Professional Documents
Culture Documents
S0924-4247(14)00462-2
http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.sna.2014.10.028
SNA 8945
To appear in:
Received date:
Revised date:
Accepted date:
22-7-2014
8-10-2014
23-10-2014
Please cite this article as: X. Lv, W. Wei, X. Mao, Y. Chen, J. Yang, F. Yang, A novel
MEMS electromagnetic actuator with large displacement, Sensors and Actuators: A
Physical (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2014.10.028
This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication.
As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript.
The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof
before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process
errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that
apply to the journal pertain.
Highlights
A displacement of more than 55 m was achieved with a magnetic field of 0.14 T and the
diving current of 8 mA.
The actuator utilizing Al as structure material worked under a low driving voltage and
ip
t
The fabrication process is very simple, which ensure the actuator to have a high
Ac
ce
p
te
an
us
cr
Page 1 of 21
displacement
ip
t
Xingdong Lv1, 2, *, Weiwei Wei1, 2, *, Xu Mao1, 2, Yu Chen1, 2, Jinling Yang1, 2, **, and Fuhua
Yang1
1
us
cr
an
Correspondent author:
Ac
ce
p
te
Email: jlyang@semi.ac.cn
Page 2 of 21
Abstract
This paper presents a novel MEMS actuator driven by Lorentz force. The actuator has a
ip
t
structure of folded beams, which is favorable for a large lateral stroke. A displacement of
more than 55 m was achieved with a magnetic field of 0.14 T and the diving current of 8 mA.
cr
The actuator can generate a large displacement under a low driving voltage and can easily be
integrated with CMOS circuits. Lorentz force is proportional to the magnetic field and the
us
driving current, which results in an easy control of the lateral displacement on the diving
current. The simple structure and fabrication process ensure the actuator to have a high
an
Keyword
Ac
ce
p
te
Page 3 of 21
1. Introduction
Micro actuators are important building blocks for many MEMS devices, which generate
forces or displacements to realize scanning, tuning, manipulating or delivering function. In
the last decades, a large number of actuators have been developed for various applications
ip
t
[1-6] and they are usually driven by electrostatic, thermal, piezoelectric, and electromagnetic
methods, each of which has its advantage and restriction. For example, the thermal actuators
cr
can provide a large force and stroke, but suffer from high power consumption and long
response time. The material used in the piezoelectric actuators usually is not compatible with
us
IC technology, and a magnetic field and magnetic material are needed for the electromagnetic
actuators. Micro electrostatic actuators are more popular than others due to their high
an
behavior.
In many applications, such as optical switches, variable optical attenuators (VOA), and
micro scanners, the MEMS actuators are highly desired to provide large displacements of
several tens of micrometers with a small voltage below 3.3 V or 5 V supplied by CMOS
te
circuits [2]. A variety of MEMS actuators have been proposed to achieve a large stroke.
Ac
ce
p
Electrostatic [3], electromagnetic [4], thermal actuation methods [5], and a chevron-type
compliant structure [6] have provided large displacements. Lorentz force resulting from the
interaction of an electric field and a magnetic field has been widely employed to excite
MEMS devices [7, 8]. It linearly depends on the current perpendicular to the magnetic field,
requires no magnetic materials, and has no magnetic hysteresis effect. These advantages result
in the actuators of simple structure, linear motion, fast response, reasonable power
consumption, and ideal for large stroke application.
In this work, a novel MEMS actuator driven by Lorentz force was developed and a large
lateral stroke was achieved under a low driving voltage. The actuator was batch fabricated
with high yield (nearly 100%) and can be integrated with CMOS circuits. It has simple folded
beam structure consisting of aluminum and silicon dioxide, the superb stress matching
between the two layers ensures excellent reliability and potential application for large array
systems.
