A Reprogrammable Mem Switch Utilizing Controlled Contact Welding

The feasibility of controllably welding and unwelding the contacting electrodes of a micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) switch for non-volatile information storage is investigated via experimental study. It is demonstrated that MEM switches can be programmed and erased with relatively small voltage (< 3V) and that they have excellent retention characteristics at elevated temperature (200°C). This shows that it is possible to implement MEM switches for ultra-low-power computing with non-volatile memory "on-chip" at zero incremental fabrication cost.