An idealized electostatically actuated microelectromechanical system (MEMS) consists of a fixed horizontal ground plate held at zero potential above which an elastic membrane held at potential V is suspended. A Coulomb force is generated by the potential difference across the device and results in a deformation of the membrane, thereby converting electrostatic energy into mechanical energy, see...

In order to characterize surface chemomechanical phenomena driving microelectromechanical systems behavior, we propose herein a method to simultaneously obtain a full kinematic field describing the surface displacement and a map of its chemical modification from optical measurements. Using a microscope, reflected intensity fields are recorded for two different illumination wavelengths. Decoupli...

A multi-state latching translation stage is demonstrated using microelectromechanical systems technology. The mechanism is fabricated in bonded silicon-on-insulator material with an 85 μm thick bonded layer, by single-layer patterning, deep reactive ion etching, undercutting and metallization. The table position can be continuously adjusted by electrothermal buckling mode actuators or latched i...

A new technology exploiting commercial microsensors developed for atomic force microscopy offers breakthrough capability in ultra-small, low-power, high-accuracy wireless sensors for meteorological measurements. Historically, sensors used in airborne and buoy-based platforms required compromises in performance to achieve the low weight and low power requirements of the mobile platforms. Recent ...

In this work, the mechanical design and the experimental validation of a microelectromechanical frequency-modulated (FM) pitch gyroscope are presented. The proposed device is fabricated through the ThELMA © surface micromachining process of STMicroelectronics and it represents, to the authors’ knowledge, the first small-footprint (690 μm × 946 μm) prototype of FM gyroscope able to measure an in...

In the past fifteen years mathematical models for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have been the subject of several studies, in particular due to the interesting qualitative properties they feature. Still most research is devoted to an illustrative but simplified model, which is deduced from a more complex model when the aspect ratio of the device vanishes, the so-called vanishing (or smal...

We report an equivalent circuit model for MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) electrostatic actuator using open-source circuit simulator Qucs (quite universal circuit simulator). Electrostatic force, equation of motion, and Kirchhoff’s laws are implemented by using the EDD (equation defined device) function of Qucs. Mathematic integral operation in the equation of motion is interpreted into e...

For a resonator in an electrostatic microelectromechanical system (MEMS), nonlinear coupling between applied electrostatic force and the mechanical motion of the resonator can lead to chaotic oscillations. Better performance of the device can be achieved when the oscillations are periodic with large amplitude. We investigate the nonlinear dynamics of a system of deformable doubly clamped beam, ...

A modified tuning element for a Littrow external cavity laser is demonstrated using microelectromechanical systems technology. The device combines a vertically etched blazed grating, a compound flexure suspension and drive elements for translating and rotating the grating. Tuning is linearized by linking the grating to a remote actuator by a flexible linkage. A simple theoretical model of the l...

We present a new approach to optical interconnections, based on microelectromechanical system tip/tilt mirror technology and the White cell. This is a free-space approach in which many beams circulate simultaneously in the device, each beam forming a unique spot pattern on the micromirror array. On each bounce, each beam can be switched to any of several White cells, each of which has a differe...