US – Page 441 – TechConnect Briefs

Analytical and FEM Simulation Pull-in Study on Deformable Electrostatic Micro Actuators

Cheng J., Zhe J., Wu X., Farmer K.R., Modi V., Frechette L., Columbia University, US

In this paper, we employed an easy general theory [1, 2] over FEM simulation to carry out the pull in analysis of cantilever beam, fixed-fixed beam and circular membrane actuators and compare the results with [...]

Structural Analysis of a Magnetically Actuated Silicon Nitride Micro-Shutter for Space Applications

Loughlin J.P., Fettig R.K., Moseley S.H., Kutyrev A.S., Mott D.B., NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, US

Finite element models have been created to simulate the electrostatic and electromagnetic actuation of a 0.5mm silicon nitride micro-shutter for use in a space-based Multi-object Spectrometer (MOS). The micro-shutter uses a torsion hinge to go [...]

Analytical Pull-in Study on Non-Deformable Electrostatic Micro Actuators

Zhe J., Wu X., Cheng J., Wang J., Farmer K.R., Frechette L., Modi V., Columbia University, US

A general theory and method was presented and employed to analyze the static behaviors of non-deformable electrostatic actuator systems with various electrode shapes. This method utilizes capacitance-based generalized equations and provides an easy and time [...]

Simulation and Validation of Bulk Micromachined 6H-SiC High-g Piezoresistive Accelerometer

Atwell A.R., Okojie R.S., Kornegay K.T., Roberson S., Beliveau A., Cornell University, US

Quantum effects have been reported to play an important role in the operation of narrow width SOI devices, in which the carriers experience a two dimensional confinement in a square quantum well at the semiconductor-oxide [...]

Polysilicon Prototypes for Flip-bonded Hybrid MEM-tunable Filters and VCSELs

Ochoa E.M., Starman_Jr. L.A., Cowan W.D., Nelson_Jr. T.R., Blum Spahn O., Lott J.A., Air Force Institute of Technology, US

We characterize our novel mechanical structures for flip-bonded hybrid micro-electro-mechanically (MEM) tunable filters (MEM-TF) and MEM-tunable vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (MEM-TVCSELs) by comparing simulations with foundry fabricated actuators. Two of our prototypes, each with [...]

Simulation and Measurement of Dielectric Charging in Electrostatically Actuated Capacitive Microwave Switches

Reid J.R., US Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/SNHA, US

Simulations of the effects of dielectric charging on the operation of electrostatically actuated capacitive microwave switches have been performed. The simulations are unique in that they incorporate fixed charges into the calculation of the beam [...]

Snap-Through Bilayer Microbeam

Cabal A., Ross D.S., Eastman Kodak Company, US

In this paper, we describe our theoretical investigations of snap-through bilayer microbeams. We use a mathematical model that we devised to investigate the nonmonotone dependence of the vibrational frequency of such beams on temperature. The [...]

Development and Performance of a PVM Based Parallel Geometric Modeler for MEMS

Jorgensen C., Melander D., Schmidt R., Plimpton S., Sandia National Laboratories, US

This paper describes a successful approach to improving the robustness and speed of Sandia National Laboratory’s 3-D MEMS geometry modeler through a combination of mask subdivision and code parallelization. Symptoms of the robustness problems experienced [...]

Optimal Design of a MEMS Relay Switch

Brenner M.P., Lang J., Li J., Qiu J., Slocum A., Harvard University, US

We describe a novel methodology for predicting optimal designs for microelectromechanical devices. The methods are applied towards the optimization of component shapes of a bistable MEMS switch. Small modifications in component shapes lead to a [...]

Actuation for Probe-Based Mass Data Storage

Alfaro J.F., Fedder G.K., Carnegie Mellon University, US

This paper describes the development of a micro media actuator (MMA) for probe-based mass data storage. The process is based on dry etching and incorporates a thinned silicon media sled to increase the frequency response [...]