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A bistable shape memory microswitch with high energy density

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IOP PUBLISHING Smart Mater. Struct. 19 (2010) 094004 (8pp)

SMART MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES doi:10.1088/0964-1726/19/9/094004

A bistable shape memory microswitch with high energy density

J Barth, B Krevet and M Kohl
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, IMT, PO Box 3640, Karlsruhe, 76021, Germany E-mail: Johannes.Barth@kit.edu

Received 31 January 2010, in nal form 28 May 2010 Published 5 August 2010 Online at stacks.iop.org/SMS/19/094004 Abstract A novel concept and various layouts of a bistable microswitch are presented, that combine an antagonistic shape memory alloy (SMA) actuation mechanism with two end positions, and magnetic components to maintain the end positions in the power-off state. The antagonistic SMA actuation mechanism consists of two mechanically coupled freely suspended TiNi microbridges of 20 m thickness that are pre-strained with respect to each other. The electro-thermo-mechanical response of the coupled microbridges is investigated for various degrees of pre-strain to determine the maximum actuation stroke, minimum required magnetic retention force and maximum switching force. Different layout variants consisting of hard- and soft-magnetic microstructures are compared and evaluated for magnetic retention. The optimization of the ferromagnetic attraction force of a specic layout is shown by nite element simulations. First demonstrator microswitches with outer dimensions of about 7 7 4 mm3 are presented that show large work outputs featuring strokes and contact forces up to 84 m and 30 mN, respectively.

1. Introduction
Actuation in small dimensions requires transducer principles based on smart materials featuring high energy density and favorable down-scaling behavior [1]. The work and power densities of conventional electromagnetic actuators, for instance, drop quadratically with decreasing component size [1], which strongly hampers their use in small dimensions. SMA microactuators are a promising candidate to ll this gap. Up to now, a number of SMA microactuators have been developed that meet the microsystems requirements in various applications [24]. TiNi microbridge actuators have been used, e.g., for microvalve applications displaying work densities larger than 10 J mm3 [1]. Also the poor dynamics known for macroscopic SMA actuators is considerably improved upon miniaturization, as has been demonstrated, e.g., for SMA microscanners operating in off-resonance mode well above 100 Hz [4]. A major drawback of SMA actuation is the relatively high power consumption compared to other microactuation principles such as electrostatic or piezoelectric. This characteristic is particularly unfavorable in cases when power needs to be applied continuously to maintain a certain position. Bistable actuators avoid this disadvantage. So
0964-1726/10/094004+08$30.00

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far, bistable mechanisms have been developed, e.g., for electromagnetic [5, 6] and pneumatic microactuators [7] showing either low retention forces or rather complex designs that hamper further miniaturization. Recently, a novel bistable mechanism has been developed comprising antagonistic SMA microactuation and magnetic retention [8, 9]. In the following, the basic principle of the bistable mechanism and different layout variants are presented. Subsequent sections discuss the electro-thermomechanical response of the coupled SMA microbridges and the ferromagnetic attraction of different hard- and soft-magnetic microstructures. Finally, fabrication aspects and performance characteristics are shown.

2. SMA material properties bieu hien

SMAs exhibit three well investigated effects, the one-way and two-way effect as well as the pseudoelastic effect [1]. In the case of bistable shape memory microswitching, only the oneway effect is used. This effect is schematically shown for a helical spring in gure 1. In the martensitic condition, the SMA spring (1) can be easily deformed by a load (2). When heated above the martensiteaustenite transition temperature (3), the SMA spring remembers its initial shape and lifts the
1
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Smart Mater. Struct. 19 (2010) 094004

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Figure 1. Schematic of the one-way effect used in a SMA helical spring: (1) spring in the martensitic condition; (2) loaded spring in the martensitic condition; (3) loaded spring is heated above the martensiticaustenitic transition temperature and thereby lifts the load.

