Micro-actuator and locking switch
AssigneeAlcatel Lucent
InventorFlavio Pardo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A micro-electromechanical actuator employs metal for the hot arm and silicon for at least the flexible portion of the cold arm. The cold arm made of silicon is coupled to a metal wire that moves with it and is used to carry the signal to be switched when at least two of such actuators are formed into a switch. Arrays of such switches on a first chip may be cooperatively arranged with a second chip that is flip-chip bonded to the first chip, the second chip having thereon wires routing the electrical control currents to the various hot arms for heating them as well as the signals to be switched by the various switches.
Claims24
Apparatus comprising a first micro-electromechanical actuator, comprising:
- a first hot arm fabricated at least in part of metal;
- and
- a first cold arm having a flexible portion, said flexible portion being fabricated of silicon, said first cold arm being coupled to said first hot arm;
- wherein, when said first hot arm and said first cold arm are displaced from their rest positions due to heating of said first hot arm, after said heating of said first hot arm stops said first cold arm provides all of the restoring force to return said first hot arm and first cold arm to their rest positions and said first hot arm provides none of said restoring force.
Apparatus comprising a first micro-electromechanical actuator on a chip, comprising:
- silicon flexible means, said silicon flexible means having one end immovably coupled to a chip and having an opposite end free to move, said free to move end having a rest position;
- and
- means electrically isolated from said silicon flexible means for displacing said silicon flexible means;
- wherein, said silicon flexible means is adapted to supply a restoring force to restore to said rest position said free to move end of said silicon flexible means after said means electrically isolated from said silicon flexible means displaces said free to move end of said silicon flexible means;
- and
- wherein said means for displacing provides essentially no restoring force.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.