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Modelling and fabrication of microspring thermal actuator

Modelling and fabrication of microspring thermal actuator
Modelling and fabrication of microspring thermal actuator
A new spring type microelectrothermal actuator with greatly enhanced displacement is proposed. Instead of using a single long chevron actuator, several chevrons are folded into a number of sections to become a spring-like actuator. Insulating beams with a very low thermal expansion coefficient are used to form cross-linkages thereby avoiding displacement in the x-direction. As the actuator is heated up under bias, thermal expansion of the material leads to displacement in the y-direction only. FEMLAB simulation shows that for each device, the displacement linearly increases with increasing arm length. By introducing folded arms, the device size is substantially decreased whilst still delivering a large displacement, which is proportional to the number of arms. Hence the displacement that can be achieved by thermal actuation is significantly increased. For instead, the displacement for chevron with l=400µm is ~17µm and the size of ~800_50µm. A spring actuator consists of four chevrons with l=100um, it delivers a 12.5µm displacement with a size of only ~220_100µm. As comparing with a single chevron actuator with l=100µm, the folded spring delivers almost 4 times the displacement. A 2-mask stages process is used to fabricate the device. A freestanding electroplated Ni spring arms without the cross-linkages has already been fabricated.
spring electro-theraml, actuator, modelling
0-9728422-7-6
355-358
Nano Science and Technology Institute
Luo, J.K.
8185819a-b66e-4f4c-bc66-62ad6b0f98e8
Flewitt, A.J.
54a7d844-ba97-4c7e-a5ad-81d2b67382fb
Spearing, S.M.
9e56a7b3-e0e8-47b1-a6b4-db676ed3c17a
Fleck, N.A.
0f3592b8-1ecf-4d56-b4cb-d8749bc253b0
Milne, W.I.
3061f67c-bf3b-48fa-a193-8ca53fec82f3
Luo, J.K.
8185819a-b66e-4f4c-bc66-62ad6b0f98e8
Flewitt, A.J.
54a7d844-ba97-4c7e-a5ad-81d2b67382fb
Spearing, S.M.
9e56a7b3-e0e8-47b1-a6b4-db676ed3c17a
Fleck, N.A.
0f3592b8-1ecf-4d56-b4cb-d8749bc253b0
Milne, W.I.
3061f67c-bf3b-48fa-a193-8ca53fec82f3

Luo, J.K., Flewitt, A.J., Spearing, S.M., Fleck, N.A. and Milne, W.I. (2004) Modelling and fabrication of microspring thermal actuator. In Nanotech 2004 Vol.1: Technical Proceedings of the 2004 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show. Nano Science and Technology Institute. pp. 355-358 .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

A new spring type microelectrothermal actuator with greatly enhanced displacement is proposed. Instead of using a single long chevron actuator, several chevrons are folded into a number of sections to become a spring-like actuator. Insulating beams with a very low thermal expansion coefficient are used to form cross-linkages thereby avoiding displacement in the x-direction. As the actuator is heated up under bias, thermal expansion of the material leads to displacement in the y-direction only. FEMLAB simulation shows that for each device, the displacement linearly increases with increasing arm length. By introducing folded arms, the device size is substantially decreased whilst still delivering a large displacement, which is proportional to the number of arms. Hence the displacement that can be achieved by thermal actuation is significantly increased. For instead, the displacement for chevron with l=400µm is ~17µm and the size of ~800_50µm. A spring actuator consists of four chevrons with l=100um, it delivers a 12.5µm displacement with a size of only ~220_100µm. As comparing with a single chevron actuator with l=100µm, the folded spring delivers almost 4 times the displacement. A 2-mask stages process is used to fabricate the device. A freestanding electroplated Ni spring arms without the cross-linkages has already been fabricated.

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More information

Published date: 2004
Additional Information: Chapter 8: MEMS design and application
Venue - Dates: NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Boston, USA, 2004-03-07 - 2004-03-11
Keywords: spring electro-theraml, actuator, modelling

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 23280
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/23280
ISBN: 0-9728422-7-6
PURE UUID: 8f0e88a8-db54-4dbb-84af-de9652a43926
ORCID for S.M. Spearing: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3059-2014

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Mar 2006
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 02:59

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Contributors

Author: J.K. Luo
Author: A.J. Flewitt
Author: S.M. Spearing ORCID iD
Author: N.A. Fleck
Author: W.I. Milne

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