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:
May. 04, 2010
Filed:
May. 09, 2007
Harold L. Stalford, Norman, OK (US);
Vincent M. Hietala, Albuquerque, NM (US);
James G. Fleming, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Carol Fleming, Legal Representative, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Harold L. Stalford, Norman, OK (US);
Vincent M. Hietala, Albuquerque, NM (US);
James G. Fleming, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Carol Fleming, legal representative, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Sandia Corporation, Albuquerque, NM (US);
Abstract
A microelectromechanical tunable inductor is formed from a pair of substantially-identically-sized coils arranged side by side and coiled up about a central axis which is parallel to a supporting substrate. An in-plane stress gradient is responsible for coiling up the coils which. The inductance provided by the tunable inductor can be electrostatically changed either continuously or in discrete steps using electrodes on the substrate and on each coil. The tunable inductor can be formed with processes which are compatible with conventional IC fabrication so that, in some cases, the tunable inductor can be formed on a semiconductor substrate alongside or on top of an IC.