Revolutionizing Relays: Menlo Micro & Corning’s Glass‑Based Micromechanical Switches

Advanced switches overcome traditional shortcomings to deliver fast operation, extended lifetimes, high power performance and microscopic package size.

Solid‑state switches and electromechanical relays are ubiquitous in power‑management applications, yet they suffer from energy loss, high cost, weight, bulk, limited performance and reliability issues. These constraints hinder the deployment of next‑generation 5G networks and the electrification of vehicles, renewable energy systems, and smart grids.

Menlo Micro has addressed these challenges by creating a micromechanical switch that uses Corning’s HPFS Fused Silica glass and copper‑filled through‑glass‑vias (TGV). In partnership with Corning’s Precision Glass Solutions, Menlo Micro produced switches that are up to 1,000× faster than mechanical relays, offer dramatically longer lifetimes, handle kilowatt‑class power, and fit into a footprint smaller than a human hair. These switches promise decades of reliable operation under high‑stress conditions.

A New Generation of Relays

The Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity and the widespread electrification of everything are reshaping how we connect, share data and control the world. To keep pace, microelectronics must evolve in unprecedented ways.

Next‑generation switches must be faster, smaller, more resilient and energy‑efficient than today’s solid‑state or electromechanical devices. Traditional solid‑state switches rely on CMOS silicon, which, as a semiconductor, inevitably leaks current and dissipates heat. Electromechanical relays, while capable of high power handling, are large, slow, and unreliable. The fundamental physics of silicon and the mechanical constraints of relays limit progress. The solution lies in advanced materials science—particularly glass.

Glass is an excellent dielectric: its resistivity is several orders of magnitude higher than high‑resistivity silicon, preventing energy loss. Corning’s partnership with Menlo Micro expands what can be achieved with glass wafers.

Corning & Menlo Micro Collaboration

(Image source: Menlo Micro)

The partnership echoes the legacy of Thomas Edison, the inventor of the mechanical relay and founder of GE. Both companies are reinventing the relay, an electrically operated switch essential to virtually every electronic device.

Electromechanical relays can handle high power but are bulky, slow, and unreliable. Solid‑state switches are small and fast but suffer from leakage and heat. Over decades, engineers have traded one weakness for another, never achieving a perfect solution.

Menlo Micro’s micromechanical switch solves these core issues. It is smaller, lighter, faster, more efficient, and capable of handling high power while offering longer lifetimes than electromechanical relays. It also delivers superior RF performance compared to solid‑state switches, making it ideal for medical devices, communications infrastructure, aerospace, and consumer electronics.

The breakthrough was possible thanks to Corning’s ultra‑pure fused silica glass. Menlo Micro added a second glass layer containing copper‑filled TGVs that route current directly through the glass, shortening travel distance by 70%, reducing size, cost, and boosting performance.

Technical Foundations

Menlo Micro’s founders began their R&D at GE, investing more than $40 million and 12 years of research to develop a glass‑based switch solution. Their experience at GE spurred a new approach, culminating in a switch that can be mass‑produced cost‑effectively.

Collaboration with Corning’s Precision Glass Solutions brought access to high‑purity (99.999 %) fused silica wafers. The base layer is an 8‑inch wafer half a millimeter thick; the TGV layer is a thinner wafer drilled with 100,000 micro‑holes (half a human hair in width) and filled with copper. The resulting device measures 5.6 mm³ and combines the power handling of an electromechanical relay with the speed, weight, reliability and size of a solid‑state switch.

By integrating TGV packaging, Menlo Micro reduces relay size by over 60 % relative to wire‑bonded designs, meeting critical SWaP‑C requirements for high‑density applications. Eliminating wire bonds also cuts package parasitics by more than 75 %, enabling higher frequencies essential for 5G, test instrumentation, aerospace and defense.

Hermetic glass packaging removes unnecessary interconnects that have limited relay performance for decades, enhancing reliability while reducing overall size and cost.

Menlo Micro and Corning are scaling production and making the switches more affordable. Corning’s proprietary via design delivers hermetic, copper interconnects that support mass production, while other industries are exploring TGV for glass packaging and bezel‑less displays.

Menlo Micro’s switch technology has demonstrated reliability exceeding 10 billion switching cycles, with a roadmap to 20 billion, while handling hundreds of volts and tens of amps. It achieves kilowatt‑class power handling in a micromechanical device with excellent electrical performance, compact size, and low cost compared to traditional relays and solid‑state switches.

Using TGV packaging, Menlo is developing RF relays with bandwidths from DC to 26 GHz, aiming to surpass 50 GHz. The platform serves battery management, home automation, electric vehicles, military, professional radios, 5G base stations and the IoT.

Ramping Production

Since October 2020, Menlo Micro has shipped devices from its 8‑inch, high‑volume production line to more than 60 leading customers. Unlike single‑device electromechanical relays, thousands of micromechanical switches are fabricated simultaneously in a wafer‑level batch process—an automated, scalable method used in the semiconductor industry.

Conclusion

Corning’s 170‑year legacy in glass innovation—from the first lightbulb to modern smartphone displays—now supports a new generation of micromechanical relays. Together, Corning and Menlo Micro are delivering tiny, energy‑efficient switches built from high‑purity glass, enabling the electrification of everything and the deployment of 5G, AI, and IoT networks.

— Chris Giovanniello, Co‑Founder & SVP of Worldwide Marketing, Menlo Micro.

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Menlo Micro was featured among EE Times’ top 100 emerging startups to watch in its 21st edition.

The Silicon 100 lists the most promising electronics and semiconductor startups of the past year.

Read the new Silicon 100, available digitally from EE Times Store.

>> This article was originally published on our sister site, EE Times Europe.

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