STTR Phase I: Long Stroke Micromachined Arrayed Cell Electrostatic Actuators for Highly Integrated Micro-Positioning

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是推进高度集成的节能微致动器技术的开发。 所有具有机械运动部件的电动系统都利用致动器将电能转换为机械运动，包括机器人，手术/医疗微型设备，精密微/纳米定位系统以及智能手机和平板电脑中的紧凑型相机模块（CCM）等光学系统。 嵌入紧凑型相机模块的机电致动器市场在2018年估计为2 + B美元。 该项目将推进CCM光学系统的技术发展。该小型企业技术转移研究第一期项目旨在探索阵列单元静电（ACE）致动器的商业化。 单个微尺度致动器单元的布置类似于生物肌细胞的布置，允许增加大量单元的力和位移，导致数百微米的大致动器位移。 在几十微米高的电极之间的致动器单元内的亚微米静电换能气隙通过利用牺牲层技术的体微机械加工制造工艺来实现。 亚微米换能间隙导致每致动器体积的大的工作输出和较低的工作电压，这两者都是静电致动器的主要限制因素。 该项目特别关注微型镜头操纵器，以取代紧凑型相机模块中的传统音圈电机（VCM），实现自动对焦（AF）和光学图像稳定（OIS）功能。 目标致动器可以导致更紧凑的CCM，具有改进的自动对焦和图像稳定性能，更低的功耗，并且VCM热量不会使图像传感器性能恶化。技术工作将集中在芯片级低功耗5自由度（DOF）微透镜操纵器的设计，制造和表征，适用于紧凑型相机模块。 将对制造的原型进行全面的长期可靠性和耐久性测试，以确定执行器的局限性和可行性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to advance the development of a highly integrated power-efficient micro-actuator technology. All electrically powered systems with mechanical moving parts utilize actuators to convert electrical energy into mechanical motion, including robots, surgical/medical micro-devices, precision micro/nano-positioning systems, and optical systems like the Compact Camera Modules (CCM) in smartphones and tablets. The market for electromechanical actuators embedded in compact camera modules was an estimated $2+ B in 2018. The proposed project will advance a technology for these CCM optical systems.This Small Business Technology Transfer Research Phase I project aims to explore commercialization of arrayed cell electrostatic (ACE) actuators. Arrangement of individual micro-scale actuator cells, resembling that of biological muscle cells, allows addition of force and displacements of a large number of cells, leading to large actuator displacements of hundreds of microns. Submicron electrostatic transduction airgaps within the actuator cells between electrodes tens of microns tall are realized via a bulk micromachining fabrication process utilizing a sacrificial layer technique. Submicron transduction gaps lead to large work output per actuator volume and lower operating voltage, both of which are major limiting factors for electrostatic actuators. This project specifically focuses on micro-lens manipulators to replace conventional Voice Coil Motors (VCM) in compact camera modules for Auto-Focus (AF) and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) functions. The targeted actuators can lead to more compact CCMs with improved auto-focus and image stabilization performance, lower power consumption, and without the VCM heat deteriorating the image sensor performance. The technical efforts will focus on design, fabrication, and characterization of a chip-scale low-power 5-degree of freedom (DOF) micro-lens manipulator suitable for use in compact camera modules. Comprehensive long-term reliability and durability tests will be performed on the fabricated prototypes to determine the limitations and viability of the actuators.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.