• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.183-188
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• 2016

This paper presents the design and characterization of wide band ohmic microswitch with an actuation voltage as low as 20~25 V, and a restoring force of 14.1 μN. The design of the proposed switch is primarily composed of an electrostatic actuator, bridge membrane, cantilever (beam) and coplanar waveguide, suspended over the substrate. The analysis shows an insertion loss of −0.002 dB at 1GHz and remains as low as −0.35 dB, even at 100 GHz. The isolation loss of the switch is sustained at −21.09 dB at 100GHz, with a peak value of −99.58 dB at 1 GHz and up-state capacitance of 4 fF. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a series contact switch, which works over a wide bandwidth (DC-100 GHz) and with such a high and sustained isolation, even at high frequencies and with an excellent figure of merit (f_c=1/2.pi.Ron.Cu= 39.7 THz).

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• 제5C권6호
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• pp.264-269
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• 2005

The electrostatic comb drive actuator is one of the main building blocks in the field of micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Most of the comb actuators presented previously have fingers that are rectangular in shape which produce a stable, constant force output during actuation. The use of sawtooth fixed fingers in a comb drive, which were presumed to produce an increasing force output with displacement due to the increased number of regions where fringing force, the driving force of comb actuators, appear. The dimensions of the sawtooth were derived from finite element analysis (FEA) of simplified finger models with sawtooth type fingers of various dimension and were compared to the rectangular finger model that showed that the sawtooth type fingers have $7\~9$ times stronger driving force. Finally, comb drive actuators with sawtooth type and rectangular fingers were fabricated and although the gap was bigger, the comb actuator with sawtooth type fingers showed about 1.7 times greater electrostatic force than the one with rectangular fingers at equal driving voltages. In conclusion, using the proposed sawtooth type comb fingers in a comb drive makes it possible to increase its displacement or reduce the driving voltage.

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• 제4C권5호
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• pp.247-251
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• 2004

We report highly improved yield strength of nickel thin film, prepared using electroplating. The micro-scaled nickel cantilever is found to have significantly higher yield strength than bulk nickel. For the yield strength test, the heights of the micro-scaled cantilever were varied up to 60 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and electrostatic force was used for actuation. Stress of the bent cantilever was estimated using the FEM large deflection model. The yield strength of the thin nickel film is found to be over five times higher than that of the bulk nickel previously published. Results from this study indicate that metal microstructures can be used for MEMS applications requiring large deflection.

• 대한수학회보
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.705-714
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• 2012

In this paper, we study nonlinear equation arising in MEMS modeling electrostatic actuation. We will prove the local and global existence of solutions of the generalized parabolic MEMS equation. We present that there exists a constant ${\lambda}^*$ such that the associated stationary problem has a solution for any ${\lambda}$ < ${\lambda}^*$ and no solution for any ${\lambda}$ > ${\lambda}^*$. We show that when ${\lambda}$ < ${\lambda}^*$ the global solution converges to its unique maximal steady-state as $t{\rightarrow}{\infty}$. We also obtain the condition for the existence of a touchdown time $T{\leq}{\infty}$ for the dynamical solution. Furthermore, there exists $p_0$ > 1, as a function of $p$, the pull-in voltage ${\lambda}^*(p)$ is strictly decreasing with respect to 1 < $p$ < $p_0$, and increasing with respect to $p$ > $p_0$.

• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제23권6호
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• pp.166-173
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• 2006

In this study, a probe array has been developed for use in a data storage device that is based on scanning probe microscope (SPM) and MEMS technology. When recording data bits by poling the PZT thin layer and reading them by sensing its piezoresponse, commercial probes of which the tip heights are typically shorter than $3{\mu}m$ raise a problem due to the electrostatic forces occurring between the probe body and the bottom electrode of a medium. In order to reduce this undesirable effect, a poly-silicon probe with a high aspect-ratio tip was fabricated using a molding technique. Poly-silicon probes fabricated by the molding technique have several features. The tip can be protected during the subsequent fabrication processes and have a high aspect ratio. The tip radius can be as small as 15 nm because sharpening oxidation process is allowed. To drive the probe, electrostatic actuation mechanism was employed since the fabrication process and driving/sensing circuit is very simple. The natural frequency and DC sensitivity of a fabricated probe were measured to be 18.75 kHz and 16.7 nm/V, respectively. The step response characteristic was investigated as well. Overshoot behavior in the probe movement was hardly observed because of large squeeze film air damping forces. Therefore, the probe fabricated in this study is considered to be very useful in probe-based data storages since it can stably approach toward the medium and be more robust against external shock.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.15-21
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• 2013

