Claims
- 1. A MEM relay comprising:
a contact substrate; at least two liquid metal contacts disposed on said contact substrate; and an actuator substrate bonded to said contact substrate, wherein said contact substrate is fabricated separately from said actuator substrate.
- 2. The MEM relay as recited in claim 1, wherein said actuator substrate further comprises:
a cantilever support member disposed on said actuator substrate; a cantilever beam having a first end and a second end, wherein said second end is disposed on said cantilever support member; and a shorting bar disposed on said first end of said cantilever beam such that said shorting bar places said at least two liquid metal contacts in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state:
- 3. The MEM relay as recited in claim 1 wherein said actuator substrate further comprises:
a lateral actuator disposed on said actuator substrate; and a non-wetting metal shorting bar disposed on said lateral actuator.
- 4. The MEM relay as recited in claim 1 wherein said contact substrate further comprises:
at least one external filling port disposed on said contact substrate such that liquid metal can be introduced into the device by capillary flow; and at least one cap such that said at least one external filing port can be sealed when the MEM relay has received a predetermined amount of liquid metal.
- 5. The MEM relay as recited in claim 1, wherein said actuator substrate further comprises:
a lateral actuator disposed on said actuator substrate; and a shorting bar movably connected to said lateral actuator such that said shorting bar places said at least two liquid metal contacts in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state.
- 6. The MEM relay as recited in claim 5, wherein the motion of said shorting bar is parallel to a plane formed by said at least two liquid metal contacts.
- 7. The MEM relay as recited in claim 5, further comprising a heater in thermal communication with said contact substrate.
- 8. The MEM relay as recited in claim 5, wherein said shorting bar is movably connected to said lateral actuator by an insulated actuation arm.
- 9. A MEM relay comprising:
an actuator; a non-wetting shorting bar disposed on said actuator; a contact substrate, having an upper surface and a lower surface, in a spaced apart relationship with said non-wetting shorting bar; a first liquid metal contact disposed on said upper surface of said contact substrate; a first signal contact disposed on said lower surface of said contact substrate; a first via having an outside surface and an interior surface coated with liquid metal, passing through said contact substrate, and placing said first liquid metal contact and said first signal contact in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state; a second liquid metal contact disposed on said upper surface of said contact substrate; a second signal contact disposed on said lower surface of said contact substrate; and a second via having an outside surface and an interior surface coated with liquid metal, passing through said contact substrate, and placing said second liquid metal contact and said second signal contact in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state.
- 10. The MEM relay of claim 9, wherein the non-wetting shorting bar has a conductive metal surface.
- 11. The MEM relay of claim 9, wherein the non-wetting shorting bar is a non-conductive membrane.
- 12. The MEM relay of claim 9, wherein the non-wetting shorting bar is a liquid motion bar.
- 13. The MEM relay of claim 9, wherein the non-wetting shorting bar is a non-wetting metal shorting membrane.
- 14. The MEM relay of claim 13 wherein the non-wetting metal shorting membrane further comprises a plurality of gas vents.
- 15. A MEM relay comprising:
a contact substrate; a plurality of vias disposed on said contact substrate; and a plurality of signal contacts disposed on said contact substrate wherein said plurality of liquid metal contacts are coated with liquid metal by transferring the liquid metal through said plurality of vias.
- 16. A MEM relay comprising:
an actuator; a shorting bar disposed on said actuator; a contact substrate; a plurality of liquid metal contacts disposed on said contact substrate such that said plurality of liquid metal contacts are placed in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state; and at least one heater disposed on said contact substrate wherein said heater is in thermal communication with said plurality of liquid metal contacts.
- 17. The MEM relay as recited in claim 16, wherein the contact substrate further comprises a plurality of wettable metal contacts disposed on said contact such that each of said wettable metal contact is proximate to each of said plurality of liquid metal contacts and each of said wettable metal contact is in electrical communication with each of said plurality of liquid metal contacts.
- 18. The MEM relay as recited in claim 16, wherein said shorting bar further comprises a non-wetting metal surface disposed on said shorting bar.
- 19. The MEM relay as recited in claim 16, wherein said shorting bar is a non-conductive liquid motion bar.
- 20. The MEM relay as recited in claim 16, wherein said shorting bar is a non-wetting metal shorting membrane.
- 21. The MEM relay as recited in claim 20, wherein said non-wetting metal shorting membrane further comprises a plurality of gas vents.
- 22. The MEM relay as recited in claim 16, wherein each of said plurality of wettable metal contacts includes an excess of liquid metal such that a droplet of liquid metal is formed on each of plurality of wettable metal contacts.
