Reconfigurable and Parallel Computable Soft Mechanical Switch by Liquid Metal

Introducing soft materials with deformability and flexibility into mechanical switches may help to develop new types of soft mechanical switches with special properties such as reconfigurable characteristics and parallel computing. However, recently developed soft mechanical switches still have low on/off ratio, slow response time, and insufficient durability. Here, a soft mechanical switch based on liquid metal and a zigzag structure is constructed through strain engineering strategy with high on/off ratio (R/R-0 > 10(7)), short response time ((similar to)0.2 s), long-term durability (> 2000 times), and self-healing performance which is outstanding than the reported ones. With the switch, a mechanical unit is designed and all types of logic gates can be constructed by programming switches. Such multiple switches can also be used to perform parallel computing and achieve intelligent information processing.