TWO-DIMENSIONALMICRO CONVEYER WITH INTEGRATED ELECTROSTATIC ACTUATORS

Masaharu Edo, Yasumasa Watanabe, Osamu Morita, Haruo Nakazawa and Eiichi Yonezawa Functional Device Labolatory, Fuji Electric Corporate Research and Development, Ltd. 2-2-1, Nagasaka, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa 240-0194, Japan

ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present a two-dimensional micro-conveyer that utilizes electrostatic force. This conveyer with integrated electrostatic actuators is able to convey an object weighing several milligrams with high precision. The actuators are 350 X 350 p m2 in area and are constructed from support beams, an oscillating mass and a conveyance tip above the mass. The actuators are fabricated by a process consisting of the steps of photoresist and photosensitive poly imide lithography, electroplating, and a photoresist sacrificial layer process. The maximum horizontal displacement was 0.2 p m at the maximum vertical displacement of 6.7 p m with a drive frequency of lOHz in and applied voltage of 300V. A silicon chip of 1.4 X 1.4" area and 1.4mg of weight can be conveyed in a two-dimensional direction.

DESIGN AND CONVEYANCE PRINCIPLE

Figure 1 shows a conceptual drawing of the electrostatic actuator of the present micro-conveyer. The actuator is constructed from beams supported on a base by a stator, an oscillating mass, two electrodes under the mass, and a conveyance tip (known as the fingertip) above the mass. As shown in Figure 2, the conveyer alternately arranges actuators in the x-direction and y-direction. Figure 3 shows the conveyance principle of this actuator. The actuator is driven by applying electrostatic force to electrodes
finger tip

oscillati
tor

INTRODUCTION
Recently, a large number of micro-actuator applications have been reported in MEMS (Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems). Most of these actuators face important issues - the output force and displacement are not very large. As a result, new concepts of distributed micro-motion systems (DMMS) and the autonomous distributed micro-machine (ADM) have been presented [I]. DMMS and ADM are based on the concept of coordinating the simple motions of several actuators on a wafer in order to perform tasks that are more complicated. Conveyance systems are a typical example of this concept and a wide variety of actuators for micro-conveyance systems have been presented in recent years. Such actuators include the thermal bimorph microactuator [2], an actuator array that utilizes air valves [3] [4], torsional micro-resonators [ 5 ] , and an electromagnetic actuator using a planar coil array [ 6 ] . A two-dimensional micro-conveyer that utilizes electrostatic force as its conveyance system is presented in this paper. This conveyer is able to convey an object weighing several milligrams with high precision. This paper describes the design principles, fabrication, actuator movement and a conveyance experiment of the micro-conveyer. 0-7803-5194-0/99/$10.0001999 IEEE 43

Figure 1. Conceptual design o an electrostatic actuaf tor for micro-conveyer

f Figure 2. Conceptional drawing o the electrostatic actuator arrangement.

,
7

0 ;

poi[*a

(4) ,,
_ 1

I I

Figure 3. Conveyance principle of the electrostatic micro-conveyer. ( I ) This is the initial state with no applied voltage. (2) One side of the mass is drawn toward the electrode. (3) Both sides are drawn toward the electrode. (4) The mass returns to the initial state affer removing the electrostatic force.

under the oscillating mass. (1) This is the initial state with no applied voltage. ( 2 ) One side of the mass is drawn toward the electrode with applied voltage to one electrode. (3) Both sides are drawn toward the electrode with applied voltage to both electrodes. (4) The mass returns to the initial state after removing the electrostatic force. With this method, a trace of point A in the figure shows rotational motion. Conveyance can be realized by attaching an object to this rotational motion. Two-dimensional conveyance can be realized by alternating the actuator arrangement.

With S = 100 X 50 p m,V = 300y g = 7 p m and a fingertip thickness of 40 p m, dx=2 m, d y 6 . 9 5 p m, Fa=40.7 p N, Ma=4.9 p NI", fx=2.2mg"m2, and fj=6.9mgf/mm2. With a fingertip thickness of 20 c1 m, dx=l.l p m, d y 6 . 9 7 p m, fx=1.3mgfh"m, and fy=7.4mgflmmz. From the above calculation results, it can be seen that this conveyance system is suited to conveying a thin and light object at a pitch of several micrometers.

CALCULATION
To evaluate the implementation of this conveyer, the actuator was modeled as shown in Figure 4. This actuator is driven with electrostatic force. When a voltage V is applied, the electrostatic force of one side Fa is, Fa=E

,sv2

where S is the area of the electrode and g is the gap between electrode and oscillating mass. If the distance between electrodes is la, the moment Ma is, Ma=FaXla as a result, thrust Fx and support power Fy are, Fx=Fesin( P Fy=Fecos( /3
Figure 4. Model of the electrostatic actuator.