Figure 2. Deection versus electrical heating power of a microbridge (Ti49 at.%Ni) centrally loaded by a constant force. Only the R-phase transformation is used for actuation.

load [10]. After cooling, the spring is deformed again by the load. This behavior is due to a structural phase transformation between the martensitic phase (M-phase) at lower temperatures and the austenitic phase (A-phase) at higher temperatures. For the present investigation, a cold-rolled Ti49 at.%Ni foil of 20 m thickness is used. This material also shows a third, rhombohedral phase (R-phase), which is a precursor of the M-phase [11]. From an engineers perspective, it has some advantages with respect to hysteresis, dynamics and fatigue. Figure 2 shows a typical deection versus heating power characteristic of a bridge actuator, which has been micromachined by photolithography and wet chemical etching of the TiNi foil. The microbridge is deformed by a constant weight and heated by an electrical current. Here, the R-phase transformation is used that is indicated by the small hysteresis.

Figure 3. Free energy landscape of a bistable system (a); schematic of a bistable switch with magnetic retaining system (b), (c).

3. Bistable mechanism bieu hien

Bistable switching can only be obtained in systems where the free energy exhibits at least two minima separated by an energy thich ung barrier of appropriate height, as sketched in gure 3(a). In the absence of external energy, the switching system will be in one of the two energy minima denoted as states 2 and 3. In order to 2

switch between these states, an external force is required that drives the system across the energy barrier denoted as state 1. In microsystems technology, such an energy landscape may be realized, for instance, by a pre-strained mechanical beam structure such as a snapping disc or by attractive magnetic elds generated between hard- and soft-magnetic structures. In both cases, a microactuator is needed to generate forces in opposite directions depending on the actual state of the system. In general, large forces and strokes are needed to overcome the energy barrier, which imposes strong demands on the microactuator. Figures 3(b) and (c) schematically show two variants of a bistable microswitch consisting of two pairs of hard- and soft-magnetic structures and an actuator for switching. The two states of energy minimum 2 and 3 and of the energy barrier 1 are indicated. In gure 3(b), the switching mechanism contains the hard-magnetic structure while the structural support contains the two soft-magnetic structures, and vice versa for gure 3(c).

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Figure 4. Operation principle of the bistable shape memory microswitch.

