AC-Powered MEMS Logic for Harsh Environments

There are applications where it is of interest to place systems with logic circuits in high temperature or high radiation environments where conventional electronics would be unable to operate, or face serious difficulties. A further challenge is that attractive power sources such as acoustic, inductive or capacitive power transfer provide power as AC, and conventional electronics requires this to be processed to DC. Here we propose a new type of logic based on electrostatically actuated switches which can be implemented as metal MEMS and work directly off an AC power-source which also provides the function of a clock. The concept is explored by simulations and we demonstrate logic circuits run by either two- or three-phase AC supplies.