PIEZOELECTRIC SWITCH WITH LATERAL MOVING BEAMS

摘要

A piezoelectric switching element includes an actuator and multiple piezoelectric-morphing beams. The actuator includes a conducting head and an actuator stem, and each piezoelectric-morphing beam includes a beam contact head of conductive material and a beam stem manufactured out of bimorph material. A control voltage is selectively applied to electrical contacts coupled to the beam stems to create a piezoelectric effect that axially stretches the selected piezoelectric-morphing beam to push the beam contact head along a single axis of movement toward the actuator conducting head to create an electrical connection between the contact head and the conducting head. A controller signals which piezoelectric-morphing beam to connect to the actuator. This multi-piezoelectric switching element can be affixed to the electrical terminals of different electrical components (e.g., a transistor) to create an electrical cell that can be manufactured on a semiconductor chip or in a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device.

主权项

1. A switching element, comprising:
an actuator with an actuator conducting head and an actuator stem; a plurality of piezoelectric-morphing beams positioned in parallel to the actuator stem, each piezoelectric-morphing beam comprising a beam contact head made of a conductive material and a beam stem made of a piezoelectric material; and a plurality of electrical contacts coupled to the beam stems and the actuator stem for receiving a selectively applied control voltage applied across a first piezoelectric-morphing stem and the actuator stem and causing a selected piezoelectric-morphing beam to stretch and move the beam contact head axially along a single axis of movement either horizontally or vertically move toward the actuator and create an electrical connection between the conducting head and the beam contact head of the selected piezoelectric-morphing beam.