In a hard disk drive, the angular alignment of the read/write head relative to a data track varies with the radial position of the track, increasing a risk of data track misregistration. We present a frictionless rotary micromotor which can be used as a secondary stage actuator to maintain a constant angle between the head and the tracks during disk operation. The monolithic device is fabricated in single-crystal silicon using a single mask process based on standard Silicon-On-Insulator micromachining. The motor employs a flexural suspension of the rotor to avoid any mechanical contact during operation, enabling precise, repeatable and reliable stepping motion without feedback control. The preliminary experimental characterization of a prototype with a diameter of 1.15 mm has demonstrated a rotational range of 4.2° (+/−2.1°) at 45 V and a resolution of 0.14° in a coarse stepping mode.
Copper micro-coil arrays have been designed and realised by electroplating for the actuation of arrays of optical matrix micro-switches. The good operation of the micro-switches needs large force that is well fulfilled by the electromagnetic actuation of copper micro-coils. The electromagnetic behavior of the actuator has been examined using the simulator FLUX2D TM and an optimised configuration of ferromagnetic materials was determined. Arrays of micro-coils with high aspect ratio have been achieved with the use of SU8 resin mould. The diameters of micro-coils range from 0.5 millimeters to 4 millimeters with thickness of about 30 micrometers and few tens of turns. Electric measurements have been done in order to characterize the micro-coils.
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