100 NM Thick Aluminum Nitrade Based Piezoelectric Nano Switches Exhibiting 1 MV Threshold Voltage via Body-Biasing

This paper reports on the first demonstration of aluminum nitride (AIN) piezoelectric logic switches that were fabricated with ultra-thin (100nm) AIN films and exhibit a 1 mV threshold voltage via the body-biasing scheme. The application of a relatively low (\u3c 6 V) fixed potential to the body terminal of a 4-terminal switch has been cycled to \u3e 109 cycles and, although the contact resistance was found to be high (~ 1 MΩ), the nano-films have functioned throughout to show high piezoelectric nano-film reliability

Piezoelectric aluminum nitride nanoelectromechanical actuators

This letter reports the implementation of ultrathin (100 nm) aluminum nitride (AlN) piezoelectric layers for the fabrication of vertically deflecting nanoactuators. The films exhibit an average piezoelectric coefficient (d31~−1.9 pC/N), which is comparable to its microscale counterpart. This allows vertical deflections as large as 40 nm from 18 µm long and 350 nm thick multilayer cantilever bimorph beams with 2 V actuation. Furthermore, in-plane stress and stress gradients have been simultaneously controlled. The films exhibit leakage currents lower than 2 nA/cm2 at 1 V, and have an average relative dielectric constant of approximately 9.2 (as in thicker films). These material characteristics and actuation results make the AlN nanofilms ideal candidates for the realization of nanoelectromechanical switches for low power logic applications

Ultra Thin AlN Piezoelectric Nano-Actuators

This paper reports the first implementation of ultra thin (100 nm) Aluminum Nitride (AlN) piezoelectric layers for the fabrication of vertically deflecting nano-actuators. An average piezoelectric coefficient (d31~ 1.9 pC/N) that is comparable to its microscale counterpart has been demonstrated in nanoscale thin AlN films. Vertical deflections as large as 40 nm have been obtained in 18 μm long and 350 nm thick cantilever beams under bimorph actuation with 2 V. Furthermore, in-plane stress and stress gradients have been simultaneously controlled. Leakage current lower than 2 nA/cm2 at 1 V has been recorded and an average relative dielectric constant of approximately 9.2 (as in thicker films) has been measured. These material characteristics and preliminary actuation results make the AlN nano-films ideal candidates for the realization of nanoelectromechanical switches for low power logic applications