Relay Races

Abstract

This article illustrates that micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) promises relief to designers seeking a smaller electromechanical option. A MEMS relay could offer the true ON/OFF characteristics of its conventional electromechanical equivalent in a device small enough to be integrated on the same die with semiconductor circuits. Raytheon Co.’s radio and terminal business in Fort Wayne, Ind., a unit of the Command, Control and Communication Systems division, believes MEMS will help produce highly efficient, software-controlled, digital radios for the military. The MEMS devices would replace solid-state switches and their associated components used to switch frequencies in communications systems. With fewer components, size, weight, and power consumption will shrink. The pursuit of a MEMS relay has developers experimenting with various actuating mechanisms and researching the materials and fabrication challenges associated with those mechanisms. Radant Technology plans to incorporate the Analog Devices design in a balloon-borne radar antenna that will scan for incoming cruise missiles from a height of 15,000 feet.