Title :
A Highly Accurate Pull-in Voltage Model for an Atomic Force Microscope Probe
Author :
Chowdhury, Sazzadur ; Ghosh, Liton
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada
Abstract :
A readily usable closed-form model has been developed to determine the pull-in voltage of an atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever probe under electrostatic actuation. The analytical model is derived based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, Taylor series expansion of the nonlinear electrostatic force, and deflection function of the first natural mode of a cantilever beam. The model takes account of the electrostatic force associated with the fringing field capacitances between the cantilever probe and the substrate to predict a more accurate pull-in voltage. The developed closed-form model has been verified by comparing the model predicted values with published experimental results with a maximum deviation of 3.36%. The model has also been compared with a published closed-form model and 3-D electromechanical finite element analysis (FEA) carried out by the authors. The results are found to be in excellent agreement.
Keywords :
atomic force microscopy; cantilevers; electrostatic actuators; finite element analysis; micromechanical devices; probes; 3D electromechanical finite element analysis; AFM cantilever probe; Euler-Bernoulli beam theory; FEA; Taylor series expansion; atomic force microscope probe; closed-form model; deflection function; electrostatic actuation; fringing field capacitance; microelectromechanical system; nonlinear electrostatic force; pull-in voltage model; Analytical models; Atomic force microscopy; Capacitance; Electrostatic actuators; Finite element methods; Predictive models; Probes; Structural beams; Taylor series; Voltage; Atomic force microscope (AFM) probe; electrostatic; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); pull-in voltage;
Journal_Title :
Sensors Journal, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JSEN.2009.2029453
