Lecture 5 Lecture 5

Electrostatically Driven &

Sensed MEMS Devices
How theory from last lecture is
applied in practice
ECE/ME 485
Lecture 5
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Outline
Basic Capacitor Configurations Basic Capacitor Configurations
Parallel plates
Interdigitated fingers Interdigitated fingers
Applications examples
Sensors Sensors
Actuators
H h d ff How to counteract the snap down effect
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Basic Principles
Sensing Se s g
capacitance between moving and fixed plates change as
distance and position is changed
media is replaced
Actuation
electrostatic force (attraction) between moving and fixed plates as
a voltage is applied between them
Two major configurations
parallel plate capacitor (out of plane)
interdigitated fingers - IDT (in plane) g g ( p )
d A
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Parallel plate configuration
Interdigitated finger configuration
Examples
Parallel Plate Capacitor
Comb Drive Capacitor Comb Drive Capacitor
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Parallel Plate Capacitor
d A
V =
E
d
Fringe electric field
d
V
Q
C =
A Q E c / =
g
(ignored in first order
analysis)
d
A
d
A
Q
Q
C
c
c
= =
Equations without considering fringe electric field.
A note on fringe electric field: The fringe field is frequently
i d i fi t d l i It i th l i t t
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ignored in first-order analysis. It is nonetheless important.
Its effect can be captured accurately in finite element
simulation tools.
Fabrication Methods
Surface micromachining
Wafer bonding
3D assembly
Flip and
bond bond
Movable
vertical plate
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vertical plate
Will discuss more details on fabrication later
Forces of Capacitor Actuators
Stored energy W =
1
2
CV
2
=
1
2
Q
2
C
Force is derivative of energy
with respect to pertinent
dimensional variable
F =
cW
cd
=
1
2
cC
cd
V
2
dimensional variable
Plug in the expression for
it
cd 2 cd
C
cA
capacitor
We arrive at the expression
C =
d
We arrive at the expression
for force
F =
cW
=
cAV
2

c 1
|

|
|
=
1 cA
V
2
=
1 CV
2
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F =
cd
=
2

cd d \

.
|
=
2 d
2
V =
2 d
Relative Merits of Capacitor Actuators
Pros
Nearly universal
sensing and actuation;
Cons
Force and distance
inversely scaled - to
sensing and actuation;
no need for special
materials.
Lowpower Actuation
y
obtain larger force, the
distance must be small.
In some applications
Low power. Actuation
driven by voltage, not
current.
In some applications,
vulnerable to particles
as the spacing is small -
needs packaging
High speed. Use
charging and
discharging, therefore
needs packaging.
Vulnerable to sticking
phenomenon due to
l l f
realizing full mechanical
response speed.
molecular forces.
Occasionally, sacrificial
release. Efficient and
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clean removal of
sacrificial materials.
Capacitive Accelerometer
Surface
Proof mass area 1x0.6 mm
2
,
and 5 mthick
Device Operation
Surface
Micromachined
Fabrication Method
and 5 m thick.
Net capacitance 150fF
External IC signal
processing circuits processing circuits
J .C. Cole, A new sense
element technology for element technology for
accelerometer subsystems,
Transducers91, pp. 93-06,
1991
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Sealed Cavity Pressure Sensor
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Differential Capacitance Flow Sensor
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Capacitive Tactile Sensors
S iti it 0 13 F/ t Sensitivity 0.13 pF/gram to
normal force, 0.32 pF/gram
to shear force.
S ti l l ti 2 2 Spatial resolution 2.2 mm
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Deformable Mirrors for Adaptive Optics
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Deformable Mirrors for Adaptive Optics
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Deformable Mirrors for Adaptive Optics
2 m surface normal stroke
for a 300 m square mirror, the displacement is 1.5
micron at approximately 120 V applied voltage micron at approximately 120 V applied voltage
T. Bifano, R. Mali, Boston University
(http://www.bu.edu/mfg/faculty/homepages/bifano.html)
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Adaptive Optics
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Optical Micro Switches
Torsional parallel plate
Texas Instrument
DLP
Torsional parallel plate
capacitor support
Two stable positions
(+/ 10 degrees with (+/- 10 degrees with
respect to rest)
All aluminum structure
N t No process steps
above 300-350
o
C to
avoid damage to
underlying integrated underlying integrated
circuits
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Digital Light Mirror Pixels
Mirrors are on 17 m Mirrors are on 17 m
center-to-center spacing
Gaps are 1.0 m nominal p
Mirror transit time is
<20 s from state to state
Tilt Angles are minute at
10 degrees
Four mirrors equal the
width of a human hair
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Digital Micromirror Device (DMD)
Mirror
-10 deg
Mirror
+10 deg
Hinge
CMOS
Yoke
CMOS
Substrate
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3 Pixel Image
on Screen
Light Source
Projection
Lens
Light
Absorber
3 DMD
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Micromirrors
(Actual Top
View)
3 Pixel Image
on Screen
Light Source
Projection
Lens
Light
Absorber
3 DMD
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Micromirrors
(Actual Top
View)
3 Pixel Image
on Screen
Light Source
Projection
Lens
Light
Absorber
3 DMD
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Micromirrors
(Actual Top
View)
DMD Pixel Exploded View DMD Pixel Exploded View
Mirror Mirror
Landing Tip
Torsion Hinge
Mirror Layer
Mirror Address
Electrode
Yoke
Yoke and
Yoke Address
Electrode
Via 2 Contact
to CMOS
Yoke and
Hinge Layer
Bias/Reset Bus
Landing Site
Metal-3
Layer
Memory Cell
(CMOS SRAM)
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Sensors and Actuators based
on Electrostatic Comb Fingers on Electrostatic Comb Fingers
MOVI NG SI DE
FI XED SI DE
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FI XED SI DE
Transverse Motion Combs Transverse Motion Combs
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Longitudinal Motion Combs Longitudinal Motion Combs
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Interdigitated Comb Capacitance
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Electric Field Profile
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Transverse Comb Drive Devices
Di ti f fi t i th l t th di ti f fi Direction of finger movement is orthogonal to the direction of fingers.
Pros: Frequently used for sensing for the sensitivity and ease of
fabrication
Cons: not used as actuator because of the physical limit of distance Cons: not used as actuator because of the physical limit of distance.
) (
0
f sl
C
lt
N C + =
c
) (
) (
0
0
f sr
f sl
C
x x
lt
N C
C
x x
N C
+ =
+
c
0
f
x x
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Longitudinal Comb Drive Actuators
Total capacitance is
proportional to the overlap
length and depth of the
fingers and inversely fingers, and inversely
proportional to the distance.
Pros:
d
Pros:
Frequently used in
actuators for its relatively
long achievable driving
di t distance.
Cons
force output is a function of
finger thickness The
C
tot
= N[
2c
0
tx
0
d
+ C
f
]
finger thickness. The
thicker the fingers, the
larger force it will be.
Relatively large footprint.
c 1
| |
N =number of fingers (4 in above diagram)
t =comb finger depth
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F
x= 0
=
c
cx
1
2
C
TOT
V
2
|
\

