Dielectric Elastomer Generators (DEGs) are an emerging technology for the conversion of mechanical into electrical energy. Despite many advantageous characteristics, there are still issues to overcome, including the need for charging at every cycle to produce an electrical output. Self-priming Circuits (SPCs) are one possible solution, storing part of the electric energy output of one cycle to ...

This paper presents in detail the entire procedure in calculating the bias resistance of an ohmic RFMEMS switch, controlled under resistive damping. (Charge drive technique). In case of a very stiff device, like the North Eastern University (NEU) switch, the actuation control under resistive damping is the only way to achieve controllability. Due to the short switching time as well as the high ...

Electro-thermal actuation mechanism continues to attract attention of MEMS designers as a reliable method of delivering high displacements and high actuation forces [1]. The main purpose of this work is to conduct a coupled multi-physics FEA of a micro-machined electro-thermomechanical actuator (μETMA) in order to determine a nature of a common failure mode, suggest a better fabrication process...

Ionic polymer-metal composites (IPMCs) generate large bending motions under a low driving voltage (about 1 V). In this paper quasi-static actuation of IPMC is investigated with the goal of precise positioning. It is found that IPMC exhibits hysteresis between its bending curvature and the applied quasi-static voltage. The Preisach operator is proposed to model the hysteresis, and its density fu...

Elastic instabilities, when properly implemented within soft, mechanical structures, can generate advanced functionality. In this work, we use the voltage-induced buckling of thin, flexible plates to pump fluids within a microfluidic channel. The soft electrodes that enable electrical actuation are compatible with fluids, and undergo large, reversible deformations. We quantified the onset of vo...

This paper reports performances of improved Liquid Dielectrophoresis (LDEP) devices made of Al2O3, HfO2 or ZrO2 as dielectric layers, rather than using classical dielectric layers (SiN, SU-8 resin, SiO2...). These layers have been evaluated on several parameters, such as the threshold actuation voltage, the resistance to the electric field and the droplet generation process. The High-K material...

One core challenge of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) is their efficient actuation. A promising concept superseding resonant driving is self-oscillation. Here, we demonstrate voltage-sustained self-oscillation of a nanomechanical charge shuttle. Stable transport at 4.2 K is observed for billions of shuttling cycles, giving rise to ohmic current-voltage curves with a sharp dissipation thres...