Tri-electrode MEMS electrostatic actuator with lower control voltage and higher stroke for actuator array implementations

Allameh, Mehdi; Shafai, Cyrus

doi:10.1016/j.elstat.2021.103635

Cited by 6 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The tri-electrode topology was already introduced and studied in [33] using FEM and restoring spring force method (RSFM). All the design parameters were investigated, and their influence on the actuator performance was reported.…”

Section: Tri-electrode Topologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The design parameters to be considered in the tri-electrode actuator are the perforation size (W E ) and spacing (W S ) of the intermediate electrode, the separation of the MEMS moving electrode from the intermediate electrode (D 1 ), the separation of the intermediate electrode to the underlying primary electrode (D 2 ), and the fixed voltage on the bottom primary electrode (V P ). The tri-electrode performance varies depending on these various design parameters [33].…”

Section: Tri-electrode Topologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As shown in figure 2, there are two gaps between the trielectrode electrodes to consider, one between the intermediate electrode and MEMS (D 1 ), and the other between the intermediate and the primary electrodes (D 2 ). According to [33], which only considered air gap in the region between the fixed electrodes, the ratio of the D 2 to D 1 should always be larger than 1 to have a considerable reduction in controlling voltage. It was previously shown that the controlling voltage tends to increase with increasing relative permittivity of the spacer material between intermediate and primary electrodes.…”

Section: Tri-electrode Topologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In [33,34], a novel tri-electrode topology was introduced to reduce the controlling voltage and increase the deflection range. In this topology, two stacked electrodes are used, forming a compact structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experimental analysis of a low controlling voltage tri-electrode MEMS electrostatic actuator for array applications

Allameh

Zhou²,

Chen³

et al. 2023

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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A tri-electeode electrostatic actuator with one moving MEMS electrode and two stationary electrodes (tri-electrode actuator topology) is experimentally tested in this article. The stationary controlling (intermediate) electrode is perforated and below the moving MEMS electrode, while the common electrode is further below. Numerical simulations were performed to discover the optimal design parameters for a tri-electrode electrostatic actuator in comparison to a conventional two electrode electrostatic actuator. A silicon-based moving MEMS electrode was designed with a relatively linear spring constant, and the controlling intermediate and primary stationary electrodes were fabricated on either side of a quartz substrate instead of free space to simplify their fabrication. The measurement results showed that the tri-electrode topology can control the displacement of the MEMS with a lower controlling voltage and with extended controllable range before pull-in instability, compared to the conventional actuator. Simulations and measurements showed that the controlling voltage was reduced by 2.6 times compared to the conventional actuator design employing a bipolar driven intermediate electrode, while the controllable deflection range before pull-in was elevated by 33%. This tri-electrode design offers benefits for applications in need of arrays of electrostatic actuators such as deformable mirrors.

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Section: Tri-electrode Topologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tri-electrode Topologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tri-electrode Topologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Experimental analysis of a low controlling voltage tri-electrode MEMS electrostatic actuator for array applications

Allameh

Zhou²,

Chen³

et al. 2023

J. Micromech. Microeng.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The electrostatic actuators or devices used in these application areas have sizes ranging from millimeters to centimeters, unlike many other micro-scale electrostatic actuators in the MEMS field [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Electrostatic film actuators are some of these macro- or meso-scale electrostatic actuators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slider Sheet Detection in Charge-Induction Electrostatic Film Actuators

Kojima

Yoshimoto

Yamamoto

2023

Sensors

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This work analyzes a built-in slider detection method for a charge-induction type electrostatic film actuator with a high surface-resistance slider. In the detection method, one stator electrode is detached from the parallel driving electrodes and is dedicated to sensing. When a slider with induced charges moves over the sensing electrode, electrostatic induction occurs in the sensing electrode, which causes an electric current. The current is converted to a voltage through a detection resistance, which will be an output of the sensing circuit. This paper provides a framework to analyze the output signal waveform and shows that the waveform consists of two components. One component is caused by driving voltage and appears regardless of the existence of a slider. The other component corresponds to the movement of a slider, which appears only when a slider is moving over the sensing electrode. Therefore, the slider can be detected by monitoring the latter component. The two components generally overlap, which makes the detection of the latter component difficult in some cases. This paper proposes a method to decouple the two components by switching the detection resistance at an appropriate time. These methods are verified using a prototype actuator that has an electrode pitch of 0.6 mm. The actuator was driven with a set of pulse voltages with an amplitude of 1000 V. The experimental results show similar waveforms to the analytical results, verifying the proposed analytical framework. The performance of the sensing method as a proximity sensor was verified in the experiments, and it was confirmed that the slider can be detected when it approaches the sensing electrode within about 3 mm.

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On geometrically nonlinear mechanics of nanocomposite beams

Vaccaro

2022

International Journal of Engineering Science

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Tri-electrode MEMS electrostatic actuator with lower control voltage and higher stroke for actuator array implementations

Cited by 6 publications

References 31 publications

Experimental analysis of a low controlling voltage tri-electrode MEMS electrostatic actuator for array applications

Experimental analysis of a low controlling voltage tri-electrode MEMS electrostatic actuator for array applications

Slider Sheet Detection in Charge-Induction Electrostatic Film Actuators

On geometrically nonlinear mechanics of nanocomposite beams

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