General Electric Company

Ge Homeland Protection, Inc.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Ge Aviation Systems Limited

Morpho Detection, Inc.

Glenn Scott Claydon

Anis Zribi

Christopher James Kapusta

Christopher Fred Keimel

Shankar Chandrasekaran

Stacey Joy Kennerly

Shivappa Ningappa Goravar

David Cecil Hays

Long Que

Ertugrul Berkcan

Laura Jean Meyer

Ayan Banerjee

Wei-Cheng Tian

Marco Francesco Aimi

Samhita Dasgupta

Sandip Maity

William J Laughton

Robert John Filkins

Joseph Alfred Iannotti

Matthew Christian Nielsen

Ernest Wayne Balch

Glenn A Forman

Yanfei Liu

Oliver Charles Boomhower

Christian Michael Giovanniello, Jr

William P Kornrumpf

Kanakasabapathi Subramanian

Guiju Song

Marko Klaus Baller

Min-Yi Shih

Kuna Venkat Satya Rama Kishore

Ajit Achuthan

Debbie Gahaton Jones

Robert Louis Steigerwald

Kevin George Harding

James Wilson Rose

Richard J Saia

Arun Virupaksha Gowda

Lowell Scott Smith

Thomas Bert Gorczyca

Raymond Albert Fillion

Hua Xia

Ahmed Elasser

John Norton Park

Eladio Clemente Delgado

William Edward Burdick, Jr

Robert P Alley

David Martin Mills

Ramanujam Ramabhadran

Xuefeng Wang

Yongjae Lee

Warren Lee

Stanton Earl Weaver

Kum-Kang Huh

Kenneth Wayne Rigby

John Oliver Collins

Victor Donald Samper

William Hull Bicknell

Todd Ryan Tolliver

Russell Mark Compton

Ronald Frank Kolc

Brian Lynn Rowden

Bo Li

Parag Thakre

Jianming Zheng

Julian Peter Mayes

Peter Joseph Codella

Kuna Kishore

Kevin C Routh

Sheila Tandon

Dirk Lange

Stanley Chu

Hyon-Jin Kwon

Ye-Ming Li

Ayan Banerjec

Shankar (nmn) Chandrasekaran

Jie Sun

Sam Yie-Sum Wong

Ertugal Berkcan

Willam Scott Sutherland

Marcin Alexy

Richard St-Pierre

Glenn Alan Forman

Christian Michael Giovanniello

Oliver Charles Boomhoower

A power distribution switch including a micro electro mechanical system (MEMS) relay switch matrix disposed between a power source and an electrical load, and a controller module configured to operate the MEMS relay switch between a conducting and a non-conducting state, wherein the conducting state conducts power from the power source to the electrical load and the non-conducting state prevents power conduction from the power sources to the electrical load.

Power distribution switch for a power distribution system

A modular electronics package is disclosed that includes a first and second electronics packages, with each of the first and second electronics packages including a metallized insulating substrate and a solid-state switching device positioned on the metallized insulating substrate, the solid-state switching device comprising a plurality of contact pads electrically coupled to the first conductor layer of the metallized insulating substrate. A conductive joining material is positioned between the first electronics package and the second electronics package to electrically connect them together. The first electronics package and the second electronics package are stacked with one another to form a half-bridge unit cell, with the half-bridge unit cell having a current path through the solid-state switching device in the first electronics package and a close coupled return current path through the solid-state switching device in the second electronics package in opposite flow directions.

Low inductance stackable solid-state switching module and method of manufacturing thereof

An electrical system includes an operation MEMS switch operable in on and off states to enable and disable current flow to a load and a fault interruption MEMS switch positioned in series with the operation MEMS switch. The fault interruption MEMS switch is operable in on and off states to enable and disable current flow to the electrical load, with operation of the fault interruption MEMS switch in the off state disabling current flow to the load regardless of the state of the operation MEMS switch. A fault sensor control system operate to sense a system variable, analyze the system variable to detect if a fault is affecting the electrical system and, upon detection of a fault, switch the fault interruption MEMS switch from the on state to the off state to interrupt current flowing through the operation MEMS switch to the load.

System and method for fault interruption with MEMS switches

A switching system includes a MEMS switching circuit having a MEMS switch and a driver circuit. An auxiliary circuit is coupled in parallel with the MEMS switching circuit, the auxiliary circuit comprising first and second connections that connect the auxiliary circuit to the MEMS switching circuit on opposing sides of the MEMS switch, first and second solid state switches connected in parallel, and a resonant circuit connected between the first and second solid state switches. A control circuit controls selective switching of a load current towards the MEMS switching circuit and the auxiliary circuit by selectively activating the first and second solid state switches and the resonant circuit so as to limit a voltage across the MEMS switch by diverting at least a portion of the load current away from the MEMS switch to flow to the auxiliary circuit prior to the MEMS switch changing state.

Auxiliary circuit for micro-electromechanical system relay circuit

A switching system includes a MEMS switching circuit having a MEMS switch and a driver circuit, and an auxiliary circuit coupled in parallel with the MEMS switching circuit that comprises solid state switching circuitry. A control circuit in communication with the MEMS switching circuit and the auxiliary circuit performs selective switching of a load current towards the MEMS switching circuitry and the auxiliary circuit, with the control circuit programmed to transmit a control signal to the driver circuit to cause the MEMS switch to actuate to an open or closed position across a switching interval, activate the auxiliary circuit during the switching interval when the MEMS switch is switching between the open and closed positions, and deactivate the auxiliary circuit upon reaching the open or closed position after completion of the switching interval, such that the load current selectively flows through the MEMS switch and the solid state switching circuitry.

