Enhanced travel range bipolar tri-electrode electrostatic actuator using extended background electrode

Mehdi Allameh; Byoungyoul Park; Cyrus Shafai

doi:10.1117/12.2607847

1 March 2022 Enhanced travel range bipolar tri-electrode electrostatic actuator using extended background electrode

Mehdi Allameh, Byoungyoul Park, Cyrus Shafai

Proceedings Volume 12013, MOEMS and Miniaturized Systems XXI; 120130G (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2607847
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2022, San Francisco, California, United States

Conference Poster

Abstract

Electrostatic actuators have been widely employed in optical MEMS and adaptive optics systems. Tri-electrode electrostatic actuators that possess a perforated intermediate electrode between the MEMS and an underlying primary electrode, have been developed to reduce the needed control voltage. This configuration has previously been shown to improve the controllable range of motion of the MEMS an additional 60 - 70 % compared to a conventional parallel plate actuator. In this paper, the effect of extending the size of the primary electrode beyond the width of the MEMS device is studied. The presence of the intermediate electrode provides partial isolation for the MEMS, and results in an electric field from the extended primary electrode reaching the top surface of the MEMS. This enables a lifting force that counteracts the attraction force from below, thereby increasing the actuator’s controllable travel range. This effect is dependent on the size of the MEMS with respect to the spacing from the intermediate electrode (D₁). Finite Element Method (FEM) along with restoring spring force method (RSFM) are employed to study the actuator performance. The extended configuration is studied in a narrow MEMS device (with width 16D₁) and a very narrow device (cantilever type width 6.5D₁) to explore the travel range extension as a function of MEMS device size. The travel range before snap down of the narrow actuator with extended electrode showed an improvement of over 80% to that of a conventional electrostatic actuator, while the very narrow MEMS achieved 2.3 times more controllable travel distance.

Citation Download Citation

Mehdi Allameh, Byoungyoul Park, and Cyrus Shafai "Enhanced travel range bipolar tri-electrode electrostatic actuator using extended background electrode", Proc. SPIE 12013, MOEMS and Miniaturized Systems XXI, 120130G (1 March 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2607847

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