Dependence of chaotic actuation dynamics of Casimir oscillators on optical properties and electrostatic effects

Abstract

Abstract. With Casimir and electrostatic forces playing a crucial role for the performance and stability of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), the presence of chaotic behavior, which is often unavoidable, leads to device malfunction due to stiction. Therefore, we investigate here how the optical properties of different materials influence the chaotic behavior of electrostatic torsional MEMS due to changes in magnitude of the Casimir forces and torques. We consider the materials Au, which is a good conductor, AIST, which is a phase change material being close to metal in the crystalline state, and finally doped SiC as a very poor conductor. For the conservative systems, there is no chaotic behavior and the analysis of phase portraits and bifurcation diagrams reveal the strong sensitivity of stable actuation dynamics on the material optical properties, while applied electrostatic potentials lead faster to instability and stiction for higher conductivity materials. For the driven systems, the Melnikov method is used to study the chaotic behavior. The results from this method are supported by the study of the contours of the transient time to stiction in the phase plane, which reveal a substantially increased chaotic behavior for higher conductivity materials, associated with stronger Casimir torques and applied electrostatic potentials.

Next Generation Design and Prospects for Cannex

“…A non-exhaustive list contains the non-trivial dependence on spectral dielectric properties [142][143][144][145], vanishing influence of layers much thinner than the electromagnetic penetration depth [146], non-trivial geometry [147,148], the existence of lateral forces [149], and repulsive configurations [150] 2 (for a review of experimental data, see References [151,152]). Further motivation came from the significance of the Casimir effect for micro-electromechanical devices [153][154][155][156]. However, a more fundamental question soon emerged that refers to the nature of virtual photons and their treatment in theory.…”

Next generation design and prospects for CANNEX

“…A non-exhaustive list contains the non-trivial dependence on spectral dielectric properties [142][143][144][145], vanishing influence of layers much thinner than the electromagnetic penetration depth [146], non-trivial geometry [147,148], the existence of lateral forces [149], and repulsive configurations [150] 2 (for a review of experimental data, see References [151,152]). Further motivation came from the significance of the Casimir effect for micro-electromechanical devices [153][154][155][156]. However, a more fundamental question soon emerged that refers to the nature of virtual photons and their treatment in theory.…”

Efficient Reduction of Casimir Forces by Self-assembled Bio-molecular Thin Films

“…The Casimir effect influences the behavior of MEMS/NEMS [8,9] and leads to 'stiction' -the unintended adhesion of surfaces by vacuum forces. In present devices, having typical surface separations of a few µm, the strongest impact of Casimir forces is seen near the so-called pull-in [10][11][12] instability and via nonlinear effects [13][14][15][16]. However, also direct applications such as Casimir-actuated devices [17,18], optical choppers [19], and Casimir-driven rotary machines [20][21][22][23] have been investigated.…”