NDLI: A high force low area MEMS thermal actuator

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Sinclair, M.J.
Copyright Year	2000
Description	Author affiliation: Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA (Sinclair, M.J.)
Abstract	This paper presents a new type of MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) actuator consisting of an array of in-plane micro-fabricated thermal buckle-beam actuators. The technology used in MEMS actuators is typically magnetic, electrostatic or thermal. Magnetic actuators may require special materials in the fabrication process while electrostatic actuators typically require high voltages, large chip areas and produce very low forces. Thermal actuators have seen some use in MEMS applications, the most popular being the pseudo-bimorph that relies on differential expansion of a cold and hot arm to cause it to bend in-plane (parallel to the substrate). These thermal actuators typically generate on the order of a few micro-Newtons each but can be combined for larger forces by linking with small tendons. A disadvantage of this type of actuator is that it moves in an are where most desired movements are linear. Also, when combined in an array, the linking tendons consume much of the energy in bending them. Also, arrays of these can still occupy a fairly large chip area. The electro-thermal actuator described here resembles a chevron where an array of buckle-beams are packed close together and link two common anchored arms with a movable third arm. Arrays can be made within a single released micromachined layer and generate many mN of force. Additional actuators can be arrayed with no coupling penalty and occupy much less area that an equivalent pseudo-bimorph actuator. Preliminary tests indicate that a 450/spl times/120 /spl mu/m array consumes 240 mW of power, deflection up to 14 /spl mu/m and can produce many milli-Newtons. A chip of actuator geometry variations and different applications has been fabricated and tested.
Starting Page	127
Ending Page	132
File Size	612570
Page Count	6
File Format	PDF
ISBN	0780359127
ISSN	10899870
DOI	10.1109/ITHERM.2000.866818
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2000-05-23
Publisher Place	USA
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Thermal force Micromechanical devices Electrostatic actuators Magnetic materials Joining processes Tendons Testing Microelectromechanical systems Fabrication Voltage
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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