|
.
|
NOTE CORRECTION!
Devices Based on Transverse Comb Drive
Analog Devices ADXL accelerometer
A movable mass supported by cantilever beams
move in response to acceleration in one specific
direction.
Relevant to device performance
sidewall vertical profile
off-axis movement compensation
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off axis movement compensation
temperature sensitivity
Sandia electrostatically driven gears
- translating linear motion into continuous rotary motion
Longitudinal comb drive banks
M h i l Mechanical
springs
Gear train Gear train
Optical shutter
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http://www.mdl.sandia.gov/micromachine/images11.html
Where linear motion turns into rotary motion
driving
Disengaging
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Sandia Gears
Use five layer polysilicon to
increase the thickness t in
longitudinal comb drive longitudinal comb drive
actuators.
Mechanical springs
Position
limiter
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More Sophisticated Micro Gears p
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Actuators that Use Fringe Electric Field -
Rotary Motor Rotary Motor
Three phase electrostatic actuator.
Arrows indicate electric field and electrostatic force.
The tangential components cause the motor to rotate
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The tangential components cause the motor to rotate.
Three Phase Motor Operation Principle
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Starting Position -> Apply voltage to
group A electrodes group A electrodes
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Motor tooth aligned to A -> Apply
voltage to Group C electrodes voltage to Group C electrodes
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Motor tooth aligned to C -> Apply
voltage to Group B electrodes voltage to Group B electrodes
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Motor tooth aligned to B -> Apply
voltage to Group A electrodes voltage to Group A electrodes
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Motor tooth aligned to A -> Apply
voltage to Group C electrodes voltage to Group C electrodes
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Some variations
Large out of plane rotation
Long distance Long distance
Low voltage
Li t Linear movement
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Actuators that Use Fringe Field - Micro Mirrors
with Large Displacement Angle with Large Displacement Angle
Torsional mechanical spring
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R. Conant, A flat high freq scanning micromirror, IEEE Sen &Act
Workshop, Hilton Head Island, 2000.
Torsional mechanical spring
Curled Hinge Comb Drives g
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Electrostatic Driven Leverage Actuator
Li t l N ti l T i h U i it T d 91
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Liu et al., National Tsinghua University, Transducers 91,
Implications of Pull-in Effect
2
V
snap
=
8kg
o
3
27cA
g
snap
=
2
3
g
0
For electrostatic actuator, it is impossible to control
the displacement through the full gap. Only 1/3 of
gap distance can be moved reliably gap distance can be moved reliably.
Electrostatic micro mirrors
reduced range of reliable position tuning g p g
Electrostatic tunable capacitor
reduced range of tuning and reduced tuning range
T i di t l th 1/3 t i it l th Tuning distance less than 1/3, tuning capacitance less than
50%.
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Counteracting Pull-In Effect
L d B di f F ll G P iti i Leveraged Bending for Full Gap Positioning
E. Hung, S. Senturia, Leveraged bending for full gap positioning with
electrostatic actuation Sensors and Actuators Workshop Hilton Head
ECE/ME 485
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electrostatic actuation , Sensors and Actuators Workshop, Hilton Head
Island, p. 83, 2000.
Counteracting Pull-in Effect: Variable Gap Capacitor
E i ti T bl C it Existing Tunable Capacitor
Suspension
spring
Counter
capacitor plate
d
Tuning range: 88%
(with parasitic capacitance)
C i A i A i
d
0
Capacitor
plate
Actuation
electrode
Actuation
electrode
NEW DESIGN
Suspension
Counter
Variable Gap Variable Capacitor
p
spring
Counter
capacitor
plate
d
0
<(1/3)d
0
Capacitor
plate
Actuation
electrode
Actuation
electrode
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