California Institute of Technology

Xiao-Li Feng

Michael Roukes

Seyed Ali Hajimiri

Christopher John White

Rassul Bulatovich Karabalin

John Sequoyah Aldridge

NEMS (Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems) apparatuses are described. By applying a static electric field, an arm or beam in a NEMS apparatus is made to bend so that one electrical conductor is made to contact another electrical conductor, thereby closing the NEMS apparatus. Some apparatus embodiments make use of electrostatic coupling to cause the arm or beam to bend, and some apparatus embodiments make use of piezoelectric materials to cause the arm or beam to bend. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Nano-electro-mechanical systems switches

A self-sustaining ultra-high frequency oscillator and method enable the ability to oscillate and output a signal. A balanced bridge circuit is utilized to null an embedding background response. A first vibrating nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) beam resonator is part of one of the branches of the balanced bridge circuit and determines the frequency of the oscillator's output signal. A feedback loop establishes and sets oscillation conditions of the oscillator's signal. Further, the feedback loop connects an output of the first resonator to an input of the balanced bridge circuit.

Ultra-high frequency self-sustaining oscillators, coupled oscillators, voltage-controlled oscillators, and oscillator arrays based on vibrating nanoelectromechanical resonators

Growing community of inventors

Pasadena, CA, United States of America

Xiao-Li Feng