Patent ID: 7642885

Claim:
A magnetic device, comprising: a substrate; a movable body attached to said substrate having a rotational axis, said movable body having at least a first end and a second end and comprising a first permanent magnet having a first magnetic field and a permanent magnetization moment; a switching element having a coil which can be energized or de-energized, wherein said coil is energized by passing a current through said coil for generating a switching magnetic field which has a main component primarily perpendicular to said permanent magnetization moment in the region where said switching magnetic field goes through first permanent magnet, and as a result of the vector-cross product of said switching magnetic field and said permanent magnetization moment, producing a torque on said first permanent magnet and causing said movable body to rotate about said rotational axis; wherein said switching element is controllable to maintain said movable body in at least one stable state related to said substrate.