Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., California Univ., Los Angeles, CA
Abstract :
Ferromagnetic sensors and actuators have been extensively studied on the microscale and have led to the development of optical switches [Judy, JW & Muller, RS, 1997], magnetically-tunable frequency-selective surfaces [Zendejas, J, et al., 2002], magnetic assembly of out-of-plane-MEMS devices [Chen, J, et al., 2001], and low-power to zero-power magnetometers [Yang, HH, et al., 2002; Vasquez, DJ & Judy, JW, 2004]. For many devices and applications there exist advantages in reducing the size of the system. The authors of this paper are studying the benefits and limitations of decreasing the scale of magnetic actuators. We have designed, fabricated, and tested torsional magnetic actuators that consist of a 1250-nm-long, 85-nm-wide, and 30-nm-thick magnetic element that is attached to a pair of 50-nm-thick, 100-nm-wide, and 2000-nm-long torsion beams
Keywords :
electromagnetic actuators; microactuators; 100 nm; 1250 nm; 2000 nm; 30 nm; 50 nm; 85 nm; single-domain limit; torsion beams; torsional magnetic actuators; Electrostatic actuators; Magnetic devices; Magnetic domain walls; Magnetic domains; Magnetic fields; Magnetic materials; Micromechanical devices; Nanobioscience; Proteins; Saturation magnetization; MEMS; actuator; magnetic; nano; single-domain; superparamagnetic;
