source, a drain, and a gate.