Design and characterization of MEMS thermal actuator

This presents a MEMS thermal actuator which has been fabricated using SOI MUMPs technology. These thermal actuators are used in micro legs, micro grippers, micro positioning applications etc. The operating principle is based on the asymmetrical thermal expansion of the beams with different lengths and cross sections. By applying voltage (current) on different contact pads, and different beams are heated, thereby the microactuator can produce bilateral motion in plane or out-of-plane. The narrow or hot arm heats up and expands more than the wide or cold arm deflecting the device toward the cold arm. Thermal actuators are more power efficient than electrostatic actuators. The work carries the characterization details of the thermal actuator fabricated. It contains the I-V characteristics and voltage versus displacement details.