Characterization of Work and Power Efficiency of Micromachined Polymer Thermal Actuators

In this paper, an analysis is completed on three distinct styles of thermal actuator fabricated in a polymer micromachining process. These actuators are the most reliable way of producing force and deflection on the microscale using polymers. A variety of designs have been fabricated and tested for displacement characteristics and force output, and show great promise for high force applications. Polymer thermal actuators operate at far lower temperatures than silicon thermal actuators, and produce large forces and deflections. Comparisons of polymer thermal actuators to silicon actuators indicate that they can be several orders of magnitude more effective with respect to work output for a given input power.