4
Page 4 of 21
ip
t
beams and a static magnetic field B perpendicular to the beam plane, Lorentz force F,
perpendicular to the direction of the current and the magnetic field, will drive the actuator into
an
us
cr
te
The lateral stroke of the actuator linearly depends on the current in terms of Equ. (1),
Ac
ce
p
(1)
where B is the magnetic flux density of the magnetic field, I is the current flowing through the
eam, L is the beam length, and is the angle between the current and the magnetic field.
As shown in Fig. 1, the actuator beam is located in xy plane and the magnetic field is
perpendicular to the folded beam. When a current flows through the folded beam, a driving
force F along y direction is generated
.
(2)
Fig. 2 is the simplified models of the actuator, several different structures were designed
by changing the size of b. When b = 0, there is no meander and the folded beam turns into a
double-ended beam (Fig. 2 (b)).
5
Page 5 of 21
ip
t
us
cr
(a)
an
(b)
Fig. 2. Schematic drawing of the actuator, (a) Folded beam and (b) Double-ended beam.
The folded structure has a low stiffness compared to the double-ended structure and can
achieve much larger displacement at the same current than the double-ended one with the
same length.
te
The actuator can be considered as a spring with a spring constant k [9], it deforms under an
external force F, meanwhile, an elastic restoring force Fe can be generated
Ac
ce
p
(3)
where y is the displacement of the beam. At an equilibrium state, the driving force F is equal
to the elastic restoring force Fe. The displacement can be calculated by
.
(4)
(5)
where E is the Young's modulus, IZ is the bending moment of inertia about the z-axis, n is the
folded times, a and b are the row and line pitch, respectively [10].
6
Page 6 of 21
For the double-ended beam with b = 0, the spring constant can be computed by
,
(6)
Substituting Equ. (5) into Equ. (3), the displacement can be expressed as
(7)
cr
ip
t
where W and H are the width and thickness of the actuator, respectively.
As it shown in Equ. (7), the displacement linearly increased with b. The length of b are
us
designed in different values and the other structural parameters of the actuator are shown in
Table 1.
an
Value
69 GPa
1 m
Thickness of SiO2
0.9 m
Thickness of Al
5 m
15 m
70
Ac
ce
p
te
3. Fabrication
The fabrication process flow of the actuator is shown in Fig. 3. It started with a
(100)-oriented Si wafer. Thermal oxidation was done to produce 0.9 m thick silicon dioxide,
then 1 m thick Al layer was deposited by electron beam evaporation and was patterned by
dry etching. As shown in Fig. 3(a), the reactive ion etching (RIE) was employed to remove
the Al and SiO2 layer. Subsequently, the silicon substrate was etched from the backside by
deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) until 50 m thick Si remaining (Fig. 3(b)). Finally, the
silicon substrate was isotropically etched from the front side in Fig. 3(c) with the top Al layer
as the etching mask and the actuator was released.
Page 7 of 21
Description: D:\lvxd\Google
\tu\Fig. 3(a).jpg
\Al\
\VOA\
(a)
\tu\Fig. 3(b).jpg
\Al\
\VOA\
ip
t
Description: D:\lvxd\Google
(c)
Si
SiO2
an
Metal
\tu\Fig. 3(c).jpg
\Al\
\VOA\
us
Description: D:\lvxd\Google
cr
(b)
Fig. 4 shows the scanning electron microscope (SEM) photograph of a typical actuator. Fig.
5 shows the optical photographs of different actuators. The fabrication yield for the actuator is
very high, nearly 100%. As shown in Fig. 3, the fabrication processes for the actuator is quite
simple and each process step is easy to control. Particularly, the actuator was released by
Ac
ce
p
te
isotropical dry etching the silicon substrate from the front side (Fig. 3(c)), this is the crucial
(a)
(b)
Page 8 of 21
an
us
cr
ip
t
The MEMS actuator was integrated with a printed circuit board (PCB) via wire bonding.
te
Then the PCB was placed on a permanent magnet, which can provide a static magic field for
the MEMS actuator. The magnetic flux density imposed on the MEMS actuator is about 0.14
Ac
ce
p
T. A digital current source was used to provide the driving current. The testing setup is shown
in Fig. 6. The displacement is measured by an optical microscope and the resistance of the
MEMS actuator was monitored by a multimeter. By changing the applied current, the
displacements of various structures were tested. Fig. 7 shows the optical photographs of the
deformed MEMS actuator in the opposite direction. The displacements and stabilities of
various actuators driven by the current from 0 mA to 8 mA were measured and evaluated. The
resonant frequencies of the actuators have been measured by laser Doppler system.
