Design of large deflection electrostatic actuators

Grade, J.D.; Jerman, H.; Kenny, Thomas W.

doi:10.1109/jmems.2003.811750

Cited by 200 publications

(167 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Furthermore, the advance of micro-and nanolithography technology makes the manufacturing of MEMS devices more reproducible and inexpensive. There are numerous MEMS devices around us such as micro accelerometers [45,46], DMD [45,47,48], MEMS pressure sensors [49,50], micropumps [58][59][60], microvalves [61], optical switches [62,63], inkjet heads, microgrippers [64,65], and microactuators [66][67][68][69][70]. For examples, MEMS accelerometers are employed for crashairbag deployment in automobiles and for motion detection in consumer electronic devices such as game controllers (e.g., Nintendo Wii), iPhone and other smartphones.…”

Section: Electronics and Microsystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review on Micro- and Nanolithography Techniques and their Applications

2012

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Abstract. This article reviews major micro-and nanolithography techniques and their applications from commercial micro devices to emerging applications in nanoscale science and engineering. Micro-and nanolithography has been the key technology in manufacturing of integrated circuits and microchips in the semiconductor industry. Such a technology is also sparking revolutionizing advancements in nanotechnology. The lithography techniques including photolithography, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam lithography, soft lithography, nanoimprint lithography and scanning probe lithography are discussed. Furthermore, their applications are summarized into four major areas: electronics and microsystems, medical and biotech, optics and photonics, and environment and energy harvesting.

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Section: Electronics and Microsystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review on Micro- and Nanolithography Techniques and their Applications

2012

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“…The microactuators, in particular, have achieved remarkable progress in many fields [1,2], being able to generate forces or displacements to perform scanning, tuning, manipulating, or delivering functions [1][2][3][4]. It was not until the last decades that a large number of actuators have been developed for various applications, usually driven by electrostatic [5], electromagnetic [6], thermal [7], piezoelectric [8], and Lorentz forces [9,10]. The application of piezoelectric microactuators is challenging, since a considerably high driving voltage is needed to attain practical forces or displacements, and thus the real-world application of the actuators is still limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Characterization of In-Plane Piezoelectric Microactuators

et al. 2017

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In this paper, two different piezoelectric microactuator designs are studied. The corresponding devices were designed for optimal in-plane displacements and different high flexibilities, proven by electrical and optical characterization. Both actuators presented two dominant vibrational modes in the frequency range below 1 MHz: an out-of-plane bending and an in-plane extensional mode. Nevertheless, the latter mode is the only one that allows the use of the device as a modal in-plane actuator. Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations confirmed that the displacement per applied voltage was superior for the low-stiffness actuator, which was also verified through optical measurements in a quasi-static analysis, obtaining a displacement per volt of 0.22 and 0.13 nm/V for the low-stiffness and high-stiffness actuator, respectively. In addition, electrical measurements were performed using an impedance analyzer which, in combination with the optical characterization in resonance, allowed the determination of the electromechanical and stiffness coefficients. The low-stiffness actuator exhibited a stiffness coefficient of 5 × 10 4 N/m, thus being more suitable as a modal actuator than the high-stiffness actuator with a stiffness of 2.5 × 10 5 N/m.

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“…Electrostatic effect of comb actuators were well investigated analytically (3) and numerically (4) . Recently, research on micromachined comb actuator focuses on the structure design to obtain large displacement and high stability (5) (6) . Comb actuators have been used in many applications, such as optical switches (7) , micro positioning systems, xy-microstages (8) , on-a-chip drug delivery systems (9) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Fabrication of Polymer Electrostatic Comb-Drive Actuators for Micro Conveyer Systems

et al. 2006

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We report a design, simulation and preliminary fabrication of Micro Conveyer System (MCS) based on polymer electrostatic comb-drive actuators using polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). This MCS consists of linear comb actuators, rotational comb actuators, micro containers, rollers and a ratchet mechanism. Micro containers, used for carrying micro and nano samples such as protein, cells, are moved by comb-actuators through the ratchet mechanism. They can move straight, turn left or right. Each module of MCS, which has dimension of 1x1cm 2 , can be assembled to create more complex conveyance systems for different applications (Fig. 1).To prove the working principle of the ratchet mechanism and the MCS, silicon MCS with the same design was fabricated first, (Fig. 2). Movement of the micro container has been tested with driving voltage (Vpp) of 100V, and driving frequency ranges from 1Hz to 50Hz.To fabricate a PMMA comb-drive actuator, a silicon mold has to be fabricated first by using silicon wafer and ICP-RIE process, and then hot embossing will be applied to fabricate the MCS, (Fig. 3). A PMMA substrate is hot embossed by using the silicon mold and embossing jig. Embossing temperature, molding force and embossing time are 180°C, 4500N and 10 minutes, respectively. De-molding is performed at 80°C with de-molding rate is 1µm/min.Second method to fabricate PMMA MCS is using X-ray lithography. This method will feature very high aspect ratio and very smooth surface.Salient advantages of PMMA comb-drive actuators and MCS are low cost, high throughput and consuming less energy compared with the counterpart using silicon because PMMA has a lower Young's modulus. The simulation results show that the driving voltage in PMMA actuator is almost hundred times smaller than that of silicon actuator with the same dimension. MemberWe propose the design, simulation and preliminary fabrication of Micro Conveyer Systems (MCS) based on polymer electrostatic comb-drive actuators using polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). This MCS consists of linear comb actuators, rotational comb actuators, micro containers, and a ratchet mechanism. Micro containers, used for carrying micro and nano samples such as protein, cells, are moved by comb-actuators through the ratchet mechanism. The silicon MCS was fabricated and checked to confirm characteristics and working principles. Each PMMA MCS, which has dimension of 1x1cm 2 , will be fabricated by using hot embossing technique or X-ray lithography. A silicon mold has to be fabricated first by using silicon wafer and ICP-RIE process. Salient advantages of PMMA comb-drive actuators are low cost, high throughput and consuming less energy compared with the counterpart using silicon because PMMA has a lower Young's modulus.

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Design of large deflection electrostatic actuators

Cited by 200 publications

References 20 publications

Review on Micro- and Nanolithography Techniques and their Applications

Review on Micro- and Nanolithography Techniques and their Applications

Design and Characterization of In-Plane Piezoelectric Microactuators

Design and Fabrication of Polymer Electrostatic Comb-Drive Actuators for Micro Conveyer Systems

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