Downsizing Effects on Micro and Nano Comb Drives

Abstract

Downscaling has been a focal task of Electronics and Electromechanics in the last few decades, and a great engine for technological progress as well. Nevertheless, a scaling operation affects device physics, functioning and performance. The present paper investigates about the impact of scaling on a test case compliant electrostatic micro or nano actuator that is under development with two preferred micro fabrication methods, namely, thick SOI and thin amorphous silicon. A series of numerical trials on materials strength, electro-mechanical characteristics, sensitivity and overall actuation performance have been carried out at different grades of down-scaling and of aspect ratio. This gave rise to new design charts that we propose here as a predictive and friendly guide to select the most appropriate micro fabrication method.

On the Dependency of the Electromechanical Response of Rotary MEMS/NEMS on Their Embedded Flexure Hinges’ Geometry

“…The structure under test is selected by isolating the actuation part from a more complex device that is currently under fabrication, as shown in the SEM image of Figure 1a. Its operational characteristics have been already extensively demonstrated [55], while Conjugate Surfaces Flexure Hinges (CSFHs) [36] and rotary comb-drives [12,20] have been also widely discussed in the recent past. The design specifications lead to the selection of monocrystalline silicon as the structural material due to its exceptional mechanical and electrical properties.…”

“…As an inevitable implication of this downscaling trend [11], the conceptualization of a new device must face many challenges, such as adapting the design to significant changes in its physics, studying new classes of materials specifically suitable for the individual application, and focusing on power consumption and energy efficiency [12,13].…”

Evaluation of Dynamic Triple Modular Redundancy in an Interleaved-Multi-Threading RISC-V Core

“…In the last few decades, the growing complexity of electronic systems employed in the automotive, aerospace, military, and generally in safety-critical applications has increased the importance of fault-tolerant design and fault simulation. Moreover, the probability of faults in digital electronic devices has increased with technology scaling, voltage margin reduction, and statistical process variations magnification [1][2][3]. As a consequence, faulttolerance (FT) techniques for functional safety support in microprocessor cores have become a requisite in many system designs.…”

A Cantilever-Based Piezoelectric MEMS for Arbitrary XY Path Generation

“…Among the large variety of technical difficulties in building downscaled devices [21], the actuation of multi-DoF (Degrees of Freedom) micro-or nano-systems is rather cumbersome because it makes the control of the effects of single or multiple actuators more difficult. Possible strategies consist in resorting to control techniques [22,23], kinematic synthesis [13,24] or topology [25].…”