Microelectromechanical tunable inductor
| DWPI Title: Tunable inductor, i.e. microelectromechanical device includes two coils connected together by bridge which is suspended above substrate, and two electrodes |
| 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. |
| Use: A tunable inductor, i.e. microelectromechanical device. |
| Advantage: The tunable inductor has multi-turn coils which can be partially or completely unrolled to provide a wide variation in inductance. The electrical power required to tune the inductor is low since tuning is accomplished electrostatically, and not by resistive current heating. The tunable inductor can also be digitally tuned by shaping the coils and/or underlying electrodes, or alternately by using a segmented electrode beneath the two coils. |
| Novelty: A tunable inductor (10) comprises two coils (12, 12'), and two electrodes. The coils have the same size arranged side by side and coiled up about a central axis (16) which is parallel to a supporting substrate. Each coil comprises turns and has a first end anchored to the supporting substrate and a second end. The coils are connected together by a bridge (18) which is suspended above the substrate. The second electrode (22) forms a part of the bridge and can partially uncoil the coils in response to a voltage applied between the two electrodes, to tune an inductance of the tunable inductor. |
| Filed: 5/9/2007 |
| Application Number: US2007746147A |
| Tech ID: SD 10445.0 |
| This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. DE-NA0003525 awarded by the United States Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration. The Government has certain rights in the invention. |
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