Electrostatic pull-in application in flexible devices: A review

Teng Cai; Yuming Fang; Yingli Fang; Ruozhou Li; Ying Yu; Mingyang Huang

doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.32

Electrostatic pull-in application in flexible devices: A review

Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2022 Apr 12:13:390-403. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.13.32. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Teng Cai^{1

2}, Yuming Fang^{1

2}, Yingli Fang^{1

2}, Ruozhou Li^{1

2}, Ying Yu^{1

2}, Mingyang Huang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Electronic and Optical Engineering & College of Microelectronics, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China.
² National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of RF Integration and Micro-Assembly Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

The electrostatic pull-in effect is a common phenomenon and a key parameter in the design of microscale and nanoscale devices. Flexible electronic devices based on the pull-in effect have attracted increasing attention due to their unique ductility. This review summarizes nanoelectromechanical switches made by flexible materials and classifies and discusses their applications in, among others, radio frequency systems, microfluidic systems, and electrostatic discharge protection. It is supposed to give researchers a more comprehensive understanding of the pull-in phenomenon and the development of its applications. Also, the review is meant to provide a reference for engineers to design and optimize devices.

Keywords: MEMS; NEM switches; electrostatics; microfluidics; pull-in.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The following sources of funding are acknowledged: the Open research fund of the National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of RF Integration and Micro-Assembly Technology (KFJJ20180201) and Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX21_0273).