Investigation of contact resistance of TiN-TiN contacts for nanoswitches

Nano-electromechanical (NEM) are of interest to address the static and/or dynamic power loss challenges [1]-[4] in digital logic applications. Such mechanical switches prevent any leakage current from forming an air gap that separates the electrical contacts when the device is in the OFF state. The subthreshold swing can also be effectively reduced to less than 1 mV/decade [5], which can further reduce the power consumption. NEM switches can potentially operate at ∼1 mV and will consume up to ∼106 times less power than MOSFETs. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of NEM switches in terms of operation, reliability, and integration in IC applications is necessary for achieving ultra-low power computing.