EP1246216B1 - Electrostatic micro-relay, radio device and measuring device using the electrostatic micro-relay, and contact switching method - Google Patents

Electrostatic micro-relay, radio device and measuring device using the electrostatic micro-relay, and contact switching method Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1246216B1
EP1246216B1 EP02252164.5A EP02252164A EP1246216B1 EP 1246216 B1 EP1246216 B1 EP 1246216B1 EP 02252164 A EP02252164 A EP 02252164A EP 1246216 B1 EP1246216 B1 EP 1246216B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
movable
substrate
fixed
electrode
contact
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP02252164.5A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1246216A2 (en
EP1246216A3 (en
Inventor
Tomonori Seki
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Omron Corp
Original Assignee
Omron Corp
Omron Tateisi Electronics Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Omron Corp, Omron Tateisi Electronics Co filed Critical Omron Corp
Publication of EP1246216A2 publication Critical patent/EP1246216A2/en
Publication of EP1246216A3 publication Critical patent/EP1246216A3/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1246216B1 publication Critical patent/EP1246216B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H59/00—Electrostatic relays; Electro-adhesion relays
    • H01H59/0009—Electrostatic relays; Electro-adhesion relays making use of micromechanics
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H59/00—Electrostatic relays; Electro-adhesion relays
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01H—ELECTRIC SWITCHES; RELAYS; SELECTORS; EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE DEVICES
    • H01H59/00—Electrostatic relays; Electro-adhesion relays
    • H01H59/0009—Electrostatic relays; Electro-adhesion relays making use of micromechanics
    • H01H2059/0063—Electrostatic relays; Electro-adhesion relays making use of micromechanics with stepped actuation, e.g. actuation voltages applied to different sets of electrodes at different times or different spring constants during actuation

