New Screen-printed Thermal Microactuator

A new process derived from the screen-printing technology and based on thick-film sacrificial layers has been developed for the fabrication of electrothermal microactuators. Studies of physico-chemical and functional properties of the actuator as well as comparison with analytical simulations confirm the validity and efficiency of the process. Compared to silicon, the metallic electrothermal actuator offers the possibility of producing small deflections with large driving forces. Preliminary experiments and simulations show that the buckling effect would be suitable for applications with such thick-film metallic actuators.