Electrical Engineering

Low voltage MEMS actuation using Negative Capacitance

Electrostatic Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System (MEMS) actuators find use in a large spectrum of areas. Typical actuation voltages lie in the 10-100V range. However, CMOS integrated circuits typically operate with a supply voltage of around 1V. There is hence a lot of interest in the design and fabrication of actuators with sub-1V actuation voltage. A novel method to reduce the actuation voltage was proposed by Alam et al (NanoLett, 204) using the negative capacitance provided by a ferroelectric material connected in series with the MEMS actuator.

Research Collaboration with Institute for Communicative and Cognitive Neurosciences (ICCONS)

IIT Palakkad and Institute for Communicative and Cognitive Neurosciences (ICCONS), Shoranur, Kerala, have signed a research collaboration agreement on 25 September 2019 to carry out R&D programme on Assistive and Rehabilitation Technology. ICCONS is an autonomous neuro-specialty hospital & research institute established under Government of Kerala in 2000 – It is the first of its kind in Asia for comprehensive multidisciplinary management, research and rehabilitation of cognitive and communicative disorders such as Autism, Learning disability, Developmental language disorders, Mental retardation, Cerebral palsy, Hearing impairment, Stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Dementia, Aphasia, etc.