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an electrostatic micro-relay which switches a signal line by driving based on an electrostatic attraction force generated between electrodes, a radio device and a measuring device using the electrostatic micro-relay, and a contact switching method.
  • a voltage is applied between electrodes to generate an electrostatic attraction force to drive a movable substrate, so that a movable contact is made in contact with a fixed contact to allow signal lines provided on the fixed substrate in parallel with each other to be electrically connected.
  • slits are formed on both sides of the movable contact and protrusions are formed on the lower surface at four positions, thereby increasing the contact release force.
  • a movable substrate is elastically supported on a fixed substrate at two portions, so that signal lines are formed on the fixed substrate so as to be aligned on the same straight line, and fixed electrodes disposed on both of the sides are commonly used as high-frequency GND electrodes.
  • the signal lines are provided in parallel with each other, it is not suitable for switching of high frequency signals.
  • the protrusion contacted an opposing substrate before closing the contacts; however, it cannot be said that the position is the most suitable position in order to increase the operation characteristics.
  • the present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electrostatic micro-relay which has a simple and small-size structure that is easily manufactured at low costs and which provides a suitable contact release force, a radio device and a measuring device using the electrostatic micro-relay, and a contact switching method.
  • the invention provides an electrostaticmicro-relay which drives a movable substrate based on an electrostatic attraction force generated in a case of applying a voltage between a fixed electrode having a fixed substrate and a movable electrode having said movable substrate supported on said fixed substrate through a beam portion, and which electrically switches a fixed contact formed on said fixed substrate and a movable contact formed on said movable substrate, wherein a plurality of protrusions are provided on said movable substrate on a lower surface of said movable electrode at respective positions that are point-symmetrical with each other, with the movable contact centred thereon, wherein, either:
  • this device has a structure which is suitable for switching high frequency signals, it can switch the contact release force to two steps in accordance with changes in the electrostatic attraction force. More specifically, within a range having a weak electrostatic attraction force, the protrusion does not contact the opposing substrate, so that the movable substrate is easily deformed in accordance with the electrostatic attraction force. In contrast, within a range having a strong electrostatic attraction force, the protrusion is allowed to contact the opposing substrate, so that the movable substrate has a greater elastic force.
  • the protrusion is provided on a position, at which the fixed contact comes in contact with the movable contact and then the fixed substrate and the movable substrate contact each other, upon applying the voltage between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode without providing the protrusion. Therefore, the elastic force of the movable substrate on the movable contact side can be changed at the most suitable position for an electrostatic attraction force curve, thereby making it possible to improve the contact release property.
  • the elastic force on the movable contact side becomes large to be capable of taking along with the electrostatic attraction force curve whenever the protrusion is contacted the opposing substrate, thereby obtaining the suitable contact release force.
  • the electrostatic micro-relay having the above-mentioned structure is suitable for switching of contacts in equipment for dealing with high frequency signals such as a radio device, a measuring device and the like.
  • FIGs. 1 and 2 show an electrostatic micro-relay according to the present invention.
  • This electrostatic micro-relay has a configuration in which a movable substrate 2 is provided on an upper surface of a fixed substrate 1.
  • the fixed substrate 1 has a configuration in which a fixed electrode 4 and signal lines 5a, 5b are formed on an upper surface of a glass substrate 3.
  • the surface of the fixed electrode 4 is coated with an insulation film 6.
  • the signal lines 5a, 5b are arranged along the same straight line, and have fixed contacts 7a, 7b that are adjacent to each other on the center of the glass substrate 3 with a predetermined gap.
  • the signal lines 5a, 5b are respectively connected to connection pads 8a, 8b.
  • a connection pad 8c is formed on the side of the signal line 5b through a wiring pattern 9a.
  • a movable electrode 12 of the movable substrate 2 is electrically connected to the wiring pattern 9a and the connection pad 8c.
  • a voltage-applying connection pad 8d and a connection pad 8e connected to GND are formed on the fixed electrode 4.
  • the connection pad 8e has a function of preventing signal leak when a high-frequency signal is transmitted through the signal lines 5a, 5b.
  • the movable substrate 2 has a configuration that the movable electrode 12 is evenly supported by two first beam portions 11 extending from a support portion 10, which is elected on the upper surface of the fixed substrate 1, in a side direction.
  • the movable electrode 12 is electrically connected to the connection pad 8c through the first beam portions 11, the support portion 10, and the printed wiring 9a provided on the upper surface of the fixed substrate 1.
  • a contact base 14 is elastically supported in the center of the movable electrode 12 by a pair of second beam portions 13.
  • a movable contact 16 is provided on the lower surface of the contact base 14 through the insulating film 15. The movable contact 16 comes into contact with and is separated from the fixed contact 7 to switch the signal lines 5a, 5b.
  • protrusions 17 are respectively formed on the lower surface of the movable electrode 12 at positions that are point-symmetrical with each other with the movable contact 16 centered thereon. More specifically, the protrusions 17 are provided on a position at which the fixed contact 7 comes in contact with the movable contact 16 and then the fixed electrode 4 and the movable electrode 12 contact each other upon applying a voltage between the fixed electrode 4 and the movable electrode 12 without providing the protrusion 17.
  • the protrusions 17 when an electrostatic attraction force is exerted and the movable substrate 2 is deformed, the protrusions 17 always contacts the fixed substrate 1 before the contacts are closed. Then, the rate of an increase in the release force after the contact and a resulting reduction in contacting force is set to an optimal state.
  • the protrusions 17 are formed such that the distance between the movable electrode 12 and the fixed electrode 4 is not more than 1/3 of the gap between the separated fixed substrate 1 and the movable substrate 2 at the time of contacting against the fixed substrate 1. With this arrangement, the electrostatic attraction force becomes rapidly greater at the time when the protrusions 17 contacts the fixed substrate 1, thereby allowing the movable electrode 12 to securely adsorb to the fixed electrode 4.
  • the protrusions 17 approach to the opposing fixed electrode 4 as compared with the other portion (movable electrode 12), therefore, the electrostatic attraction force becomes greater, so that the electric field concentrates.
  • the foreign matters are attracted by the protrusions 17 having the concentrated electric field, and adhere thereto.
  • the height of the protrusions 17 might change, thereby causing instability in the operation characteristics. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 2 , non-electrode sections 18 from which the fixed electrode 4 has been removed are formed at portions opposing the protrusions 17.
