Micro-electromechanical switch having a conductive compressible electrode

摘要

A micro-electro mechanical switch having a restoring force sufficiently large to overcome stiction is described. The switch is provided with a deflectable conductive beam and multiple electrodes coated with an elastically deformable conductive layer. A restoring force which is initially generated by a single spring constant k0 upon the application of a control voltage between the deflectable beam and a control electrode coplanar to the contact electrodes is supplemented by adding to k0 additional spring constants k1, . . . , kn provided by the deformable layers, once the switch nears closure and the layers compress. In another embodiment, deformable, spring-like elements are used in lieu of the deformable layers. In an additional embodiment, the compressible layers or deformable spring-like elements are affixed to the deflecting beam facing the switch electrodes