High-performance surface-micromachined inchworm actuator

This work demonstrates a polycrystalline silicon surface-micromachined inchworm actuator that exhibits high-performance characteristics such as large force (±0.5 millinewtons), large velocity range (0 to ±4.4 mm/sec), large displacement range (±100 microns), small step size (±10, ±40 or ±100 nanometers), low power consumption (nanojoules per cycle), continuous bidirectional operation and relatively small area (600 × 200μm²). An in situ load spring calibrated on a logarithmic scale from micronewtons to millinewtons, optical microscopy and Michelson interferometry are used to characterize its performance. The actuator consists of a force-amplifying plate that spans two voltage-controlled clamps, and walking is achieved by appropriately sequencing signals to these three components. In the clamps, normal force is borne by equipotential rubbing counterfaces, enabling friction to be measured against load. Using different monolayer coatings, we show that the static coefficient of friction can be changed from 0.14 to 1.04, and that it is load-independent over a broad range. We further find that the static coefficient of friction does not accurately predict the force generated by the actuator and attribute this to nanometer-scale presliding tangential deflections.