Analysis of Electrostatic MEMS Using Energy-Charge Landscape

Abstract

A common way to analyze electrostatic Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) actuators is to use their energy-displacement landscape. Here, we introduce an alternative approach to analyze electrostatic MEMS actuators using their energy-charge landscape. This technique involves coordinate transformation from displacement to charge, thereby formulating the Hamiltonian of electrostatic MEMS actuators in terms of charge. We present the first investigation on using the energycharge landscape to analyze static pull-in, dynamic pull-in and pull-out phenomena in a unified manner. The voltage expressions derived using this method are identical with those derived using the conventional energy-displacement landscape. In addition, we also obtain the expressions for charge under static and dynamic pull-in conditions. This work can aid in the design and analysis of electrostatic MEMS devices.