Toward the Design of a Reconfigurable Liquid-Metal Pixel Array

Pixelated liquid-metal (LM) arrays have shown promise in realizing versatile, reconflgurable RF components. However, unused LM pixels introduce parasitic effects. Here we demonstrate comparative designs of a pixelated nodal LM array combining electrocapillary and continuous electrowetting actuation methods. LM is actuated both two dimensionally and three dimensionally to switch between "ON" and "OFF" states. Unused LM elements are hidden at a bottom reservoir during the OFF state, eliminating their parasitic effect.