Phase-change material distributed switch systems

A phase-change material switch comprising:

• a first terminal configured to receive an input signal;
• a second terminal;
• an actuation portion comprising a pair of actuation terminals configured to receive a control signal and a conductive strip that extends between the pair of actuation terminals, the conductive strip comprising a central portion having a cross-sectional dimension that is less than a dimension of the pair of actuation terminals and a pair of tapered portions that each have a cross-sectional dimension that increases from the cross-sectional dimension of the central portion to a maximum cross-sectional dimension at a respective coupling to the pair of actuation terminals, the control signal being provided in one of a first state to emit a first heat profile and a second state to emit a second heat profile;
• and
• a switch portion comprising a phase-change material in proximity with the central portion of the conductive strip, the phase-change material being selectable between a conducting state in response to the first heat profile to conduct an input signal from the first terminal to the second terminal and a blocking state in response to the second heat profile to substantially block the input signal from the first terminal to the second terminal.

A distributed switch system comprising a plurality of phase-change material switches that are arranged in one of parallel, series, and a combination of parallel and series with respect to each other, each of the plurality of phase-change material switches comprising:

• a first terminal configured to receive an input signal;
• a second terminal;
• an actuation portion configured to receive a control signal in one of a first state to emit a first heat profile and a second state to emit a second heat profile;
• and
• a switch portion comprising a phase-change material in proximity with the actuation portion, the phase-change material being selectable between a conducting state in response to the first heat profile to conduct an input signal from the first terminal to the second terminal and a blocking state in response to the second heat profile to substantially block the input signal from the first terminal to the second terminal.