1. Low-power electrothermal actuation for microelectromechanical systems
- Author
-
Paul M. Dentinger, Fabian W. Strong, Steven E. Gianoulakis, and Jack L. Skinner
- Subjects
Microelectromechanical systems ,Materials science ,Mechanical Engineering ,Mechanical engineering ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,Computer Science::Other ,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials ,Power (physics) ,Contact force ,Computer Science::Robotics ,Computer Science::Systems and Control ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Actuator ,Reduction (mathematics) ,Low voltage ,Order of magnitude ,Voltage - Abstract
Electrothermal actuation has been used in microelectromechanical systems where low actuation voltage and high contact force are required. Power consumption to operate electrothermal actuators has typically been higher than with electrostatic actuation. A method of designing and processing electrothermal actuators is presented that leads to an order of magnitude reduction in required power while maintaining the low voltage, high force advantages. The substrate was removed beneath the actuator beams, thereby discarding the predominant power loss mechanism and reducing the required actuation power by an order of magnitude. Measured data and theoretical results from electrothermally actuated switches are presented to confirm the method.
- Published
- 2008