• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.481-487
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• 1996

A snapping-beam microswitch has been designed, fabricated and tested. From a design analysis, necessary and sufficient conditions for a snap-through switching fouction have been derived for a clamped shallow beam. The necessary condition has resulted in a geometric relation, in which the ratio of beam thickness to initial beam deflection plays a key role in the snapping ability. The sufficient condition for the snapping action has been obtained as a function of the inertia force due to applied acceleration, and the electrostatic force, adjustable by an inter-electrode voltage. For experimental investigations, a set of microbeams of silicon dioxide/$P^+$silicon bimorphs have been fabricated. Geometric size and mechanical behavior of each material film have been measured from on-chip test structures. Estimated and measured characteristics of the fabricated devices are compared.