Title

A Nonlinear Electrical Resonator as a Simple Touch-Sensitive Switch with Memory

Authors

Lars Q. English, Dickinson College
Mauro David Lifschitz, Dickinson College
Sunil Acharya

Roles

Student author: Mauro David Lifschitz

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2013

Department

Physics

Language

English

Publication Title

Circuits and Systems

Abstract

We introduce a novel switching mechanism that relies on the bistability of a simple nonlinear electrical resonator which incorporates a varactor diode as its capacitive element. The switching action can be made fast and is self-contained in that no further circuitry is necessary. Unlike a flip-flop, whose state is flipped by applying a TTL pulse, this nonlinear switch can be engaged external to the circuit via magnetic, inductive or capacitive coupling; in this way, the switch becomes intrinsically touch-sensitive. Alternatively, the switching action can also be accomplished using frequency-shift-keying (FSK) modulation, which holds the promise of fast manipulation of the memory state. We demonstrate the potential application of these ideas by constructing a touch-sensitive LED lattice.

Comments

This published version is made available on Dickinson Scholar with the permission of the publisher. For more information on the published version, visit Scientific Research Publishing's Website.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.4236/cs.2013.41001

Recommended Citation

English, Lars Q., Mauro David Lifschitz, and Sunil Acharya. "A Nonlinear Electrical Resonator as a Simple Touch-Sensitive Switch with Memory." Circuits and Systems 4, no.1 (2013): e27282 . http://www.scirp.org/Journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=27282