18ECE302T-MEMS Technology

Unit-3, Lecture-16: Electrostatic sensing - Parallel plate capacitor

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam

mdjawaia@ssrmist.edu.in

Department of ECE
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
Kattankulathur, Chennai

March 10, 2023

ELECTROSTATIC SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

FW
If the distance and relative position between
FL two conductors change as a result of ap-
+
W plied stimulus, the capacitance value would
L V
be changed.
→
−
d E − Fd
Why we have not used Electrostatic
forces for driving macroscopic machin-
ery?
What is the basic principle of electrostatic Electrostatic force magnitude is small, but
(or capacitive ) sensing at microscopic level due to high surface to
Change in capacitance due to applied force. volume ratio this becomes a major playing
force.
The reverse is also possible as applied volt-
age create electric field and hence attrac- At microscopic level, due to small mass and
tive force between the two plates (Actua- high surface ratio Electrostatic force can be
tors). used to drive a motor.

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 1 / 11

Electrostatic micro motor

The stators are grouped together such that

Electrostatic micro motor consists of a rotor each group of four electrodes is electrically
that is attached to the substrate with a hub, biased simultaneously.
and a set of fixed electrodes on the periph-
ery, called stators. Three such groups are present for the
motor shown in Figure.
Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 2 / 11
Electrostatic micro motor

The electric bias is shifted to the next group

of stator electrodes.
The process is continued for next group of
stator electrodes.
One group of stator electrode is first biased.
The diffrent sets are actuated after suffi-
An in-plane electric field develops between
cient time so that the system has come into
any given stator electrode in this group and
stationary position after alignment.
the closest rotor tooth next to it that aligns
the tooth with the stator electrode. Continuous motion of the rotor can be
achieved by activating the stator electrodes
The torque values are on the order of pico
by groups in succession.
Nm for voltages of the order of 100 V, large
enough to overcome static friction.

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 3 / 11

Advantages of electrostatic sensing and actuation

1 Simplicity:
The sensing and actuation principles are relatively easy to implement, requiring only
two conducting surfaces.
No special functional materials are required.
Other sensing methods, such as piezoresistive and piezoelectric sensing, and other
actuation methods, such as piezoelectric actuation, require deposition, patterning,
and integration of special piezoresistive and piezoelectric materials.
2 Low power: Electrostatic actuation relies on differential voltage rather than current. The method
is generally considered energy efficient for low-frequency applications.
3 Fast response: Electrostatic sensing and actuation offers high dynamic response speed, as
the transition speed is governed by the charging and discharging time constants that are typically
small for good conductors. For example, the switching time of the mirrors in the digital micromirror
display (DMD) array is smaller than fast enough to support 8-bit gray scale display.

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 4 / 11

 Parallel Plate Capacitor

FW According to the Gauss’s law E = ϵA

Q
is more ac-
FL
curate value as there may be some fringe Electric
W +
fields between the plates.
L V
→
−
d E − Fd The magnitude of the force between plates:

∂U ∂C
Q ϵA F=− = − V2 (4)
dQ=CdV ∂x ∂x
¯ ; C = = (1)
V d
The electric energy stored by a capacitor, U , The -ve sign shows attractive force.

1 1 Q2 1 ∂U 1 CV 2 1 ϵA 2
U = CV 2 = = QV (2) F= = = V (5)
2 2 C 2 ∂x 2 d 2 d2

The magnitude of the electric field, E : Under a constant biasing voltage, the mag-
nitude of the electrostatic force decreases
V Q Q
E= = = (3) drastically with increasing gap, d.
d ϵWL ϵA
Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 5 / 11
 Calculating Capacitance Value: Example 4.1
Consider an air-gap capacitor made with two
fixed parallel planar plates. At rest (zero bias), the
distance between two parallel plates is x0 = 100µm
and the areas of plates are A = 400 × 400 µm2 . The When half the capacitor is submerged in water
media between the two plates is air. The biasing then we need to calculate Cair and Cwater the fi-
voltage between these two plates is V = 5 Volts. nally add them as they will be in parallel.
Calculate the numerical value of the capacitance C= Cair +Cwater .
and the magnitude of the attractive force (F). What Cair = 7.08 × 10−15 F, and Cwater = Cair × ϵrwater =
is the capacitance value if half of the area is filled 7.08 × 10−15 × 76.6 = 542.6 × 10−15
with water (as the inter plate media)?
C= Cair +Cwater = 549.6 × 10−15 F.
ϵ0 ϵr A
Solution: C = x0 = 14.17 × 10
−15
F.
1 CV 2
Now Force between plates F = 2 x0 = 1.8 × 10−9 N.

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 6 / 11

Capacitor Under Biasing

The restoring force constant is km . The Felectrical itself is a function of displace-

ment. We can model this force with a spring
of spring constant

∂Felectrical CV 2
ke = = 2 (7)
∂d d

Suppose the resulted equilibrium displace-

External Force acting between the plates: ment is x, with the x-axis pointing in the di-
rection of increasing gap then:
1 CV 2
Felectrical = (6)
2 d At the equilibrium position:
Under static equilibrium, the mechanical 1 ϵA 1 C(x)V 2
Felectrical = V 2
= (8)
restoring force has equal magnitude but op- 2 (x0 + x)2 2 (x0 + x)
posite direction as the electrostatic force.

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 7 / 11

 Solving for equilibrium position
At equilibirium:

Fmechanical = −km x = Felectrical (9)

C(x)V 2
=⇒ −x = (10)
2 (x0 + x) km
The equilibrium distance between two
capacitor plates can be calculated by
solving the quadratic equation (10) with
respect to x.
There are two intersection point
showing two solutions of the
equation (10). The intersection
closer to x0 is the realistic solu-
tion.

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 8 / 11

Pull-In Effect and Pull-in voltage

At a particular bias voltage, the two curves

representing the mechanical restoring force
and the electrostatic force intercept at one
point tangentially.
The bias voltage that invokes such a condi-
tion is called the pull-in voltage, V p .
At the pull in voltage, there is one tangen-
V = Vp tial intersection point between |Felectrical | and
|Fmechanical | curves.
X
x = 30 By equating these two forces and rearrange
terms

−2km x (x + x0 )2 −2km x (x + x0 )
V2 = =
ϵA C
(11)
Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 9 / 11
 Pull-in voltage Cont..
We know elctrical force constant

CV 2 −2km x
ke = =⇒ ke = (12)
d2 (x + x0 )

Ar pull-in condition ke = km =⇒ x = −x0

3

The above equation states that the relative

displacement of the parallel plate from its
rest position is exactly one third of the orig- V = Vp
inal spacing at the critical pull-in voltage.
Now, the voltage for pull-in condition can be found X
x = 30
easily as:
r
4x2 2x0 km
VP2 = 0 km = (13)
9C 3 1.5C

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 10 / 11

 Example 4.2 Calculation of Equilibrium Position
A parallel-plate capacitor is suspended by two fixed-guided cantilever beams, each with length, width
and thickness denoted l = 400 µm, w = 10 µm and t = 1 µm, respectively (Figure). The material is
polysilicon, with a Young’s modulus of 120 GPa. The gap x0 between two plates is 2 µm The area of
the plate is 400 µm × 400 µm. Calculate the amount of vertical displacement when a voltage of 0.2 volts
is applied.

Dr. Md Jawaid Alam (SRM) 18ECE302T-MEMS Technology March 10, 2023 11 / 11