Thin‐Film‐Shaped Flexible Actuators

Pang, Wenbo; Xu, Shiwei; Liu, Liya; Bo, Renheng; Zhang, Yihui

doi:10.1002/aisy.202300060

Cited by 9 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 319 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This working capability is due to a reversible martensitic transformation between the high-temperature phase (austenite) and the low-temperature phase (martensite) through a structural phase transition involving an atomic lattice shearing, by shuffling and distortion of the austenite lattice; see the textbooks [ 3 , 4 , 5 ] for a review of the fundamental aspects of SMA. In recent years, emerging flexible technologies have incorporated thin films of SMA into the design of auxetic materials [ 6 ] and mechanical metamaterials [ 7 , 8 ], as well as stretchable electronics [ 9 ], origami-inspired or programmable surfaces [ 10 , 11 ], and in general, all technologies of thin-film flexible actuators [ 12 ]. In addition, because of the advent of miniaturization, many research efforts have focused on the characterization of SMA at the micro- and nanometer scale in order to develop active micro-/nanodevices; devices such as microgrippers [ 13 ], microswitches [ 14 ], microvalves [ 2 ], microwrappers [ 15 ], and bimorph actuators [ 16 ] have already been developed for MEMS applications; see [ 17 , 18 ] for a review in this field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Stability of Cu-Al-Ni Shape Memory Alloy Thin Films Obtained by Nanometer Multilayer Deposition

Gómez-Cortés,

Nó,

Chuvilin

et al. 2023

Nanomaterials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cu-Al-Ni is a high-temperature shape memory alloy (HTSMA) with exceptional thermomechanical properties, making it an ideal active material for engineering new technologies able to operate at temperatures up to 200 °C. Recent studies revealed that these alloys exhibit a robust superelastic behavior at the nanometer scale, making them excellent candidates for developing a new generation of micro-/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS). The very large-scale integration (VLSI) technologies used in microelectronics are based on thin films. In the present work, 1 μm thickness thin films of 84.1Cu-12.4 Al-3.5Ni (wt.%) were obtained by solid-state diffusion from a multilayer system deposited on SiNx (200 nm)/Si substrates by e-beam evaporation. With the aim of evaluating the thermal stability of such HTSMA thin films, heating experiments were performed in situ inside the transmission electron microscope to identify the temperature at which the material was decomposed by precipitation. Their microstructure, compositional analysis, and phase identification were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometers. The nucleation and growth of two stable phases, Cu-Al-rich alpha phase and Ni-Al-rich intermetallic, were identified during in situ heating TEM experiments between 280 and 450 °C. These findings show that the used production method produces an HTSMA with high thermal stability and paves the road for developing high-temperature MEMS/NEMS using shape memory and superelastic technologies.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Stability of Cu-Al-Ni Shape Memory Alloy Thin Films Obtained by Nanometer Multilayer Deposition

Gómez-Cortés,

Nó,

Chuvilin

et al. 2023

Nanomaterials

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Mixed‐Transducer Micro‐Origami for Efficient Motion and Decoupled Sensing

Zhu,

Ghrayeb,

et al. 2024

Small

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This work introduces a mixed‐transducer micro‐origami to achieve efficient vibration, controllable motion, and decoupled sensing. Existing micro‐origami systems tend to have only one type of transducer (actuator/sensor), which limits their versatility and functionality because any given transducer system has a narrow range of advantageous working conditions. However, it is possible to harness the benefit of different micro‐transducer systems to enhance the performance of functional micro‐origami. More specifically, this work introduces a micro‐origami system that can integrate the advantages of three transducer systems: strained morph (SM) systems, polymer based electro‐thermal (ET) systems, and thin‐film lead zirconate titanate (PZT) systems. A versatile photolithography fabrication process is introduced to build this mixed‐transducer micro‐origami system, and their performance is investigated through experiments and simulation models. This work shows that mixed‐transducer micro‐origami can achieve power efficient vibration with high frequency, large vibration ranges, and little degradation; can produce decoupled folding motion with good controllability; and can accomplish simultaneous sensing and actuation to detect and interact with external environments and small‐scale samples. The superior performance of mixed‐transducer micro‐origami systems makes them promising tools for micro‐manipulation, micro‐assembly, biomedical probes, self‐sensing metamaterials, and more.

show abstract

Electricity‐Driven Strategies for Bioinspired Multifunctional Swimming Marangoni Robots Based on Super‐Aligned Carbon Nanotube Composites

Lin,

Qian,

Zhou

et al. 2024

Small

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Marangoni actuators that are propelled by surface tension gradients hold significant potential in small‐scale swimming robots. Nevertheless, the release of “fuel” for conventional chemical Marangoni actuators is not easily controllable, and the single swimming function also limits application areas. Constructing controllable Marangoni robots with multifunctions is still a huge challenge. Herein, inspired by water striders, electricity‐driven strategies are proposed for a multifunctional swimming Marangoni robot (MSMR), which is fabricated by super‐aligned carbon nanotube (SACNT) and polyimide (PI) composite. The MSMR consists of a Marangoni actuator and air‐ambient actuators. Owing to the temperature gradient generated by the electrical stimulation on the water surface, the Marangoni actuators can swim controllably with linear, turning, and rotary motions, mimicking the walking motion of water striders. In addition, the Marangoni actuators can also be driven by light. Importantly, the air‐ambient actuators fabricated by SACNT/PI bilayer structures demonstrate the function of grasping objects on the water surface when electrically Joule‐heated, mimicking the predation behavior of water striders. With the synergistic effect of the Marangoni actuator and air‐ambient actuators, the MSMR can navigate mazes with tunnels and grasp objects. This research will provide a new inspiration for smart actuators and swimming robots.

show abstract

Thin‐Film‐Shaped Flexible Actuators

Cited by 9 publications

References 319 publications

Thermal Stability of Cu-Al-Ni Shape Memory Alloy Thin Films Obtained by Nanometer Multilayer Deposition

Thermal Stability of Cu-Al-Ni Shape Memory Alloy Thin Films Obtained by Nanometer Multilayer Deposition

Mixed‐Transducer Micro‐Origami for Efficient Motion and Decoupled Sensing

Electricity‐Driven Strategies for Bioinspired Multifunctional Swimming Marangoni Robots Based on Super‐Aligned Carbon Nanotube Composites

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About