Review of modeling electrostatically actuated microelectromechanical systems

Abstract

A wide range of microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs) and devices are actuated using electrostatic forces. Multiphysics modeling is required, since coupling among different fields such as solid and fluid mechanics, thermomechanics and electromagnetism is involved. This work presents an overview of models for electrostatically actuated MEMSs. Three-dimensional nonlinear formulations for the coupled electromechanical fluid-structure interaction problem are outlined. Simplified reduced-order models are illustrated along with assumptions that define their range of applicability. Theoretical, numerical and experimental works are classified according to the mechanical model used in the analysis.

Closed form Models for Pull-In Voltage of Electrostatically Actuated Cantilever Beams and Comparative Analysis of Cantilevers and Microgripper

“…In particular, in micromirrors, the designer avoids this instability in order to achieve stable motions. But in switching applications, the designer exploits this effect to optimize the performance of the device [3]. The pull-in problem of beams cannot be solved analytically and numerical techniques using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) are computationally expensive as they are time consuming.…”

The Influence of Couple Stress Components and Electrostatic Actuation on Free Vibration Characteristics of Thin Micro-Plates

“…It is to be mentioned here that utilizing the Galerkin weighted residual method for eliminating the spatial dependence is so usual in the creation of ROMs [3]. In this way, it is proved that employing linear mode-shapes of the system accelerates the convergence of the procedure and significantly reduces the computational costs [2,8,9].…”

“…The building blocks of these systems are some sort of electrically actuated mechanical structures such as bars, beams or plates [1]. In general, an electrically actuated micro-plate is a conductive and elastic thin plate suspended over a stationary rigid electrode and deflects toward its substrate by applying the external voltage [2]. One of the most important phenomena associated with electrically actuated micro-plates is pull-in instability which occurs when the input voltage reaches a critical value called pull-in voltage.…”

Numerical verification of the hydrodynamic reconstruction method for contact resonance atomic force microscopy

“…These advantages include: the reduction of van der Waals forces, 1,2 the elimination of capillary forces, 3,4 and the ability to image biological samples in domains that more closely resemble their native environments. 5 Additionally, the ability to accurately predict hydrodynamic forces acting on microstructures will benefit a wide range of applications including: microelectromechanical system (MEMS) design and operation, 6 energy harvesting, [7][8][9] and biomimetic propulsion. [9][10][11] The present work of estimating the hydrodynamic forces acting on cantilevered structures begins with Stokes, who developed the theory to estimate the forces acting on an infinite cylinder oscillating with small amplitude in an incompressible fluid.…”