Nano-electromechanical circuit using co-planar transmission line
AssigneeWisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
InventorsHua Qin, Hyun Seok Kim, Robert H. Blick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A co-planar waveguide structure is integrated with an upwardly extending resonant pillar to produce transfer cells that provide controlled transmission of electricity between adjacent structures of the co-planar waveguide in order to produce easily fabricated electronic devices operating at megahertz and gigahertz speeds for filtration, modulation, rectification, and mixing of high-frequency signals.
Claims19
An electronic device comprising:
- a co-planar waveguide providing a central conductor for receiving an input signal at a waveguide input and providing an output signal at a waveguide output, the central conductor supported by an insulating planar substrate and flanked by co-planar ground conductors also supported by the insulating planar substrate;
- at least one mechanically resonant pillar extending upward from the insulating planar substrate within the co-planar waveguide, the mechanically resonant pillar supporting a conductor transferring electrons from the central conductor as received from the waveguide input to a second conductor with mechanical movement of the resonant pillar.
A method of processing electrical signals in a megahertz or greater frequency range comprising the steps of:
- (a) introducing a signal to a co-planar waveguide providing a central conductor for receiving an input signal at a waveguide input and providing an output signal at a waveguide output, the central conductor supported by a insulating planar substrate and flanked by ground conductors also supported by the insulating planar substrate;
- and
- (b) exciting into resonance at least one mechanically resonant pillar extending upward from the insulating planar substrate within the co-planar waveguide, the mechanically resonant pillar supporting a conductor, the conductor transferring electrons from the central conductor as received from the waveguide input to a second conductor with mechanical movement of the resonant pillar;
- and
- (c) extracting a modified signal from the waveguide output.
A method of fabricating an electronic device comprising the steps of:
- (a) treating an insulating planar substrate to provide an upper conductive layer;
- (c) eroding the substrate to produce an upstanding pillar having a natural mechanical resonance of greater than 1 MHz and a co-planar waveguide providing a central conductor for receiving an input signal at a waveguide input and providing an output signal at a waveguide output, the central conductor supported by the insulating planar substrate and flanked by ground conductors also supported by the insulating planar substrate;
- wherein the upstanding pillar is positioned at least in part within a plane of the co-planar waveguide so as to transfer electrons from the central conductor as received from the waveguide input to a second conductor with mechanical movement of the resonant pillar.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.