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:
Aug. 31, 2010
Filed:
Jul. 03, 2007
Carl B. Freidhoff, New Freedom, PA (US);
Silai V. Krishnaswamy, Monroeville, PA (US);
Carl B. Freidhoff, New Freedom, PA (US);
Silai V. Krishnaswamy, Monroeville, PA (US);
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a MEMS piezoelectric switch that has an articulated unimorph bridge attached to a substrate. The bridge includes a passive layer of zirconia and at least one silicon-based material, an active layer of a piezoelectric material that has a high piezoelectric coefficient, at least one pair of interdigitated electrodes, disposed on the top surface of the active layer and across which the bias voltage is applied, and a top contact electrode. A bottom contact electrode is provided on the substrate, and signals flow through the switch when the top and bottom contact electrodes contact one another.