A novel MEMS-based electrostatic actuator design is proposed for recording head fly height control below 10 nm. Different from prior work on MEMS-based electrostatic microactuators designed for magnetic hard disk drives (HDD), the proposed microactuator is fabricated monolithically with a conventional head/slider design. The actuator is micromachined into the same side as the head element on a ...

A method of self-aligned, microcontact printing that avoids the need for dedicated alignment and stamping equipment is demonstrated. Complete miniature print engines combining elastically supported print heads with alignment structures that mate with corresponding features on etched substrates to allow mechanical registration are constructed from silicon parts. The impression can be transferred...

A circuit-level methodology for simulating micromachined inertial sensors based on a hierarchical representation of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) is presented. In the NODAS methodology ( NO dal Design of Actuators and Sensors), microaccelerometers and microgyroscopes are designed as netlists of general-purpose micromechanical beams, plates, electrostatic gaps, joints, and anchors and ev...

Abstract. MEMS-Technology based microgrippers have been recently used in different fields of applications. These microsystems can be actuated by means electrostatic actuators, such as linear or rotary comb drives, but the robustness and feasibility components static well dynamic conditions still raises some concerns. In order to contribute fill this gap, properties a MEMS-Techology Based silico...

This paper presents an effective method of linearizing the electrostatic transfer characteristics of micromachined two–dimensional (2-D) scanners. The orthogonal scan angles of surface micromachined polysilicon scanner are controlled by using quadrant electrodes for electrostatic actuation. By using a pair of differential voltages over a bias voltage, we could improve the distortion of projecte...

This paper presents the fabrication and mechanical characterization of electrostatically actuated micro bimorphs integrated with race-track ring resonators, for optical tuning applications. The bimorphs, having an upward deflection in the off-state, are integrated by surface micromachining techniques with race-track ring resonators fabricated on Silicon On Insulator (SOI) wafers. Using electros...

We present a simple technique to produce active Qswitching in various types of fiber amplifiers by active integration of an electrostatic actuated deformable metallic micro-mirror. The optical MEMS (MOEMS) device acts as one of the laser cavity reflectors and, at the same time, as switching/ modulator element. We aim to obtain laser systems emitting short, high-power pulses and having variable ...

This paper presents a novel design of MEMS based microneedle actuator with force feedback system which can be used for biomedical applications such as cell manipulation, drug delivery and DNA injection. The actuation mechanism of microneedle is driven by two electrostatic comb actuators. Since the manipulated objects are very sensitive, and can be easily damaged, it’s essential to have a force ...

The use of electrostatic forces to provide actuation is a method of central importance in microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). Here, we study the electrostatic deflection of an annular elastic membrane. We investigate the exact number of positive radial solutions and non-radially symmetric bifurcation for the model −∆u = λ (1− u)2 in Ω, u = 0 on ∂Ω, ...

Assembled MEMS structures provide a unique design opportunity by overcoming the inherent planarity of MEMS devices, allowing for added flexibility and new application areas. However, external assembly of these devices is frequently problematic. Force and displacement controls are often imprecise at the microscale resulting in damage to the device. In contrast, self-assembling MEMS structures ca...