Patent ID: 8115344

Claim:
A nanoelectromechnical switch, comprising: a substrate having a surface; a layer of conductive material in supported relation to said surface of said substrate, said layer of conductive material having defined therein a nanoelectromechanical switching structure, said nanoelectromechanical switching structure comprising: at least one contact electrode having a contact region and having an electrical signal terminal; at least one nanowire having at least one point of support in said layer of conductive material and having an electrical signal terminal, said nanowire configured to move along a plane situated within said layer of conductive material and relative to said at least one electrical contact in response to an electrical signal applied to a gate electrode to control an electrical conduction state between said at least one contact electrode and said nanowire to be a selected one of conduction and lack of conduction, said gate electrode disposed in proximity to said nanowire; and at least one pair of electrical terminals configured to provide connection of said switching structure to an external circuit; said nanoelectromechanical switching structure configured to respond to said signal applied to said gate electrode in a response time of less than 10 nanoseconds.