- 23. The MEM relay as recited in claim 16, wherein said shorting bar is a non-wetting metal shorting membrane.
- 24. The MEM relay as recited in claim 16, wherein said shorting bar is a cantilevered non-wetting metal shorting membrane.
- 25. A MEM relay comprising:
an actuator; an actuator spacer movably disposed on said actuator; a shorting bar disposed on said actuator spacer; a contact substrate, having an upper surface and a lower surface, spaced apart from said shorting bar; a plurality of wettable metal contacts disposed on said upper surface of said contact substrate; a plurality of liquid metal contacts disposed on said plurality of wettable metal contacts such that said plurality of wettable metal contacts are placed in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state; a plurality of external contacts disposed on said lower surface of said contact substrate; and a plurality of conducting vias placing each of said plurality of wettable metal contacts in electrical communication with a respective one of said plurality of external contacts.
- 26. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein said shorting bar further comprises a plurality of gas vents.
- 27. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein said shorting bar further comprises a non-wetting metal surface disposed on said shorting bar.
- 28. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein said shorting bar is a non-conductive liquid motion bar.
- 29. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein said shorting bar is a non-wetting metal shorting membrane.
- 30. The MEM relay as recited in claim 29, wherein said non-wetting metal shorting membrane further comprises a plurality of gas vents.
- 31. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein each of said plurality of wettable metal contacts includes an excess of liquid metal such that a droplet of liquid metal is formed on each of plurality of wettable metal contacts.
- 32. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein said shorting bar is a non-wetting metal shorting membrane.
- 33. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein said shorting bar is a cantilevered non-wetting metal shorting membrane.
- 34. The MEM relay as recited in claim 25, wherein said actuator spacer electrically insulates said shorting bar from said actuator.
- 35. A MEM relay comprising:
an actuator; a non-wetting metal shorting membrane, having an outer surface and an inner surface; disposed on said actuator; a plurality of upper external contacts disposed on said outer surface of said non-wetting metal shorting membrane; a contact substrate, having an upper surface and a lower surface, spaced apart from and insulated from said non-wetting metal shorting membrane; a liquid metal contact disposed on said upper surface of said contact; a plurality of lower external contacts disposed on said lower surface of said contact substrate such that at least one of said plurality of lower external contacts is placed in electrical communication with at least one of said plurality of upper external contacts when the MEM relay is in a closed state; and a plurality of conducting vias placing each of said plurality wettable metal contacts in electrical communication with a respective one of said plurality of lower external contacts.
- 36. The MEM relay as recited in claim 35, wherein said non-wetting metal shorting membrane further comprises a plurality of gas vents.
- 37. A method of fabricating a MEM relay comprising the steps of:
providing a actuator substrate; providing a contact substrate with a plurality liquid metal wetted contacts; and joining said actuator substrate with said contact substrate to form the MEM relay.
- 38. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of providing an actuator substrate further comprises the steps of:
providing a lateral actuator disposed on said actuator substrate; and providing a non-wetting metal shorting bar disposed on said lateral actuator.
- 39. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of providing a contact substrate further comprises the steps of:
providing at least one external filling port disposed on said contact substrate; introducing liquid metal into the device by capillary flow; and sealing said at least one external filing port with a cap.
- 40. A method of fabricating a MEM relay comprising the steps of:
providing a actuator; providing a non-wetting shorting bar disposed on said actuator; providing a contact substrate, having an upper surface and a lower surface, in a spaced apart relationship with said non-wetting metal shorting bar; providing a first liquid metal contact disposed on said upper surface of said contact substrate; providing a first signal contact disposed on said lower surface of said contact substrate; providing a first via having an outside surface and an interior surface coated with liquid metal, passing through said contact substrate, and placing said first liquid metal contact and said first signal contact in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state; providing a second liquid metal contact disposed on said upper surface of said contact substrate; providing a second signal contact disposed on said lower surface of said contact substrate; and providing a second via having an outside surface and interior coated with liquid metal, passing through said contact substrate, and placing said second liquid metal contact and said second signal contact in electrical communication when the MEM relay is in a closed state; and introducing liquid metal through said first and second vias to wet said first and second contacts.
- 41. The method of fabricating a MEM relay of claim 40 further comprising the step of:
providing a heater disposed on said actuator substrate in thermal communication with said first liquid metal contact and said second liquid metal contact.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. provisional application No. 60/179,829 filed on Feb. 2, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60179829 |
Feb 2000 |
US |