Liquid metal MEMS switch
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsAdam Joseph Fruehling, Dishit Paresh Parekh, Daniel Lee Revier, Benjamin Stassen Cook
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A switch that includes a droplet capable of spreading between two conductors to allow them to be coupled when a voltage is applied. The droplet can be enclosed by a cap that is bonded to a wafer that the droplet is placed upon, and include metallic properties. The cap can create a cavity that may be filled by a fluid, gas, or vapor. The cavity can have multiple conductors that extend partially or fully through it. The droplet can couple the conductors when specific voltages, or frequencies are applied to them. At the specific voltage and frequency the droplet can spread allowing at least two conductors to be coupled.
Claims23
A switch, comprising:
- an encapsulant encapsulating a cavity;
- a first electrical conductor extending from outside the cavity to at least partially inside the cavity;
- a second electrical conductor extending from outside the cavity to at least partially inside the cavity;
- a droplet having metallic properties within the cavity;
- an oxide layer encapsulating the droplet;
- a voltage source terminal coupled to the first electrical conductor;
- in which the droplet is configured to flow as a liquid and to couple the first electrical conductor to the second electrical conductor, in response to a voltage at the voltage source terminal.
A method of operating a switch, comprising:
- applying a voltage to a first conductor of a device and a droplet, the voltage forcing the droplet to couple the first conductor to a second conductor of the device, the droplet encapsulated in an oxide layer;
- disconnecting the voltage from the first conductor;
- and
- returning the droplet to an original state;
- wherein the droplet flows as a liquid in response to the applying of the voltage, coupling the first conductor to the second conductor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.