Patent ID: 9682855
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: B81B,H01H,H01L

Claim:
1. A method of operating an electromechanical switching device, the method comprising: actuating, via an actuation mechanism, at least one of a first electrode and a second electrode; the first electrode comprising layers of a first 2D layered material, which layers exhibit a first surface; the second electrode stacked over the first electrode and comprising layers of a second 2D layered material, which layers exhibit a second surface opposite the first surface; and wherein each of the first and second 2D layered materials has an anisotropic electrical conductivity, which is lower transversely to its layers than in-plane with the layers; wherein actuation of at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode changes an amount of overlap between the first electrode and the second electrode for modification of an electrical conductance transverse to each of the first surface and the second surface to enable current modulation between the first electrode and the second electrode, such that a first actuation results in no overlap, a second actuation results in a partial overlap, and a third actuation results in a complete overlap; wherein the first surface of the first electrode and the second surface of the second electrode comprise concave polygons having a same shape, dimension, and orientation; and wherein the first electrode comprises two distinct areas alongside the first surface such that the electrical conductance transverse to the first surface and the second surface changes non-linearly and non-parabolically as a function of both the amount of overlap between the first electrode and the second electrode and the shape of the first and second surfaces.