%0 Journal Article
%T A Bi-Directional Out-of-Plane Actuator by Electrostatic Force
%A Hao Ren
%A Weimin Wang
%A Fenggang Tao
%A Jun Yao
%J Micromachines
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/mi4040431
%X Presented in this paper is a bi-directional out-of-plane actuator which combines the merits of the electrostatic repulsive principle and the electrostatic attractive principle. By taking advantage of the electrostatic repulsive mode, the common ¡°pull-in¡± instability can be lessened to enlarge the displacement, and by applying the electrostatic attractive mode, the out-of-plane displacement is further enlarged. The implications of changing the actuator¡¯s physical dimensions are discussed, along with the two-layer polysilicon surface microfabrication process used to fabricate such an actuator. The static characteristics of the out-of-plane displacement versus the voltage of both modes are tested, and displacements of 1.4 ¦Ìm and 0.63 ¦Ìm are obtained at 130 V and 15 V, respectively. Therefore, a total stroke of 2.03 ¦Ìm is achieved, more than 3 fold that of the electrostatic attractive mode, making this actuator useful in optical Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Radio Frequency (RF) MEMS applications.
%K MEMS
%K out-of-plane actuator
%K electrostatic repulsive force
%K bi-directional
%K microfabrication
%K adaptive optics
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/4/4/431