Thermally driven polysilicon actuators for lateral displacement

Ming Fa Wu, Cheng Hsuan Lin, Wen-Syang Hsu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

A novel one-mask polysilicon actuator driven by thermal expansion is developed, modeled and tested. The structures are heated by electric current due to resistive dissipation. Thermal strain is magnified by two mechanical mechanisms - lever and parallelogram. The device is tested in air and has a lateral 8 μm-displacement by applying a low voltage (below 3.5 V). The critical current to reach melting point is about 67 mA with the input voltage less than 5 V. The simulation results by analytical and FEM schemes are compared with experimental data. The maximum output forces is measured with a built-in cantilever beam and is calculated to be about 3.3 μN.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)402-409
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
Volume10
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1999

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