Investigation of Output Mechanical Power Limits on High-Torque Electrostatic Actuators Using High-Frequency Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Camera Combined with Image Processing Software

The following work investigates output mechanical power limits of electrostatic micromotors using stator/rotor contact interactions. Loading characteristics of micrometer size motors monolithically coupled with elastic polysilicon torque sensors are measured through an high-frequency complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) camera combined with a specific image processing software. Short duration video sequences recorded during the rotor braking are analyzed by tracking of a target pixel attached to the tested devices. Output mechanical power limits are measured through electrostatic probing on the wafer level within a few milliseconds. Experiments point out an unusual mechanical power per mass unit which is as high as 100 W/gr, considering driving frequencies on the order of 100 kHz.