DocumentCode :
384820
Title :
A novel electro-thermally driven bi-directional microactuator
Author :
Liao, KO-Min ; Chueh, Chin-Chiang ; Chen, Ronashun
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Power Mech. Eng., Nat. Tsing Hua Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan
fYear :
2002
fDate :
2002
Firstpage :
267
Lastpage :
274
Abstract :
In this study, an electrothermal microactuator for bi-directional motion is designed and fabricated using surface micromachining processes. The in-plane horizontal motion of the device is based on the uneven thermal expansion of the structure with different beam widths, while the out-of-plane vertical motion is driven by electrostatic force through using the principle of lever to allow bending the beam upward and to enlarge the tip deflection. This microactuator has the advantages of CMOS-compatible, low operation voltage, and simple fabrication processes. The expected applications for the proposed devices are micro switches, micromanipulators, micro optical tweezers, etc. Finite element method (FEM) analysis is used to simulate the electrothermomechanical behavior of the device and to demonstrate the feasibility of our design for bi-directional motions under different applied voltages. The relationship between the applied voltage and the displacement is found, and the performance of the presented design has been examined. Finally, the deviation between simulated and measured results is discussed.
Keywords :
digital simulation; electronic engineering computing; finite element analysis; microactuators; micromachining; thermal analysis; CMOS-compatible low-operation voltage; FEA; FEM; electrostatic force; electrothermally-driven bi-directional microactuator; electrothermomechanical behavior; finite element method; in-plane horizontal motion; micro optical tweezers; micro switches; micromanipulators; out-of-plane vertical motion; surface micromachining processes; tip deflection enlargement; Bidirectional control; Electrostatics; Electrothermal effects; Low voltage; Microactuators; Micromachining; Optical device fabrication; Optical switches; Thermal expansion; Thermal force;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Micromechatronics and Human Science, 2002. MHS 2002. Proceedings of 2002 International Symposium on
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7611-0
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/MHS.2002.1058045
Filename :
1058045
Link To Document :
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