CAREER: High Force, High Speed Electro-Thermal Micro-Actuators: Design, Fabrications, and Applications

合适的驱动器的缺乏限制了硅基微系统的发展。 对于面内致动，最好的竞争者是静电致动器和热致动器，但前者需要高驱动电压，并且两者都传递仅约1-10 uN范围内的力。 该提案提出了一种新型的MEMS微致动器，其承诺力增加100倍，驱动电压降低10倍。 它们利用局部热应力引起的变形，在不影响位移的情况下有效地产生大的力。这些装置将通过两种互补的方法进行设计，并通过数值分析结合实验的优化设计进一步完善。 将开发提供直线、圆形和定制运动轨迹的设计，并根据性能标准进行评估，如输出力和位移、输入功率、驱动电压、响应速度、设备寿命、轨迹误差、机械振动等。 设计将在多种技术中制造，以允许性能和退化机制的比较评估。无掩模工艺的变化，提出了标准技术的选择性限制的热量和电流flux.Preliminary结果表明，静态位移100微米和峰值力1 mN的标准技术是可行的功耗和响应时间最小化。 提出了几个应用程序，与互补的要求，在各个性能方面：扫描探针显微镜的定位器;定位器的光学元件在微光学机械系统;和滑动分流高频电信系统。 从长远来看，这些执行器也将用于开发触觉接口，例如用于模拟显微外科手术。一个教育目标是通过早期招募计划和与学生团体的互动，增加MEMS研究社区中代表性不足的群体的参与。 另一个是促进跨学科教育，使用实际的工程项目，迫使多个专业的融合，以填补相关部门之间的教学差距。 这些努力将通过与工业界的互动得到加强。

The absence of suitable actuators limits the development of silicon-based microsystems. For in-plane actuation, the best contenders are electrostatic and thermal actuators, but the former require high drive voltages, and both deliver forces in the range of only about 1-10 uN. This proposal addresses a new class of electrothermal microactuators that promises 100X increase force and 10X reduction in drive voltage. They leverage deformations caused by localized thermal stresses to efficiently produce large forces without compromising displacement.The devices will be designed by two complementary approaches, and further refined by numerical analysis in conjunction with optimal design of experiments. Designs that offer rectilinear, circular and customized loci of motion will be developed and evaluated for performance criteria such as output force and displacement, input power, drive voltage, response speed, device lifetime, trajectory errors, mechanical vibration, etc. Time-sequenced engines such as inchworms, which offer high displacement and force with negligible standby power, will also be developed. Designs will be fabricated in multiple technologies to permit comparative evaluations of performance and degradation mechanisms. Maskless process variations are proposed for standard technologies for selective confinement of heat and current flux, which minimize power consumption and response time.Preliminary results indicate that static displacements 100 microns and peak forces 1 mN are feasible with standard technologies. Several applications are proposed, with complementary demands on various performance aspects: a positioner for scanning probe microscopy; a positioner for optical elements in a micro-optomechanical system; and a sliding shunt for high-frequency telecommunication systems. In the long term these actuators will also be used to develop haptic interfaces, e.g. for simulating microsurgery.One educational objective is to increase the participation of under-represented groups in the MEMS research community using early recruitment programs and interaction with student groups. Another is to facilitate interdisciplinary education using practical engineering projects that force the convergence of multiple specialties to fill the pedagogical gaps between relevant departments. These efforts will be reinforced by interactions with industry.