The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 23, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 24, 2000
Wallace W. Martin, Richardson, TX (US);
Yu-Pei Chen, Plano, TX (US);
Byron Williams, Plano, TX (US);
Jose Melendez, Plano, TX (US);
Darius L. Crenshaw, Allen, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) switch ( ) having a bottom electrode ( ) formed over a substrate ( ) and a thin protective cap layer ( ) disposed over the bottom electrode ( ). A dielectric material ( ) is disposed over the protective cap layer ( ) and a pull-down electrode ( ) is formed over the spacer ( ) and the dielectric material ( ). The protective cap layer ( ) prevents the oxidation of the bottom electrode ( ). The thin protective cap layer ( ) comprises a metal having an associated oxide with a high dielectric constant. A portion ( ) of the thin protective cap layer ( ) may oxidize during the formation of the dielectric material ( ), increasing the capacitance of the dielectric stack ( ).