Thesis
Design and optimization of an electro-thermal out-of-plane bimorph microactuator and electro-thermal in-plane rotary unimorph microactuator
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2014
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/102971
Abstract
In this thesis, firstly, a microactuator inside the high-density optical disk drives (ODD) is characterized and optimized. The microactuator is electrothermally driven and consists of suspended bimorph beams that are connected to an electric heater through linkage hinges on a micromirror platform. A coupled electro-thermal-mechanical simulation is carried out to investigate the effects of dimensional variations on device performance. System level analysis based on schematic modeling is performed to study the device's frequency shift caused by design changes. Design sensitivity analyses in time and frequency domains are investigated. Next, an optimized microactuator with a folded-arm design is proposed. The results show that the optimized device outperforms the original design in achieving large displacement under small actuating voltages, while maintaining a compact size and supporting an achievable high servo bandwidth. Secondly, design modeling of an in-plane rotary microactuator with electro-thermal unimorph is conducted. The microactuator device is comprised of four identical unimorphs and a suspended central platform. Four unimorphs are made of confined polymers consisting of a silicon skeleton filled with SU-8 photoresist. When thermally activated, the displaced unimorphs can rotate the central platform in the platform plane. Finite element models of the microactuator device are built to investigate the device performance. A new device layout with a detached central platform structure is proposed. Our results show that the optimized microactuator can achieve a rotational angle of 4 degrees under a small actuating voltage input of 1V, while maintaining a reasonable operating temperature. Furthermore, the new microactuator can achieve bi-directional rotation by placing unimorphs symmetrically beside the platform
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Details
- Title
- Design and optimization of an electro-thermal out-of-plane bimorph microactuator and electro-thermal in-plane rotary unimorph microactuator
- Creators
- Fan Yang
- Contributors
- Xiaolin Chen (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525387201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis