Sensors: Integrated Piezoresistive Sensing for Compliant Microdevices

杨百翰大学将传感功能集成到微型设备中是一个巨大的挑战，因为使用的传感器往往比它们监控的设备大。顺应性微机构可以提供一种方法来克服与各种应用中的传感器集成相关的困难。柔顺微器件利用柔性构件的偏转来获得它们的运动，从而在微观水平上产生所需的特性。这些特点包括使用现有方法的可制造性、高精度运动和高可靠性。尚未充分利用的顺应机制的一个显著优势是，它们的物理属性会随着设备的移动而变化。由于它们的运动来自于顺应性元件中的应变，因此材料的任何应变敏感特性(如电阻率)将随着设备的移动而改变。该项目打算在微型设备的控制和功能中利用这种合规设备的内在传感能力。柔顺机构固有的传感器概念对于微电子机械系统(MEMS)来说是强大和可行的。这一传感概念提供的功能可使许多应用受益，包括：微型纳米定位器、非接触力阈值探测器、用于微型设备的力传感器、可靠的双稳微开关和非易失性非接触式机械存储器。

Abstract0428532PI: Timothy W. McLain Brigham Young UniversityThe integration of sensing capabilities into microdevices is a significant challenge because the sensors used are often larger than the devices they monitor. Compliant micromechanisms may provide a means of overcoming the difficulty associated with sensor integration in a variety of applications. Compliant microdevices use the deflection of flexible members to obtain their motion, which results in desirable characteristics at the micro level. These characteristics include manufacturability using existing methods, high-precision motion, and high reliability. A significant advantage of compliant mechanisms that has yet to be fully exploited is that they have physical properties that change as the device moves. Since their motion comes from strain in the compliant elements, any strain-sensitive properties of the material (such as electrical resistivity) will change as the device moves. This intrinsic sensing capability of compliant devices is an asset that this project intends to utilize in the control and function of micro devices. The concept of sensors intrinsic to compliant mechanisms is powerful and enabling for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Numerous applications could benefit from the functionality provided by this sensing concept including: micro-sized nanopositioners, non-contact force threshold detectors, force transducers for microdevices, reliable bistable microswitches, and nonvolatile noncontact mechanical memory.This is a project supported under Sensors Initiative NSF 04-522.