Impact of negative capacitance on the energy-delay property of an electromechanical relay

The energy-delay characteristics of a nanoelectromechanical (NEM) relay can be improved incomparably by using negative capacitance (NC) in a ferroelectric capacitor. This can augment the internal voltage of a device, which is larger than the externally applied voltage. In this study, the energy-delay product of an NC + NEM relay (in which the ferroelectric capacitor is connected to a switching electrode of an NEM relay in series), as well as the adhesion force of the relay, is investigated. The enhanced energy-delay property of an NEM relay is demonstrated theoretically. (C) 2019 The Japan Society of Applied Physics