Low Voltage Nanoelectromechanical Switches Based on Silicon Carbide Nanowires
Abstract
We report experimental demonstrations of electrostatically actuated, contact-mode nanoelectromechanical switches based on very thin silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires (NWs). These NWs are lithographically patterned from a 50 nm thick SiC layer heteroepitaxially grown on single-crystal silicon (Si). Several generic designs of in-plane electrostatic SiC NW switches have been realized, with NW widths as small as ~20 nm and lateral switching gaps as narrow as ~10 nm. Very low switch-on voltages are obtained, from a few volts down to ~1 V level. Two-terminal, contact-mode "hot" switching with high on/off ratios (>10^2 or 10^3) has been demonstrated repeatedly for many devices. We find enhanced switching performance in bare SiC NWs, with lifetimes exceeding those based on metallized SiC NWs.
Additional Information
© 2010 American Chemical Society. Received for review: 03/19/2010. Published on Web: 07/16/2010. We are grateful to S. Stryker for help in engineering the experimental apparatus. We thank G. DeRose for help with the lithography tool and J. Xiang and E. B. Myers for helpful discussions. We are grateful to Dr. A. Lal and Dr. A. I. Akinwande, and to the support from DARPA/ MTO and SPAWAR under Grant No. N66001-07-2039, and DARPA/MTO and Department of Interior/National Business Center under Grant No. NBCH1090007.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 19705
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20100830-101323664
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- N66001-07-2039
- Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR)
- NBCH1090007
- Department of Interior
- Created
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2010-09-14Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field