Design and fabrication of a novel micro electromagnetic actuator

A novel technique for the fabrication of micro electromagnetic actuators was proposed and a prototype was designed and fabricated in this study. The constituent parts of the designed actuator are comprised of a diaphragm, a micro coil, and a magnet. When an electrical current was applied to the micro coils, the magnetic force between the magnet and the coil was produced and caused the diaphragm to deflect and become the source of actuation. The structure of the actuating device used polyimide as the insulating barrier and electroplated copper as the coils. The diaphragm deflection can be regulated by varying the current passed through the micro coil and hence the actuating effects can be controlled. The results show that the maximum diaphragm deflection within elastic limits is 150 mum, obtained as applying a current of 0.6 A through the micro coil with 100 mum line width. The micro electromagnetic actuator proposed in this study is easily fabricated and is readily integrated with existing bio-medical chips due to its plane structure.