Microelectromechanical tunable inductor
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorsHarold L. Stalford, Vincent M. Hietala, James G. Fleming
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microelectromechanical tunable inductor is formed from a pair of substantially-identically-sized coils arranged side by side and coiled up about a central axis which is parallel to a supporting substrate. An in-plane stress gradient is responsible for coiling up the coils which. The inductance provided by the tunable inductor can be electrostatically changed either continuously or in discrete steps using electrodes on the substrate and on each coil. The tunable inductor can be formed with processes which are compatible with conventional IC fabrication so that, in some cases, the tunable inductor can be formed on a semiconductor substrate alongside or on top of an IC.
Claims24
A tunable inductor, comprising:
- a pair of coils of substantially the same size arranged side by side and coiled about a central axis which is oriented substantially parallel to a supporting substrate, with each coil comprising a plurality of turns and having a first end anchored to the supporting substrate and a second end where the pair of coils are connected together by a bridge which is suspended above the substrate;
- a first electrode extending beneath each coil;
- and
- a second electrode forming at least a part of the bridge and further being located on each coil to at least partially uncoil the pair of coils in response to a voltage applied between the first and second electrodes, to tune an inductance of the tunable inductor.
A tunable inductor, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a pair of elongate members formed side by side on the substrate having one end of each elongate members anchored to the substrate and connected together at an opposite unanchored end, with the pair of elongate members having an in-plane stress gradient which urges the unanchored end of the pair of elongate members to coil away from the substrate and to form a pair of substantially identically-sized multi-turn coils from the pair of elongate members, with each multi-turn coil being formed about a central axis which is substantially parallel to the substrate;
- a first electrode extending beneath the pair of elongate members;
- and
- a second electrode formed on the pair of elongate members to at least partially uncoil the pair of substantially identically-sized multi-turn coils in response to a voltage applied between the first and second electrodes to tune an inductance of the tunable inductor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.