ABSTRACT
The search for steep subthreshold slope devices has been intensified during the past few years due to the significant increases in the subthreshold leakage currents of CMOS transistors. Nanoelectromechanical switches (NEMS) are very promising steep subthreshold devices that offer the prospect of improved energy efficiency in digital circuits. Their near-zero subthreshold leakage and unique device architectures provide exciting circuit design opportunities. NEMS devices also allow high-temperature (>500°C) operation (Lee et al., 2010) and are relatively immune to radiation damage that can cause logical errors in charge-based devices (George, 2003). However, certain concerns must be addressed, before NEMS-based circuits can be implemented in main-stream digital chips; reliability issues, performance limitations, and scalability challenges must be investigated and resolved. This chapter presents a brief overview of NEMS operation and methods for modelling, analysis, and design of NEMS-based digital circuits. It also provides a critical analysis of the promises and challenges of NEMS technology. Preliminary circuit implementations and simulations indicate that clever design of NEMS-based circuits can offer better energy efficiency than their CMOS counterparts. Therefore, NEMS-based circuits are expected to find wide usage in low-power applications where longer battery lives are necessities.