Micro-electromechanical system relay circuit

A switching system includes a control circuit that receives On-Off signals indicative of a desired operating state of a switch. The control circuit includes an oscillator that generates a first electrical pulse responsive having a first signal characteristic or a second signal characteristic that is determined by the received On-Off signal, which may be related to a frequency or duty cycle of the pulse. A pulse transformer connected to the oscillator receives the first electrical pulse and outputs a second electrical pulse having the same one of the first signal characteristic and the second signal characteristic as the first electrical pulse. A pulse detection circuit in the control circuit receives the second electrical pulse, determines whether the second electrical pulse has the first signal characteristic or the second signal characteristic, and controls transmission of power and control signals to the switch based on this determination.

Isolated control circuit and driver for micro-electromechanical system switch

An ohmic RF MEMS relay includes a substrate with a capacitive coupling, C; two actuating elements electrically coupled in series, so as to define a channel, wherein the actuating elements are configured to be independently actuated or simultaneously operated. The actuating elements have their own capacitive coupling, C; a midpoint on the channel is in electrical communication with the actuating elements; and an anchor mechanically coupled to the substrate and supporting at least one of the actuating elements. Also, an ohmic RF MEMS relay that includes an input port; a plurality of first MEMS switches that make up a first switching group in electrical communication with the input port, thereby defining a plurality of channels each leading from each of the MEMS switches; and at least one outlet port along each of the channels distal from the first switching group and in electrical communication with the input port.

Multichannel relay assembly with in line MEMS switches

A switching apparatus, as may be configured to actuate stacked MEMS switches, may include a switching circuitry () including a MEMS switch () having a beam () made up of a first movable actuator () and a second movable actuator () electrically connected by a common connector () and arranged to selectively establish an electrical current path through the first and second movable actuators in response to a gate control signal applied to the gates of the switch to actuate the movable actuators. The apparatus may further include a gating circuitry () to generate the gate control signal applied to gates of the switch. The gating circuitry may include a driver channel () electrically coupled to the common connector and may be adapted to electrically float with respect to a varying beam voltage, and may be electrically referenced between the varying beam voltage and a local electrical ground of the gating circuitry.

Switching apparatus including gating circuitry for actuating micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) switches

An electrical through-connection, or via, that passes through a substrate to a bus on a first surface of the substrate. The via may be configured with an interlock such that the electrically conductive core of the via is constrained to thermally expand towards the second surface, away from the bus, thus preventing damage to the bus. The interlock may be a local constriction or enlargement of the via near the first surface of the substrate. The via may be greater in length along the bus than a unit spacing of beams in a parallel microswitch array actuated in unison along the bus. The via may be narrower in width than in length, and may form a trapezoidal geometry that is larger at the second surface of the substrate than at the first surface.

Electrical connection through a substrate to a microelectromechanical device

A micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) based current & magnetic field sensor includes a MEMS-based magnetic field sensing component having a capacitive magneto-MEMS component, a compensator and an output component for sensing magnetic fields and for providing, in response thereto, an indication of the current present in a respective conductor to be measured. In one embodiment, first and second mechanical sense components are electrically conductive and operate to sense a change in a capacitance between the mechanical sense components in response to a mechanical indicator from a magnetic-to-mechanical converter.

Micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) based current and magnetic field sensor having capacitive sense components

According to one embodiment, a micro-electrical mechanical system apparatus includes (i) a comb drive actuator having at least one irregularly shaped finger and (ii) a movable Fabry-Perot filter cavity mirror coupled to the comb drive actuator. According to some embodiments, a relationship between a voltage applied to the comb drive actuator and an amount of displacement associated with the movable mirror is substantially linear.

Irregularly shaped actuator fingers for a micro-electromechanical system fabry-perot filter

A micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) current sensor for sensing a magnetic field produced by an electrical current flowing in a conductor includes a first fixed element and a moving element. The moving element is spaced away from the first fixed element and is movable relative to the fixed element responsive to a magnetic field produced by an electrical current flowing in a conductor for providing a mechanical indication of a strength of the magnetic field. The sensor also includes a tunneling current generator for generating a tunneling current between the first fixed element and the moving element and a tunneling current monitor for monitoring a change in the tunneling current responsive to the mechanical indication to provide an indication of a value of the electrical current in the conductor.

Micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) based current and magnetic field sensor using tunneling current sensing

A system and method for managing optical power for controlling thermal alteration of a sample undergoing spectroscopic analysis is provided. The system includes a moveable laser beam generator for irradiating the sample and a beam shaping device for moving and shaping the laser beam to prevent thermal overload or build up in the sample. The moveable laser beam generator includes at least one beam shaping device selected from the group consisting of at least one optical lens, at least one optical diffractor, at least one optical path difference modulator, at least one moveable mirror, at least one Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) integrated circuit (IC), and/or a liquid droplet. The system also includes an at least two degree of freedom (2 DOF) moveable substrate platform and a controller for controlling the laser beam generator and the substrate platform, and for analyzing light reflected from the sample.

System and method for optical power management

According to one embodiment, a first capacitive element may be provided and associated with a surface where a fouling layer is to be detected. A second capacitive element may also be provided, and a capacitance between the first and second capacitive elements may be used to detect formation of the fouling layer. According to another embodiment, a thermal device is provided proximate to a surface where a fouling layer is to be detected. A detector (e.g., a thermometer or vibration detector) may detect a condition associated with the surface, and formation of the fouling layer may be determined based at least in part on the condition.

Early fouling detection

A MEMS switch includes a substrate, a movable actuator coupled to the substrate, a substrate contact, a substrate electrode, and a conductive stopper electrically coupled to the movable actuator and structured to prevent the movable actuator from contacting the substrate electrode while allowing the movable actuator to make contact with the substrate contact.

MEMS microswitch having a conductive mechanical stop

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Wynantskill, NY, United States of America

Glenn Scott Claydon