A demonstration system, which is being exhibited in Europe for the first time, at PCIM in Nuremberg, is based on the MM9200, a 300V, 10A MicroElectro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) switch.
The device employs Menlo’s Ideal Switch technology to provide an ultra-low on-resistance, metal-on-metal contact to eliminate wasted power. The MM9200 is a high-power SPST micro-electromechanical relay that is smaller, more efficient and is said to deliver higher performance than equivalent solid-state relay (SSR) and electro-mechanical relay (EMR) alternatives.
The demonstration will replicate a use case for the MM9200 in a real-world application currently being designed for the US Navy and will be deployed in one of the world’s most advanced circuit breakers, supporting up to 1,000V and 10,000A.
This is, according to the company, an important proof of concept and opens up a wide range of power control and protection applications, from milliwatts to megawatts, leveraging Menlo’s Ideal Switch technology.
Arrays of MM9200 switches are configured for microsecond speed protection in 1000V / 125A modules. Four modules are combined into hot-swapable systems, and multiple systems are deployed in parallel to scale to accommodate higher power requirements.
Unlike other solutions, the negligible power dissipation of the Ideal Switch removes the need for compromises with the design so as to accommodate heat management while simultaneously enabling power management and control systems to be constructed in a fraction of the space.
Commenting Menlo Micro CEO Russ Garcia said, “Our MEMS products provide highly reliable performance because they are well established and based on existing semiconductor manufacturing processes.
“Our products are based on a unit cell architecture that can scale across low and medium voltage power control application needs. We have an exciting collaboration with the U.S. Navy on the development of future advance circuit breakers.”
Garcia added, “In addition to defence applications, we are engaging customers across power control and protection applications with our MM9200 solution. As we commercialise this platform further, we anticipate scaled adoption across many major markets, including factory automation, data centres, smart grid infrastructures, EV charging infrastructure, building management and much more.”
