Deflection of a Thin Solid Structure by a Thermal Bubble

Thermal bubbles find their diverse application areas in the MEMS (MicroElectroMechanial Systems) technology, including bubble jet printers, microactuators, micropumps, etc.. Especially, microactuators and micropumps, which use a microbubble growing by a controlled heat input, frequently involve mechanical and thermal interaction of the bubble with a solid structure, such as a cantilever beam and a membrane. Although the concept is experimentally verified that an internal pressure of the bubble can build up high enough to deflect a thin solid plate or a beam, the physics of the entire process have not yet been thoroughly explored. This work reports the experimental study of the growth of a thermal bubble while deflecting a thin cantilever beam. A physical model is presented to predict the elastic response of the cantilever beam based on the experimental measurements. The scaling law constructed through this work can provide a design guide for micro- and nano-systems that employ a thermal bubble for their actuation/pumping mechanism.

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