The University of Edinburgh

Nanoflex Limited

Anthony John Walton

Tughrul Sati Arslan

Nakul Raghavanand Haridas

Neville John Freeman

Ahmed Osman El-Rayis

Andrew Raymond Mount

Jonathan Gordon Terry

The present invention relates to an electrode assembly having a laminate structure comprising: a first insulating capping layer; a first conducting layer capped by the first insulating capping layer and substantially sandwiched by at least the first insulating capping layer such as to leave exposed only an electrical contact lip of the first conducting layer; and an array of etched voids extending through at least the first insulating capping layer and the first conducting layer, wherein each void is partly bound by a surface of the first conducting layer which acts as an internal submicron electrode.

Electrode assembly

A micro electromechanical (MEMS) antenna () is positioned on one side of a substrate and is connected to a MEMS switch comprising a capacitor bridge () and to a transmission line () by means of a thru hole or via () which forms an electrically conducting path through the substrate. This arrangement provides a common ground plane for the antenna and switch and shields the switch from the electromagnetic radiation received or transmitted from the antenna. The switch may comprise a topmost metal layer which extends across a bridge structure formed by a polymer layer (). The polymer layer comprises poly-monochloro-para-xylene (parylene-C). Homogeneous or heterogeneous antenna array structures are implemented. The antenna arrays may include one or more different type of antennas with for example different shapes, rotations and reflections.

Reconfigurable antenna

A capacitive switch for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) comprises a topmost metal plate which extends across a bridge structure formed by a polymer layer. The polymer layer comprises poly-monochoro-para-xylene (parylene-C). The space below the polymer layer contains the second plate on a substrate. Using parylene as the primary bridge material makes the bridge of the MEMS device very flexible and requires a relatively low actuation voltage to pull the bridge down and lower power is required to control the MEMS device.

Micro electromechanical capacitive switch

Growing community of inventors

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Anthony John Walton