Design Considerations for Complementary Nanoelectromechanical Logic Gates

The operation and performance of complementary nanoelectromechanical (CNEM) logic gates are investigated. NEMS structures featuring dimensions 2 to 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the present MEMS relays are considered. Various metals are benchmarked to silicon as the cantilever beam material. We show that the CNEM inverters featuring laterally actuated beams, 10 nm gap and low density materials such as Si or Al can achieve nanosecond pull-in delay and sub-0.1 fJ switching energy at V
_DD
= 1.5 V while occupying an area as small as 0.03 mum
²
.