A micromachined impact microactuator driven by electrostatic force

Author

Mita, Makoto ; Arai, Makoto ; Tensaka, Shouichi ; Kobayashi, Dai ; Fujita, Hiroyuki

Author_Institution

Inst. of Ind. Sci., Univ. of Tokyo, Japan

Volume

12

Issue

1

fYear

2003

fDate

2/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

37

Lastpage

41

Abstract

This paper presents a novel micromachined actuator which is developed to produce precise and unlimited displacement. The actuator is driven by impact force between a silicon micro-mass and a stopper. The suspended silicon micro-mass is encapsulated between two glass plates and driven by electrostatic force. When the mass hits the stopper which is fixed on glass plates, impact force is generated to drive the whole actuator in a nano size step (∼10 nm). The overall dimension of the device is 3 mm ×3 mm. The driving voltage is 100 V and average speed is 2.7 μm/s. The total thickness is 600 μm.

Keywords

electrostatic actuators; elemental semiconductors; micromachining; silicon; sputter etching; 100 V; 2.7 micron/s; 3 mm; 600 micron; Si; average speed; displacement; driving voltage; electrostatic force; glass plates; impact force; micromachined impact microactuator; nano size step; suspended silicon micro-mass; Acceleration; Displacement control; Electrodes; Electrostatic actuators; Friction; Glass; Microactuators; Silicon; Suspensions; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microelectromechanical Systems, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1057-7157

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JMEMS.2002.802906

Filename

1183740