Page 9 of 21
ip
t
(a)
us
cr
(b)
(c)
te
an
Fig. 6. Testing setup. (a) Full view, (b) Enlarged part, and (c) PCB and permanent magnet.
(b)
Ac
ce
p
(a)
The relationship between the displacement of the actuator and the flowing current from 0
mA to 8 mA with a magnetic flux density of 0.14 T are depicted in Fig. 8. The displacement
increased with the current.
10
Page 10 of 21
us
cr
ip
t
an
density of 0.14 T.
The displacement of the actuator at an applied current of 8 mA and a magnetic flux density
of 0.14 T changed linearly with b, as shown in Fig. 9, which agrees well with the theoretical
Ac
ce
p
te
results.
Fig. 9 Dependence of displacement on b with an applied current of 8 mA and a magnetic flux density
of 0.14 T.
A lateral stroke of more than 55 m was obtained for the actuator with b = 50 m driven by
a current of 8 mA, which coincided with the calculation results. The displacement is
proportional to the applied current and switch to the opposite direction under a reversed
current, as shown in Fig. 10.
11
Page 11 of 21
cr
ip
t
density of 0.14 T.
us
Fig. 10. Dependence of displacement on applied current from -8 mA to 8 mA with a magnetic flux
an
To have a deep understanding on the stability of the actuator, cycling test was carried out.
The cycled displacements versus the driving current are shown in Fig. 11. The actuator has
excellent stability and could precisely be controlled. The slight scattering of the displacements
Ac
ce
p
te
at one current were caused by the displacement measurement error with the microscope.
Fig. 11. Cycling test for the actuator driven by a current of 0-8 mA under a magnetic flux density of
0.14 T.
As shown in Fig. 12, the resonant frequency are 4.3 kHz and 1.2 kHz for the actuators with
b = 0 m and b = 50 m, respectively.
12
Page 12 of 21
(b)
cr
ip
t
(a)
Fig. 12. The resonant spectrums of the actuators with b = 0 m (a) and b = 50 m (b) measured in air.
us
When the current flows through the beam containing the metal layer, heating effect is
distinct. The actuator beam with 1 m thick Al originally has a low resistance, about 85 .
an
The resistances of metals increase with temperature. When applying a current on the actuator,
Joule heating takes place, changes the resistance and elastic stiffness of the actuator, and
In order to clarify the effect of Joule heating on the displacement of the actuator, the current
dependence of the resistance, the time dependence of the resistance and displacement were
studied, as shown in Figs. 13-15. The resistances of the actuator driven by a current of 0 8
te
mA remain unchanged with slight drifts (850.5), as shown in Fig 13. Moreover, while
driven with a current of 8 mA for 2 hrs, the resistances of the actuator still keep unchanged
Ac
ce
p
When the temperature rises, there will be thermal stress resulting from the different thermal
expansion coefficients of Al and SiO2. The thermal stress may lead to stiffness change of the
actuator and finally the displacement change with the temperature. However, the measured
displacements of the actuator driven by a current of 8 mA for 2 hours keep constant (550.5
m), as shown in Fig. 15.
The generated thermal power by the maximum driving current of 8 mA is 5.44 mW. The
above-mentioned results indicate that thermal dissipation in the suspended bimetallic
structure of Al and SiO2 balances Joule heat, which results in no clear temperature rising.
13
Page 13 of 21
cr
ip
t
R: 85 0.5
us
Fig. 13. Dependence of the resistance on the applied current from 0 to 8 mA.
te
an
R: 85 0.1
Ac
ce
p
Fig. 14. Dependence of the resistance on the time with the current of 8 mA.
