Electro-thermally actuated mechanical switching device and memory device using same

Abstract

A switching device in accordance with the present invention includes a first electrode and a second electrode, and the second electrode includes a body part and a cantilever connected to the body part. In addition, one end of a the cantilever comes into contact with the first electrode by an electrostatic force generated by a voltage applied to the first electrode and the second electrode, and the one end of the cantilever is separated from the first electrode due to heat generated by a voltage applied to both ends of the body part. In addition, the second electrode may include a 2-1 electrode, a 2-2 electrode, and an engineered beam connected in between. The engineered beam comes into contact with the first electrode on the basis of thermal expansion due to heat generated by a current flowing between the body part of the 2-1 electrode and the body part of the 2-2 electrode, or is separated from the first electrode on the basis of thermal expansion due to heat generated by a current flowing through both ends of the body parts of the 2-1 electrode and the 2-2 electrode. According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve high-speed operation while having ultralow power, high reliability through exploiting nano thermal actuation method capable of high-speed thermal expansion and actuation at low operation voltage.