Surface-micromachined gear trains driven by an on-chip electrostatic microengine

Author

Sniegowski, J.J. ; Garcia, E.J.

Author_Institution

Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque, NM, USA

Volume

17

Issue

7

fYear

1996

fDate

7/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

366

Lastpage

368

Abstract

Test results for a polysilicon, surface-micromachined, electrostatically-actuated microengine driving multiple gears are presented. The microengine provides output in the form of a continuously rotating output gear (50 μm in diameter) that is capable of delivering torque to additional geared mechanisms. The microengine can be operated at varying speeds and its motion can be reversed. A rotational speed of up to 200000 r/min while driving multiple gears has been obtained. Drive of a 1600 μm diameter optical shutter has also been demonstrated. The resultant microengine and gear train, produced by polysilicon surface-micromachining techniques, are completely batch-fabricated without the need for piece-part assembly.

Keywords

batch processing (industrial); electrostatic devices; elemental semiconductors; engines; micromachining; micromotors; motor drives; silicon; variable speed drives; Si; batch fabrication; microengine; multiple gear train; on-chip electrostatic actuation; optical shutter; polysilicon; rotational speed; surface micromachining; torque; Assembly; Electrostatics; Fabrication; Gears; Hydraulic actuators; Internal combustion engines; Micromotors; Optical switches; Testing; Torque;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electron Device Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0741-3106

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/55.506369

Filename

506369