Title :
High speed, large motion electrostatic artificial eyelid
Author :
Goodwin-Johansson, S. ; Davidson, M. ; Dausch, D. ; Holloway, P.H. ; McGuire, G.
Author_Institution :
MCNC, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
Abstract :
The fabrication, testing and performance of a new device for the protection of optical sensors are described. The device consists of a transparent substrate, a transparent conducting electrode, insulating polymers, and a reflective top electrode layer. Using standard fabrication techniques, arrays of apertures can be created with sizes ranging from micrometers to millimeters. A stress gradient resulting from different thermal coefficients of expansion between the top polymer layer and the reflective metal electrode, rolls back the composite thin film structure from the aperture area following the chemical removal of a release layer. The application of a voltage between the transparent conducting and reflective metal electrodes creates an electrostatic force that unrolls the curled film, closing the artificial eyelid. Fabricated devices have been completed on glass substrates with indium tin oxide electrodes. The curled films have diameters of less than 100 /spl mu/m with the arrays having fill factor transparencies of over 80%.
Keywords :
arrays; electrostatic actuators; image sensors; military equipment; polymer films; thermal expansion; 100 micron; ITO; ITO electrodes; InSnO; aperture arrays; composite thin film structure; curled film diameters; electrostatic force; fill factor transparencies; glass substrates; high speed large motion electrostatic artificial eyelid; infrared imaging system protection; insulating polymers; optical sensor protection; polyimide dielectric; reflective top electrode layer; stress gradient; thermal coefficients of expansion; top polymer layer; transparent conducting electrode; transparent substrate; Apertures; Electrodes; Electrostatics; Eyelids; Optical device fabrication; Optical films; Polymer films; Substrates; Testing; Thermal stresses;
Conference_Titel :
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 2002. The Fifteenth IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7185-2
DOI :
10.1109/MEMSYS.2002.984345