New electro-thermally actuated micromanipulator with optimized design and FEM simulations analyses

This paper presents the designs for a new configuration of an electro-thermally actuated SU-8 polymeric micro-manipulator. The electro-thermally driven micromanipulators were studied using computer simulations, based on finite element method (FEM) performed with CoventorWare software tool. Numerical coupled electro-thermomechanical and transient electro-thermal simulations were performed. The simulation results were used to analyze the statically and dynamical behaviour of the micromanipulator. We investigated the influence of the temperature achieved in the arms and the `in plane´ deflections of the tips, as function of the applied voltage. The numerical investigations show a good mechanical behaviour of the micromanipulators, so that they are suitable to operate in air and in liquid. We realize a comparison between the results and found the optimal configuration. Preliminary results of the fabrication of a SU-8 micromanipulator structure are presented, using surface micromachining technique.