Low operation voltage of inkjet-printed plastic sheet-type micromechanical switches

Abstract

We have fabricated plastic micromechanical switches using inkjet printing technologies. By reducing the device dimensions, particularly the spacing between the electrodes for electrostatic attraction, the operation voltage is reduced to $6.6\mathrm{V}$ . The frequency response exceeds $1\mathrm{kHz}$ when the operation voltage is above $20\mathrm{V}$ . When the number of periodic cycles of the rectangular voltage waveforms that are applied to the control electrodes in air exceeds $2\times {10}^6$ , the on resistance changes slightly from $25\text{to}30\Omega$ , thereby demonstrating the reliability and stability of the present plastic switches.