A fabrication process for electrostatic microactuators with integrated gear linkages

Legtenberg, Rob and Berenschot, Erwin and Elwenspoek, Miko and Fluitman, Jan H. (1997) A fabrication process for electrostatic microactuators with integrated gear linkages. Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 6 (3). pp. 234-241. ISSN 1057-7157

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Abstract:	A surface micromachining process is presented which has been used to fabricate electrostatic microactuators. These microactuators are interconnected with each other and linked to other movable microstructures by integrated gear linkages. The gear linkages consist of rotational and linear gear structures, and the electrostatic microactuators include curved electrode actuators, comb-drive actuators, and axial-gap wobble motors. The micromechanical structures are constructed from polysilicon. Silicon dioxide was used as a sacrificial layer, and silicon nitride was used for electrical insulation. A cyclohexane freeze drying technique was used to prevent problems with stiction. The actuators, loaded with various mechanisms, were successfully driven by electrostatic actuation. The work is a first step toward mechanical power transmission in micromechanical systems
Item Type:	Article
Copyright:	© 1997 IEEE
Faculty:	Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS)
Research Group:	Transducers Science and Technology (TST)
Link to this item:	http://purl.utwente.nl/publications/23912
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/84.623112
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