Design and fabrication of a bistable electromagnetic microactuator

An electromagnetic microactuator with two stable positions is presented. The actuator consists of a cantilever beam with two free ends, a torsional beam with two fixed ends, planar coils and permanent magnets. The cantilever beam has two stable positions due to the use of permanent magnets. With electromagnetic actuation arising from the planar coils, the cantilever beam will switch from one stable position to the other. Mechanical and magnetic analysis are carried out on the actuator, and the device with a size of 2.2 mm × 2.5 mm is fabricated with the UV-LIGA technology. The test results show that a current pulse with an amplitude of 70 mA is needed for actuator＇ s switching between the two stable states, and the switching time is no more than 6 ms. Displacement of the end of cantilever is about 15 μm.

Theoretical Analysis of Nano Displacement of Nanometer Precision Actuator and Its Application

The kind of micro-/nano-meter precision actuator in cludes a piezoelectric one, an electric deformation one, a magnetic deformation one, a mechanical one, and a mechanical and electrical one. This paper puts forw ard a mechanical and electrical step actuator of nanometer precision, which cons ists of a step motor of large fine-dividing number of step angle, shaft couplin gs, a decelerator of large decelerating ratio, a screw mechanism and a pole of U shape, and has the minimum step displacement of 10 nm, the step displac ement precision of 1 nm, the step frequency of 4 kHz, the maximum loadability of 20 kg. In order to achieve the nano displacement of nano precision by this actu ator, the theoretical analysis of stress and strain must be made on the transmit ting course of nano displacement of the actuator, and their numerical simulation is done by computer. The paper establishes the constitutive equation of 3-D stress and the strain co ordinate equation of the composing system of the nanometer precision actuator. A s a result, the theoretical relation among stress and strain and displacement is set up. The torque of the step motor produces a thrust to transmit the displace ment of the above system of the parts and assemblies to output the needed nano d isplacement. In the case of concrete analysis and calculating, the comparing met hod of film-roof is applied to analyze and calculate the motor axis, decelerato r axes, the screw pole and the nut. The analysis method of plane stress and stra in is used to analyze and calculate the shaft couplings and gears. The analysis method of beam stress and strain is used to do the pole of U shape. These calcul ation is belong to the physical non-linear problem. Under the condition of smal l deformation, the analysis way of the finite element can be combined with the a bove analyses and calculations. The elementary analysis results show that the na nometer precision actuator can be applied in STM nanofabrication.

Surface effects of adsorption-induced resonance analysis on micro/nanobeams via nonlocal elasticity

The governing differential equation of micro/nanbeams with atom/molecule adsorption is derived in the presence of surface effects using the nonlocal elasticity. The effects of the nonlocal parameter, the adsorption density, and the surface parameter on the resonant frequency of the micro/nanobeams are investigated. It is found that, in ad- dition to the nonlocal parameter and the surface parameter, the bending rigidity and the adsorption-induced mass exhibit different behaviors with the increase in the adsorption density depending on the adatom category and the substrate material.

A New Process and Technology for Rapid Prototyping of A μ-Micro Motor

A new process and technology of rapid prototyping for a μ-micro motor is presented as a nontraditional machining and an advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) to be realized by using masks, including the operation principle of the motor, structure design, technique, driven circuit, and quality examination with Raman spectrum. The μ-micro motor is fabricated by the micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) process, the structure design must be considered to fabricate or assembly the parts during machining the motor in the meantime. The research proved that integration of IC (integrated circuit) process and MEMS using masks is effective in obtaining the rapid prototyping manufacturing of the μ-micro motor. With the mature technique to fabricate the motor, there are advantages to produce the motor in short time and with lower cost than before. The motor is a common power source of micro machines in military and civilian applications, for example, applied to micro robot, micro bio medicine, and micro machine. The size of the motor is 190 μm in maximum diameter by 125 μm in height that is bulk machined in array with the number of hundreds of micro motors on a substrate.