D: 55 0.5 m
Fig. 15. Dependence of the resistance on the time with the current of 8 mA.
5. Conclusions
14
Page 14 of 21
A novel MEMS actuator with a large lateral stroke driven by Lorentz force was developed
in this work. By optimizing the structure and geometry of the actuator, a lateral displacement
of more than 55 m was achieved with a magnetic flux density of 0.14 T and a current of 8
mA. The driving voltage is low enough for the MEMS actuator being easily integrated with
ip
t
IC. The high fabrication yield and good stability ensure potential application of the actuator in
cr
Acknowledgment
us
This work is supported by the projects from MOST of China (973 project: 2011CB933102
Ac
ce
p
te
an
15
Page 15 of 21
References
[1] Judy J W, Muller R S and Zappe H 1995 Magnetic microactuation of polysilicon flexure
structures J. Microelectromech. Syst. 4 162169
[2] Jeong S H, Jong S K and Jan G K 2004 Structural optimization of a large-displacement
ip
t
cr
[3] Grade J D, Jerman H and Kenny T W 2003 Design of large deflection electrostatic
actuators J. Microelectromech. Syst. 8 29
us
[4] Ko J S, Lee M L, Lee D S, Choi C A and Kim Y T 2002 Development and application of
laterally driven electromagnetic microactuator Appl. Phys. Lett. 81 5479
an
[6] Hwang I H, Shim Y S and Lee J H 2003 Modeling and experimental characterization of
te
Ac
ce
p
EUROSENSORS XXVII), 2013 Transducers & Eurosensors XXVII: The 17th International
Conference on 1591-1594
16
Page 16 of 21
Biographies
Xingdong Lv received the B.S. degree in electronics science and technology from Jilin
University, P. R. China, in 2011. He is a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at State Key
ip
t
cr
us
Weiwei Wei received the B.S. degree in electronics science and technology from Yanshan
University, P. R. China, in 2009. She is a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering at State
an
Xu Mao received the Ph.D. degree in physical electronics from the Chinese Academy of
Electronics and Information Technology, CETC, Beijing, China, in 2006. He was a
Postdoctoral Researcher with Peking University, Beijing, China, where he worked on MEMS
devices and packaging. Since 2009, he has been an Associate Professor with the Institute of
te
Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing. He is also with the State Key
Ac
ce
p
Page 17 of 21
ip
t
Fuhua Yang received the Ph.D. degree in solid physics from Paul Sabatier University,
Toulouse in 1998. Currently, he is a professor/director of Engineering Research Center for
cr
us
device. Now, His research interests include single electron transistor and their integration,
Ac
ce
p
te
an
18
Page 18 of 21
Table Captions
Ac
ce
p
te
an
us
cr
ip
t
19
Page 19 of 21
Figure Captions
Fig. 1. Schematic drawing of the MEMS actuator.
Fig. 2. Schematic drawing of the actuator, (a) Folded beam and (b) Double-ended beam.
Fig. 3. Cross-sectional view of the fabrication process flow.
ip
t
cr
Fig. 6. Testing setup. (a) Full view, (b) Enlarged part, and (c) PCB and permanent magnet.
Fig. 7. The optical photographs of the deformed actuators.
us
an
density of 0.14 T.
Fig. 11. Cycling test for the actuator driven by a current of 0-8 mA under a magnetic flux
te
Fig. 12. The resonant spectrums of the actuators with b = 0 m (a) and b = 50 m (b) measured in air.
Fig. 13. Dependence of the resistance on the applied current from 0 to 8 mA.
Ac
ce
p
Fig. 14. Dependence of the resistance on the time with the current of 8 mA.
Fig. 15. Dependence of the resistance on the time with the current of 8 mA.
20
Page 20 of 21
Value
69 GPa
Thickness of Al
1 m
Thickness of SiO2
0.9 m
5 m
15 m
70
Ac
ce
p
te
an
us
cr
Parameters
ip
t
21
Page 21 of 21