Nano electromechanical integrated-circuit bank and switch

• US 20100134207A1
• Filed: 09/20/2007
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trustees of Boston University
• Original Assignee: Trustees of Boston University
• Inventors: Mohanty, Pritiraj, Badzey, Robert L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,487,715 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 333/186
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 3/0072 of microelectro-mechanical resonators or networks micromembranes or microbeams B81B2203/01; manufacture of microstructural devices in general B81C
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 9/2463 Clamped-clamped beam resonators
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 9/2473 Double-Ended Tuning Fork [DETF] resonators
• CPC Class Codes: H03H 9/505 for microelectro-mechanical filters

Abstract

A bank of nano electromechanical integrated circuit filters. The bank of integrated circuit filters comprising a silicon substrate; a sacrificial layer; a device layer including at least two resonators, wherein the at least two resonators include sub-micro excitable elements and wherein the at least two resonators posses a fundamental mode frequency as well as a collective mode frequency and wherein the collective mode frequency of the at least two resonators is determined by the fundamental frequency of the sub-micron elements. At least one switch connects to the bank of integrated circuit filters.

Claims

1. A bank of integrated circuit filters, the bank comprising:

a silicon substrate;

a sacrificial layer; and

a device layer including at least two resonators, wherein the at least two resonators include sub-micron excitable elements and wherein the at least two resonators possess a fundamental mode frequency as well as a collective mode frequency and wherein the collective mode frequency of the at least two resonators is determined by the fundamental frequency of the sub-micron elements.

2. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1 further comprising a mechanical connection between a first and a second filter within the bank of integrated circuit filters.

3. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1 further comprising an electrical connection between a first and a second filter within the bank of integrated circuit filters.

4. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein a collective mode frequency of at least one filter within the bank of integrated circuit filters is different than the collective mode frequency of another one within the bank of integrated circuit filters.

5. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein at least one filter within the bank of integrated circuit filters is selected from the group consisting of mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical and piezo.

6. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the bank of integrated circuit filters operate at a frequency between 10 MHz-100 GHz.

7. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the sub-micron excitable elements vary in size and fundamental mode frequency to determine more than one collective mode frequency.

8. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the sub-micron excitable elements vibrate in a mode selected from the group consisting of flexural, torsional shear and longitudinal.

9. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 7, wherein the more than one collective mode frequency can be combined to generate a desired filter response.

10. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the bank of integrated circuit filters are of similar frequency response.

11. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the bank of integrated circuit filters operate at multiple frequency bands.

12. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, further comprising a first level of switches that connect to a second level of switches that connect to a filter in the bank of integrated circuit filters.

13. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the operational frequency response of the bank of integrated circuit filters is selected from the group consisting of high, low, band, notch and arbitrary.

14. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein a bandwidth of at least one filter within the bank of integrated circuit filters is tunable.

15. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the sub-micron elements are excited by a transduction mechanism selected from the group consisting of piezoelectric, magnetomotive, magnetostatic, electrostatic capacitive transduction, optical, thermoelastic thermomechanical, and piezoresistive.

16. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, further including a connection between a first filter and a second filter within the bank of integrated circuit filters is selected from the group consisting of capacitive, electrostatic, optical, thermomechanical, magnetic, piezoelectric/resistive and electrodynamic.

17. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the bank of integrated circuit filters is combined with other electronic elements within an integrated circuit.

18. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein at least one filter within the bank of integrated circuit filters is tunable by causing an effective change in the stiffness of at least one resonator by applying one selected from the group consisting of mechanical strain, electrical spring softening, thermal expansion and thermal contraction.

19. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 18, wherein the at least one resonator is tuned according to operating temperature.

20. The bank of integrated circuit filters of claim 1, wherein the sub-micron elements consist of a curvature of a spring structure.