Tuesday, November 10, at 11am EST
Jinchi Han, PhD candidate
Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS)
Nanoelectromechanical (NEM) switches are a candidate technology for beyond-CMOS energy-efficient computing. They can exhibit near-zero static leakage, large on-off current ratio, steep subthreshold slope, and high robustness in harsh environments. NEMs are, however, challenged by significant van der Waals interaction at the nanoscale between their contacting electrodes, which can result in compromised performance in terms of turn-on voltage and switching speed, critical characteristics for good device reliability.
A way to address the NEM electrode stiction challenge will be presented in this talk, which will explore an approach of fabricating an electrostatically-controlled nanogap using self-assembled molecular spacer layer sandwiched between atomically-smooth conductive nanostructures. The molecular layer acts like a spring between the two sandwiching electrodes, compressing as needed under the electrostatically-applied “squeeze” to modify the tunneling current. Hence, we referred to this NEM structure as the squeezable-switch or the “squitch”. The operating squitch structures show a sharp electrical switching behavior with several-orders-of-magnitude on-off current ratio, as the tunneling gap is modified by only ~1 nm in distance. This unique working principle allows squitches to simultaneously achieve low turn-on voltages and low time delays, while surmounting the challenge of NEM device electrode stiction.
Attendees can join and participate in the series via Zoom. Meeting ID#: 860 986 455.