  • the protrusions 17 are formed by an insulating material such as an oxide film, the non-electrode sections 18 are not necessarily required since the generated electrostatic attraction force is suppressed. Moreover, in the case when the protrusions 17 are formed to have a semi-column shape, it becomes possible to suppress the electric field concentration, and consequently to provide a structure that is less likely to attract foreign matters.
  • a fixed electrode 4 and fixed contacts 7a, 7b are formed on a glass substrate 3, which is made PYREX and the like, shown in Fig. 4(a) .
  • a printed wiring 9a, a connection pad 8a and the like, which are not shown in Fig. 4 are formed thereon.
  • an insulating film 6 is formed on the fixed electrode 4 so that the fixed substrate 1, shown in Fig. 4(c) , is completed.
  • a silicon oxide film having a dielectric constant of 3 to 6 or a silicon nitride film having a dielectric constant of 7 to 8 may be used; thus, it becomes possible to obtain a greater electrostatic attraction force, and consequently to increase a contacting force.
  • a wet etching process is carried out using TMAH having a silicon oxide film as a mask so that, as shown in Fig. 4(e) , a supporting portion 10 and protrusions 17 downwardly protruding are formed. Then, as shown in Fig. 4(f) , after providing an insulating film 15, a movable contact 16 is formed.
  • the above-mentioned SOI wafer 100 is integrally joined to the fixed substrate 1 through an anodic bonding process. Further, as shown in Fig. 4(h) , the upper surface of the SOI wafer 100 is subjected to an etching process using an alkali etching solution such as TMAH, KOH and the like, down to the silicon oxide layer 102 that is an oxide film to make it thinner. Moreover, the oxide silicon layer 102 is removed by a fluorine-based etching solution so as to expose the silicon layer 103, that is, the movable electrode 12, as shown in Fig. 4(I) .
  • an alkali etching solution such as TMAH, KOH and the like
  • the fixed substrate 1 is not limited to the glass plate 3, and this may be formed by a mono-crystal silicon substrate at least the upper surface of which is coated with an insulating film 6.
  • the first beam portion 11 is not elastically deformed to maintain a state of horizontally extending from the support member 10, so that the movable substrate 2 opposes to the fixed substrate 1 with a predetermined gap. Therefore, the movable contact 16 opens and separates from the fixed contacts 7a, 7b.
  • the first beam portion 11 is elastically deformed and the movable substrate 2 approaches to the fixed substrate 1.
  • the protrusions 17 contact the fixed substrate 1.
  • the electrostatic attraction force tends to increase as the distance between the electrodes becomes smaller.
  • the movable substrate 2 also subjects the peripheral portion of each protrusion 17 to a partial elastic deformation, so that the movable electrode 12 is attracted to adhere to the fixed electrode 4.
  • the movable contact 16 and the fixed contact 7 are closed.
  • the second beam portion 13 is deflected in addition to the first beam portion 11 as shown in Fig. 5(d) so that the movable electrode 12 is attracted to adhere to the fixed electrode 4. Therefore, since the peripheral movable electrode 12 is attracted to adhere to the fixed electrode 4, the movable contact 16 is pressed onto the fixed contact 7 through the second beam portion 13. For this reason, no irregular contact occurs, and it becomes possible to improve the contact reliability.
  • the entire movable substrate 2 is formed by a silicon wafer of a simple substance, and formed in a laterally point-symmetric manner or a cross-section line-symmetric manner, Therefore, the movable electrode 12 is less susceptible to warping and twisting, and it becomes possible to effectively prevent maloperation and dispersion in the operation characteristics, and also to ensure smooth operation characteristics.
  • the electrostatic micro-relay MR having the above-mentioned configuration has a characteristic for transmitting DC currents up to high-frequency signals preferably with little loss; therefore, this can be applied to, for example, a radio device 110 shown in Fig. 7 and a measuring device 120 shown in Fig. 8 .
  • the electrostatic micro-relay MR is connected between an inner circuit 112 and an antenna 113.
  • the electrostatic micro-relay MR is connected to the middle of each signal line connected to an object to be measured (not shown) from an inner circuit 121.
  • it since it has a small size and low power consumption, it is effectively applied to a battery-driven radio device and a measuring device a plurality of which are used.
  • Fig. 9 shows an arrangement in which the movable substrate 2 is supported by four beam portions.
  • the structure is the same as that shown in Fig. 1 except that four beam portions 11 are placed.
  • the above-mentioned electrostatic micro-relay MR may have a configuration shown in Fig. 10 .
  • the supporting section 31 is constituted by rectangular frame members installed on the upper face of the fixed substrate 30.
  • the movable substrate 40 is cantilever-supported by the coupling portion 32 from the inner edge of the supporting portion 31.
  • An insulating film 41 is formed on the under surface of the movable substrate 40, and the movable contact 42 is placed on its free-end side.
  • a protrusion 43 is formed between the movable contact 42 and the connecting portion 32 so that the movable contact 42 is allowed to contact on the fixing substrate 30 before the closing of the movable contact 42 and the fixed contact 33.
  • the protrusion 43 is formed at a position at which the movable substrate 40 is allowed to first contact the fixed substrate 30 after the closing of the contacts, it is possible to make the contacting force greater. Further, when the protrusion 43 is further installed, it is preferably installed at a position at which the movable substrate 40 is next allowed to contact on the fixed substrate 30.
  • the movable electrode 12 is formed to have a flat shape; however, a recessed section may be formed in the upper surface to have a thin structure. Thus, even it has a light-weight structure, it is possible to further improve the operation and the returning speed while maintaining desired rigidity. Moreover, the movable electrode 12 may be made thicker to have greater rigidity than the beam portion. With this configuration, all the electrostatic attraction force is made to serve as a suction force to the movable electrode 12 so that the electrostatic attraction force is effectively utilized for distorting the first beam portion 11 or the second beam portion 13.
  • the protrusions 17 are provided on the movable substrate 2; however, this may be provided on the fixed substrate 1 or each of the substrates.
  • the protrusions 17 not less than two pairs of them may be placed between the contact and the supporting portion 10.
  • another protrusion 17 is placed at a position where, after first contacting the protrusions 17, the fixed substrate 1 and the movable substrate 2 next contact each other.
  • the next protrusion 17 may be successively formed so that, in comparison with a case in which only one pair of the protrusions 17 are provided, it becomes possible to further stabilize the contacting force and the release force.
  • an electrostatic micro-relay which has a simple and small-size structure that is easily manufactured at low costs through a semiconductor process. Moreover, since the signal lines are arranged on the same straight line and the opposing movable substrates are removed, the device exerts superior high-frequency characteristics. Since a protrusion is formed on at least either one of the two substrates, it is possible to obtain a desired uniform contacting force at the time of closing contacts, and also to increase the contact release force.
  • the protrusion is provided on a position at which, if a voltage were applied between the fixed electrode and the movable electrode without the protrusion, the fixed substrate and the movable substrate would contact each other following the contact between the fixed contact and the movable contact; therefore, at the time of opening the contacts, it is possible to exert an optimal contact release force with respect to the electrostatic attraction force curve.