In this paper, a MEMS tunable capacitor was successfully designed and fabricated using an aluminum nitride film and a gold suspended membrane with two air gap structure for commercial RF applications. Unlike conventional two-parallel-plate tunable capacitors, the proposed tunable capacitor consists of one air suspended top electrode and two fixed bottom electrodes. One fixed and the top movable electrodes form a variable capacitor, while the other one provides necessary electrostatic actuation. The fabricated tunable capacitor exhibited a capacitance tuning range of 375% at 2 GHz, exceeding the theoretical limit of conventional two-parallel-plate tunable capacitors. In case of the contact state, the maximal quality factor was approximately 25 at 1.5 GHz. The developed fabrication process is also compatible with the existing standard IC (integrated circuit) technology, which makes it suitable for on chip intelligent transceivers and radios.

• 센서학회지
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.428-432
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• 2013

This paper described the development of electrostatically driven peristaltic micropump. The proposed micropump consists of a flexible membrane and a single chamber which electrodes are inserted. The single chamber is divided into smaller cells by the electrodes. The fabricated micropump was operated with four electrodes in the membrane and a various phase sequencing actuation. We studied the changes in the flow rate corresponding to the actuating signal applied to the micropump under the zero hydraulic pressure difference between lnlet port and outlet port. The pump was operated from 60 to 130 V. Whereas the maximum flow rate in basic actuating signal is about 83 ${\mu}1/min$ at 15 Hz, the maximum flow rate in optimized actuating signal is about 114 ${\mu}l/min$ at 10 Hz.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제76권4호
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• pp.451-463
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• 2020

In this paper, a new semi-analytical solution for estimating the pull-in parameters of electrically actuated functionally graded (FG) nanobeams is proposed. All the bulk and surface material properties of the FG nanoactuator vary continuously in thickness direction according to power law distribution. Here, the modified couple stress theory (MCST) and Gurtin-Murdoch surface elasticity theory (SET) are jointly employed to capture the size effects of the nanoscale beam in the context of Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. According to the MCST and SET and accounting for the mid-plane stretching, axial residual stress, electrostatic actuation, fringing field, and dispersion (Casimir or/and van der Waals) forces, the nonlinear nonclassical equation of motion and boundary conditions are obtained derived using Hamilton principle. The proposed semi-analytical solution is derived by employing Galerkin method in conjunction with the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method. The proposed solution approach is validated with the available literature. The freestanding behavior of nanoactuators is also investigated. A parametric study is conducted to illustrate the effects of different material and geometrical parameters on the pull-in response of cantilever and doubly-clamped FG nanoactuators. This model and proposed solution are helpful especially in mechanical design of micro/nanoactuators made of FGMs.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.705-714
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• 2022

In this paper, the effect of magnetic field on the vibration behavior of a Magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) sandwich MEMS actuated by electrostatic actuation with conductive skins are examined within the multiple scales (MMS) perturbation method. Magnetorheological smart materials have been widely used in vibration control of various systems due to their mechanical properties change under the influence of different magnetic fields. To investigate the vibrational behavior of the movable electrode, the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, as well as Hamilton's principle is used to derive the equations and the related boundary conditions governing the dynamic behavior of the system are applied. The results of this study show that by placing the Magnetorheological elastomer core in the movable electrode and applying different magnetic fields on it, its natural vibrational frequency can be affected so that by increasing the applied magnetic field, the system's natural frequency increases. Also, the effect of various factors such as the electric potential difference between two electrodes, changes in the thickness of the core and the skins, electrode length, the distance between two electrodes and also change in vibration modes of the system on natural frequencies have been investigated.