Experimental and numerical analysis of MEMS electrothermal actuators with cascaded V-shaped mechanisms

Abstract

Electrothermal MEMS actuators have gained interest in recent years as micro-object characterization tools. Their functions include mechanical properties determination of soft, elastomeric materials or as diagnosis tools for biological cells. Such applications tend to include temperature sensitive test samples and therefore the MEMS devices must produce enough physical displacement to apply the required strains while maintaining low temperatures at the test location. This work presents electrothermal actuators with cascaded v-shaped mechanisms and different displacement amplification related structures. Numerical models and experimental testing results have shown that these micro-actuators are promising candidates for temperature sensitive applications.