MEMS variable inductor and capacitor
First Claim
1. A variable passive component comprising:
- a first conductive portion disposed on a substrate having a generally planar top surface; and
a second conductive portion disposed on a plate that is movable in a plane that is generally parallel to the top surface of the substrate, such that a gap is maintained between the second conductive portion and the first conductive portion, in which the overlap of the second conductive portion with respect to first conductive portion varies a component value of the variable passive component.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A variable passive component is provided for fabrication on a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device. A conductive portion is provided on a low-profile sliding dielectric sheet that cooperates with a conductive portion disposed on a substrate to provide a variable passive component. The passive component can be a variable inductor provided by moving a shorted spiral inductor formed on the dielectric sheet over a spiral inductor on the substrate with varying degrees of overlap causing varying inductance values. The passive component can be a variable capacitor that consists of a large conductive pad on a dielectric plate which slides over two adjacent pads on the substrate with varying overlap causing varying capacitance values.
40 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A variable passive component comprising:
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a first conductive portion disposed on a substrate having a generally planar top surface; and
a second conductive portion disposed on a plate that is movable in a plane that is generally parallel to the top surface of the substrate, such that a gap is maintained between the second conductive portion and the first conductive portion, in which the overlap of the second conductive portion with respect to first conductive portion varies a component value of the variable passive component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A variable passive component comprising:
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a first inductor formed on a substrate having a generally planar top surface;
a second inductor formed on a plate that is movable along a plane that is generally parallel to the top surface, such that a gap is maintained between the second inductor and the first inductor; and
a linear actuator that moves the plate between a plurality of positions to vary an overlap of the second inductor with respect to the first inductor, the effective inductance of the first inductor being based on the amount of overlap of the second inductor over the first inductor. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A variable passive component comprising:
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a first capacitor pad formed on a substrate having a generally planar top surface;
a second capacitor pad formed on the substrate adjacent the first capacitor pad;
a movable capacitor pad that is movable in a plane that is generally parallel to the top surface of the substrate, such that a gap is maintained between the movable capacitor pad and the first and second capacitor pads, the first capacitor pad and the movable capacitor pad forming a first capacitor and the second capacitor pad and the movable capacitor pad forming a second capacitor in series with the first capacitor to provide a variable capacitor; and
a linear actuator that moves the movable capacitor pad between a plurality of positions to vary an overlap of the movable capacitor pad with respect to the first capacitor pad and the second capacitor pad to vary the capacitance of the variable capacitor. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for providing a variable passive component, the method comprising:
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fabricating a first conductive portion on a generally planar top surface of a substrate; and
fabricating a second conductive portion on a first end of a plate; and
disposing the plate such that the plate is movable along a plane generally parallel to the top surface of the substrate to vary an overlap of the second conductive portion with respect to first conductive portion and maintain a gap therebetween, in which the component value of the variable passive component varies based on the amount of overlap of the second conductive portion over the first conductive portion. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification