Nonlinear behavior of a magnetic microactuator

Different nonlinear behaviors have been observed on magnetically actuated devices. These devices consist of 1 mm-long, 0.5 mm-wide, 15 μm-thick silicon processed microstructures, on the top of which a magnetostrictive thin film was deposited. Starting from our preliminary experimental results, we are now studying the nature of these nonlinear behaviors, which can be mechanical, magnetic or a combination of both, depending on several parameters such as the structure design shape or thin film deposition conditions