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  • Micromachines (AREA)
EP02252164.5A 2001-03-27 2002-03-26 Electrostatic micro-relay, radio device and measuring device using the electrostatic micro-relay, and contact switching method Expired - Lifetime EP1246216B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2001089900 2001-03-27
JP2001089900A JP3651404B2 (ja) 2001-03-27 2001-03-27 静電マイクロリレー、並びに、該静電マイクロリレーを利用した無線装置及び計測装置

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1246216A2 EP1246216A2 (en) 2002-10-02
EP1246216A3 EP1246216A3 (en) 2004-07-21
EP1246216B1 true EP1246216B1 (en) 2014-06-04

Family

ID=18944757

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP02252164.5A Expired - Lifetime EP1246216B1 (en) 2001-03-27 2002-03-26 Electrostatic micro-relay, radio device and measuring device using the electrostatic micro-relay, and contact switching method

Country Status (5)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1246216B1 (ja)
JP (1) JP3651404B2 (ja)
KR (1) KR100455949B1 (ja)
CN (1) CN1234144C (ja)
TW (1) TW550616B (ja)

Families Citing this family (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2004046019A1 (es) * 2002-11-19 2004-06-03 Baolab Microsystems S.L. Relé miniaturizado y sus usos correspondientes
DE102004010150B9 (de) * 2004-02-27 2012-01-26 Eads Deutschland Gmbh Hochfrequenz-MEMS-Schalter mit gebogenem Schaltelement und Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung
JP4540443B2 (ja) 2004-10-21 2010-09-08 富士通コンポーネント株式会社 静電リレー
JP2006147540A (ja) 2004-10-22 2006-06-08 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 電気機械スイッチ
JP2014130767A (ja) * 2012-12-28 2014-07-10 Omron Corp 静電マイクロリレーおよびその製造方法
KR101595453B1 (ko) 2014-06-30 2016-02-19 대한민국 보안등의 고정식 차광기구
KR101595456B1 (ko) 2014-06-30 2016-02-19 대한민국 보안등의 가변식 차광기구

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5278368A (en) * 1991-06-24 1994-01-11 Matsushita Elec. Works, Ltd Electrostatic relay
US6054659A (en) * 1998-03-09 2000-04-25 General Motors Corporation Integrated electrostatically-actuated micromachined all-metal micro-relays
JP3852224B2 (ja) * 1998-10-08 2006-11-29 オムロン株式会社 静電マイクロリレー
JP3796988B2 (ja) * 1998-11-26 2006-07-12 オムロン株式会社 静電マイクロリレー

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
KR20020076131A (ko) 2002-10-09
EP1246216A2 (en) 2002-10-02
JP2002289081A (ja) 2002-10-04
TW550616B (en) 2003-09-01
CN1378225A (zh) 2002-11-06
CN1234144C (zh) 2005-12-28
JP3651404B2 (ja) 2005-05-25
EP1246216A3 (en) 2004-07-21
KR100455949B1 (ko) 2004-11-08

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