Title :
An out-of-plane electro-thermal polymer actuator
Author :
Zhang, Dan ; Ding, Guifu ; Zhu, Lida ; Cheng, Jifeng
Author_Institution :
Nat. Key Lab. of Nano/Micro Fabrication Technol., Shanghai Jiaotong Univ., Shanghai
Abstract :
An out-of-plane micro thermal polymer actuator, which is designed with the bimorph effect, is presented. This actuator has a bi-layer structure, which consists of SU-8 photoresist encapsulating meandering nickel heater and passive Ni top layer. The actuator has a symmetric configuration. This paper demonstrates its design, simulation, fabrication and device tests. This actuator bends vertically when energized. With a size of 0.38 mm times 0.23 mm, it demonstrated a maximal vertical displacement of 24 mum at 1.4 V driving voltage and at 20 mW input power, at an average temperature of 95degC. The stiffness of the actuator is of 36 N/m along perpendicular direction, and it can generate a vertical force of 0.98 mN in this direction.
Keywords :
encapsulation; microactuators; photoresists; polymers; SU-8 photoresist encapsulating; bilayer structure; bimorph effect; electro-thermal polymer actuator; power 20 mW; size 24 mum; temperature 95 C; voltage 1.4 V; Actuators; Educational technology; Fabrication; Heating; Inorganic materials; Nickel; Polymer films; Semiconductor materials; Thermal expansion; Voltage; FEM; Out-of-plane actuator; polymer actuator;
Conference_Titel :
Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems, 2008. NEMS 2008. 3rd IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Sanya
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-1907-4
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-1908-1
DOI :
10.1109/NEMS.2008.4484414
