Li Y, Worsey E, Bleiker SJ, Edinger P, Kulsreshath MK, Tang Q, Takabayashi AY, Quack N, Verheyen P, Bogaerts W, Gylfason KB, Pamunuwa D, Niklaus F. Integrated 4-terminal single-contact nanoelectromechanical relays implemented in a silicon-on-insulator foundry process.
Nanoscale 2023;
15:17335-17341. [PMID:
37856244 DOI:
10.1039/d3nr03429a]
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Abstract
Integrated nanoelectromechanical (NEM) relays can be used instead of transistors to implement ultra-low power logic circuits, due to their abrupt turn off characteristics and zero off-state leakage. Further, realizing circuits with 4-terminal (4-T) NEM relays enables significant reduction in circuit device count compared to conventional transistor circuits. For practical 4-T NEM circuits, however, the relays need to be miniaturized and integrated with high-density back-end-of-line (BEOL) interconnects, which is challenging and has not been realized to date. Here, we present electrostatically actuated silicon 4-T NEM relays that are integrated with multi-layer BEOL metal interconnects, implemented using a commercial silicon-on-insulator (SOI) foundry process. We demonstrate 4-T switching and the use of body-biasing to reduce pull-in voltage of a relay with a 300 nm airgap, from 15.8 V to 7.8 V, consistent with predictions of the finite-element model. Our 4-T NEM relay technology enables new possibilities for realizing NEM-based circuits for applications demanding harsh environment computation and zero standby power, in industries such as automotive, Internet-of-Things, and aerospace.
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