+0

) Ma 0 ),where Fe = 12

assuming that 50 % of each force is canceled by the spring force, and since there are nine arrays in a 1 X 1 mm2 area and 4.5 arrays contribute to movement in one direction, thrust fx and support power @ per 1 X lmm2 in area are,

fx=

9sin( P 4

0)

fY=

9COS(P

+ e)

the displacements dx and dy are, dx = 1 - l,COS( P - 8 ) dy = l,sin( P - 8 ) - h

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Figure 5 shows the fabrication process of an electrostatic actuator. The actuator array is 4.35 X4.35mmz in area. The fabrication process consisted of a total seven masking steps, including the steps of photoresist and photosensitive polyimide lithography, copper and nickel electro-plating and photoresist sacrificial layer process. The process flow is indicated below. (1) A 3 p m thick layer of thermal oxide is grown on silicon substrate as an insulating layer. ( 2 ) 0.3 p m thick Cr and 0.5 p m thick Au are sputtered and patterned to form the electrical layer where the applied drive

SiO, I

r-

-,

-I

CrlAu /
. I r r

-1
u/Au

photoresist

Ni

voltage will be applied. (3) 5 p m thick photosensitive polyimide is patterned by photolithography to form an insulating layer between wiring layers and a contact hole for the drive electrode. Next Cu and Au are deposited to the contact hole by electroplating. (4)0.2 p m thick Ti is sputtered and patterned as drive electrode material. ( 5 ) Spacers are formed by photoresist patterning and Ni electroplating. The spacers have a thickness of 1 p m. These spacers perform two functions, to prevent adhesion during the drying process after removal of the sacrificial layer, and to prevent contact between the drive electrode and oscillating mass while a drive voltageis applied. Next photoresist patterning and Ni electroplating are performed again to form stators. The 8 p m thick photoresist layer is the sacrificial layer. (6) 0.2 p m of Cu is evaporated as a seed layer for electroplating.

Ni
I

photoresist
I

Ni

Dhotoresist

Figure 5. Fabrication process of the electrostatic actuator. ( I ) silicon oxide deposition, (2)Cr/Au deposition and etching, (3)photosensirive polyimide lithography and Cu/Au electro-plating, (4) Ti deposition and etching, (5)photoresist lithography and Ni electroplating, (6)Cu seed layer deposition, (i}photoresist lithography and N i electroplating, (8}photoresist lithography and Ni electroplating, (9)photoresist removal and seed layer etching, (I 0)sacriJicial layer removal.

(b)
Figure 6. Photographs of a fabricated electrostatic actuator. (a) shows a final structure and (b) shows a structure under the mass.

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(7) The support beams and oscillating mass are formed by photoresist patterning and Ni electroplating. The thickness of the Ni structure is 6 p m. (8) A fingertip is formed by photoresist patterning and Ni electroplating. The fingertip is 20 y m in thickness. (9) Unnecessary sections of the photoresist and Cu are removed. (1 0)The sacrificial layer is removed with a photoresist exfoliation liquid, rinsed in pure water and IPA, and then dried on a hot plate. Figure 6 is photograph of the electrostatic actuator fabricated. (a) shows a final structure and (b) shows structure under the oscillating mass. 1 y m thick spacers is arranged under the mass. Two drive electrodes is arranged under the both side of the mass, and the voltage is applied to electrodes through lower electrical wires and contact hall. A stator is connected to a ground through the lower wires. Figure 7 is SEM photograph of the fabricated electrostatic actuator. The component parameters were an actuator area of 350 X 350 m2, a fingertip area of 100 X 300 y mz, an oscillating mass and beams of 6 y m in thickness, a drive elecand trode area of 100 X 150 I.L mz, an 8 /I m gap between the drive electrodes and the mass. Figure 7(a) is for a fingertip thickness of 20 p m and 7(b) for a thickness of 40 y m. Figure 8 is a SEM photograph of an actuator array. Actuators were alternately arranged in the x-direction and y-direction to realize two-dimensional conveyance.

Figure 7. SEM photographs of a fabricated electrostatic actuator. (a) is for afinger t@ of 20 , m thickness and (b) is for u afinger t@ of 40 P m thickness.

Figure 8. SEMphotograph of an actuator array.

