The response of a polysilicon parallel-plate electrostatic actuator to AC signals at diierent bias voltages has been measured with a laser interferometer. Using microhinges, large plates (with areas from 100m 2 to 0:1mm 2) with long thin support beams (such as 60031:5m 3) are rotated oo the surface of the substrate to form a parallel-plate capacitor. Fabricated structures having 100m gaps can b...

The development of a fluid cell with an acoustic radiation pressure ARP actuator for atomic force microscopy AFM is reported. The ARP actuator uses a zinc oxide thin film transducer fabricated on a silicon substrate to generate acoustic waves in the 120–180 MHz range. These waves are coupled to the liquid and are reflected off of the AFM cantilever exerting radiation pressure to move the AFM ca...

In this study, a method for fabricating actuators made of various silicone materials is proposed to improve the flexural performance soft-body actuators. Specifically, redundant deformation part soft actuator was replaced with material higher hardness limit actuator. Materials lower were used produce main actuator, so that body could perform greater bending under same air pressure and create fo...

Flexible and transparent graphene films have been fabricated via inkjet printing and vapor deposition (VDP) methods, and the graphene-based acoustic actuator could be used as an extremely thin and lightweight loudspeaker.

A novel tunable microdisk resonator with integrated MEMS actuator to alter coupling gap is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for the first time. The fabricated device shows a transmittance change about 8dB and a quality factor of 6200.

A valveless electromagnetic (EM) micropump with a matrix-patterned magnetic polymer composite actuator membrane structure was successfully designed and fabricated. The composite membrane structure is made of polydemethylsiloxane (PDMS) that is mixed with magnetic particles and patterned in matrix blocks. The matrix magnetic composite membrane was fabricated using a soft lithography process and ...

We fabricated a soft thin-film vibrotactile actuator, which can be easily inserted into wearable devices, based on an electroactive PVC gel. One of the most important factors in fabricating a soft and thin vibrotactile actuator is to create vibrational force strong enough to stimulate human skin in a wide frequency range. To achieve this, we investigate the working principle of the PVC gel and ...

MEMS Inlet Valve for Portable Sensor Systems With funding support from DARPA, RTI developed the electrostatic “artificial eyelid” actuator, which has a diversity of applications including optical shutters, electrical switches, tunable capacitors, and microvalves. The artificial eyelid consists of a flexible curled film fabricated from polymer and metal layers which is anchored to a substrate (e...

To lower the operating voltage and improve the output performance of piezoelectric actuators, a multilayer monolithic ultrasonic linear piezoelectric actuator was analyzed with the method of finite element analysis (FEA), and a prototype was fabricated and experimentally researched in this study. Experimental results show that the actuator with a multilayer piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate...

A piezoelectric dispenser has been fabricated based on the idea of a piezoelectric-metal-cavity (PMC) actuator. The PMC actuator consists of a metal ring sandwiched between two identical piezoelectric unimorphs. The radial contraction of the piezoelectric ceramic is converted into a flextensional motion of the unimorph, causing a large flexural displacement in the center part of the actuator. W...