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Microelectromechanical tunable inductor

Patent ·
OSTI ID:985228
A microelectromechanical tunable inductor is formed from a pair of substantially-identically-sized coils arranged side by side and coiled up about a central axis which is parallel to a supporting substrate. An in-plane stress gradient is responsible for coiling up the coils which. The inductance provided by the tunable inductor can be electrostatically changed either continuously or in discrete steps using electrodes on the substrate and on each coil. The tunable inductor can be formed with processes which are compatible with conventional IC fabrication so that, in some cases, the tunable inductor can be formed on a semiconductor substrate alongside or on top of an IC.
Research Organization:
Sandia Corporation (Albuquerque, NM)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
Assignee:
Sandia Corporation (Albuquerque, NM)
Patent Number(s):
7,710,232
Application Number:
11/746,147
OSTI ID:
985228
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (4)

Tunable radio frequency MEMS inductors with thermal bimorph actuators journal September 2005
A Tunable RF MEMS Inductor on Silicon Incorporating an Amorphous Silicon Bimorph in a Low-Temperature Process journal November 2006
Out-of-plane high-Q inductors on low-resistance silicon journal December 2003
Self-assembling MEMS variable and fixed RF inductors journal January 2001

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