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DRIVEEXPERIMENT
An actuator drive experiment was performed to evaluate whether the actuator can be used with a conveyer. An actuator with conveyance tip thickness of 20 CL m (shown was in figure 6(a)) was used for the experiment. The actuator was driven by applying a voltage with a duty ratio of 1:l to one side of the electrode, and vertical displacement was measured. Figure 9 shows the relation between the vertical displacement of point A in figure 3 and the applied voltage for drive ii-equencies of lOHz and 50Hz. The actuator does not work with applied voltages of !ess than 1OOV. The displacement becomes larger as the applied voltage increases, and a maximum occurred at 300V. Because the gap between the spacer and the mass is 7 CL m, at a fiequency of lOHz and an applied voltage of less than 300V it is believed that the spacer will collide with the mass. In order to limit the breakdown voltage, a voltage of greater than 300V could not be applied. Displacement is larger at a fiequency
8

of lOHz than at 50Hz. Figure 10 shows the relation between the vertical displacement of point A and drive frequency for an applied voltage of 260V. As the frequency increases, the displacement rapidly decreases. The effect of air damping as the mass moves in the vertical direction is believed to be a major cause of this characteristic. The horizontal displacement of point A was 0.2 CL m at the maximum vertical displacement of 6.7 fi m with a drive fiequency of 1OHz and applied voltage of 300V. Assuming ideal operation of the actuator, the horizontal displacement of point A is calculated to be 1 fi m when the vertical displacement is 6.7 CL m. The measured value is 1/5 of the calculated value because the mass moves in a vertical direction and does not have ideal rotational motion.

CONVEYANCEEXPERIMENT
Figure 11 shows the fabricated electrostatic conveyer. The area X 4.35mm, with 12 X 12 inteof the conveyer was 4.35 grated actuators. A 450 y m thick silicon chip was diced into a 1.4 X 1.4 area weighing 1.4mg for use as the conveyance palette. Since surfaces that contact the conveyance tip are required to be flat, one side of the conveyance pallet was processed into a mirrored surface. The results of the conveyance experiment verified pallet movement with a drive frequency of 50Hz and an applied voltage of greater than 260V. When driven simultaneouslyby all xdirection and y-direction actuators, the pallet moved in a diagonal direction. This result shows the possibility of two-dimensional conveyance. However, the pallet movement was not stable, and occasionally turned and stopped. Causes of this problem were considered. First, movement of individual actuators was not ctshln.

7-

, I

100

150

200

250

300

input voltage

(9

Figure 9. Relation between the vertical displacement of point A in figure 3 and input voltage with drive frequencies of 1O z and 50Hz. H

,I ,
0

20

40

60

80

100

freaqency (Hz)

Figure IO. Relation between the vertical displacement of point A and drive frequency with input voltage of 26OV
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Figure 11. Photograph of an electrostatic micro-conveyer.

Second, the palette became stuck at defective points of the actuators. Third, since all actuators are driven simultaneously,the palette cannot progress in the intended direction. The first and second problems can be solved by improving the fabrication process. The method of applying voltage must be improved to solve the third problem. The addition of a position search mechanism has been suggested as a means to improve the stability of pallet operation by driving actuators only when the pallet is above the conveyance tip, and if not progressing in the desired direction, to operate actuators on both sides of the pallet in the reverse direction.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was performed under the management of the Micromachine Center as the Industrial Science and Technology Frontier Program Research and Development of Micromachine Technology supported by New Energy and Imdustrial Technology Development Organization.

REFERENCES
[ 11 S. Konishi, H. Fujita, System Design for Cooperative Control of Arrayed Microactuator, MEMS95, p322-327,1995. [2] M. Ataka, A. Omodaka and H. Fujita, A BIOMIMETIC MICRO MOTION SYSTEM, Transducers 93, p38-p41, 1993. [3] S. Konishi, H. Fujita, A Conveyance System using Air Flow based on the concept of Distributed Micro Motion Systems, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, Vo1.3, No.2, p5458,1994. [4] Y.Mita, S. Konishi, H. Fujita, TWO DIMENSIONAL MICRO CONVEYANCE SYSTEMS WITH THROUGH HOLES FOR ELECTRICALAND FLUIDIC INTERCONNECTION,Tmsducers 97, p37-p40, 1997. [5] K.-F. Bohringer, B. R. Donald and N. C. MacDonald, SINGLE-CRY STAL SILICONACTUATOR ARRAYS FOR MICRO MANIPULATION TASKS, MEMS96, P7-Pl2, 1996. [6] H. Nakazawa, Y Watanebe, O.Morita, M. Edo, E. Yonezawa, TWO DIMENSIONALMICRO CONVEYER,Transducers 97, p33-p36, 1997.

CONCLUSION
We achieved two-dimensional conveyance by an electrostatic micro-conveyer with an integrated electrostatic actuator that is 350 X 350 p m2 in area and constructed from beams supported on a base by a stator, an oscillating mass, two electrodes under the mass, and a conveyance tip above the mass. The actuators are fabricated by a process consisting of the steps of photoresist and photosensitive polyimide lithography, electro-plating, and a photoresist sacrificial layer process. The maximum horizontal displacement was 0.2 p m at the maximum vertical displacement of 6.7 p m with a drive frequency of lOHz and applied voltage of 300V. Palette movement was verified with a drive frequency of 50Hz and an applied voltage of greater than 260V. The fabrication process and the method of applying voltage must be improved to obtain stable pallet movement.

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