Large forces as well as large strokes can be realized by layouts in this category, the housing provides the structural microactuators based on SMA. However, forces in opposite support for the hard-magnetic structures placed at the two end directions cannot be realized by a single microactuator as positions of the switching mechanism. The second category long as the one-way effect is used. Bi-directional actuation is comprises all layouts that have the hard-magnetic structures achieved, e.g., by using two SMA microactuators that are pre- as part of the antagonistic switching mechanism (layouts 4 can bang strained with respect to each other and, thus, counteract each and 5). These structures may be used in the form of coated other. Such an antagonistic mechanism is shown schematically discs integrated on top of the center of the SMA microbridges in gure 4. In this case, two SMA microbridges are coupled (layout 5) or in between the SMA microbridges as a spacer and pre-strained with respect to each other by a hard-magnetic (layout 4) [13, 14]. In these cases, the soft-magnetic structures spacer. Depending on which of the two microactuators are part of the housing. The difference between the layouts becomes more evident is active, forces are generated in opposite directions, thus by evaluating them with respect to the basic performance allowing for two end positions. The magnetic conguration in gure 4 corresponds to properties of translatory inertia, efcient use of the magnetic dem in between the eld, thermal stability and ease of fabrication. gure 3(b). The hard-magnetic spacer co dinh microbridges and the two stationary soft-magnetic FeNi layers lop In order to achieve high dynamic switching and good bao tri system. Figure 4(a) form together the magnetic retaining shock tolerance, the translatory inertia of the switching shows the stable position in the power-off state at the FeNi mechanism should be as small as possible. In particular, layer 1. This is maintained by the net-magnetic force Fmag the movable spacer should have a sufciently low mass, that exceeds the restoring net force of microbridges 1 and 2 which is in conict with requirements on large magnetic nho being in R-phase condition ( FR1 FR2 ). Upon directly heating force and actuation stroke. microbridge 1 with an electrical power Pel (see gure 4(b)), the The air gap in between the soft- and hard-magnetic xuat hien shape recovery force FA occurs that drives the system to the structure should be minimized to achieve maximum second stable position at the FeNi layer 2. Due to symmetry, ferromagnetic attraction. Therefore, the arrangement theo sausubsequent heating of microbridge 2 brings the system back to of SMA microbridge and magnetic structures strongly its original state. The bistable SMA microactuator requires no inuences the maximum available magnetic eld and magnetic coils and, thus, allows easy down-scaling in size. maximum achievable contact forces for the different giam thieu duoc kich co layouts. Also, the overall size and the size ratio of the bo tri khac nhau soft- and hard-magnetic structures have a strong inuence 4. Layout variants on the maximum achievable contact force, which will be Depending on materials, geometries and arrangements of the further discussed below. antagonistic SMA actuator and magnetic structures, various The relatively low critical temperature of the hardlayouts may be realized. Several basic layouts are sketched in magnetic structures results in a limited thermal stability table 1. In addition, a preliminary evaluation of performance of the layouts upon thermal actuation of the SMA characteristics is given based on currently available experience microbridge actuators. Therefore, the size of the hardin fabrication technology and microactuation. magnetic structures and the distance to the heated SMA The layouts may be classied into two categories. Layouts microbridge are important design criteria. 1, 2 and 6 may be grouped to the rst category, where the The numbers of functional and bonding layers as well as soft-magnetic structures are part of the antagonistic switching the complexity of each process step strongly affect the mechanism. They may be realized either as soft-magnetic discs ease of fabrication of the microswitch. Layout 3, for being integrated on top of the center of the SMA microbridges example, has the same number of functional and bonding (layouts 1 and 6) or as a soft-magnetic spacer placed in layers as layout 2, but the fabrication by sputtering of between the SMA microbridges (layout 2). For the special a ferromagnetic shape memory alloy (FSMA) layer and case of using a microbridge actuator of a ferromagnetic SMA the structuring by wet chemical etching is rather complex (FSMA), also a non-magnetic spacer may be sufcient to compared to the structuring of a cold-rolled TiNi foil. In achieve ferromagnetic attraction (layout 3) [12]. For all the the case of layout 6 two bonding layers are used. The 3

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Table 1. Comparison of different layouts of the bistable shape memory microswitch.

implementation of layout 6 will be explained in more detail in the course of section 5. In microsystems technology, the material properties and the ease of fabrication are considered to be the most important design criteria. In particular, simple geometries of the magnetic retaining system have to be chosen to obtain functional prototypes. Thus, many compromises are required having a strong impact on the nal performance of the different layouts. In the following, these aspects will be further explored for selected examples. 4

5. SMA microbridges
Figure 5 gives an overview of different designs of SMA microbridges. The design of the microactuator comprises freely suspended SMA microbridges to perform work perpendicular to the plane. Each bridge consists of multiple beams that join at a center disc. The forcedisplacement characteristic of the microbridge depends on the number of beams as well as their length, width and thickness. Typical dimensions of length, width and thickness are 1.5 2.0, 0.10.2 and 0.0150.02 mm, respectively. The bridge

Smart Mater. Struct. 19 (2010) 094004

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Figure 5. Various designs (top view) of SMA microbridges having either 4 or 6 beams as well as different arrangements of beams and contact pads.

Figure 7. Schematic graph of the switching mechanism (layout 15) in top (a) and in side view (b).

Figure 6. Forcedeection characteristics of a single SMA microbridge in the A- and R-phase.

designs 5(a) and (b) comprise two contact pads that are arranged in the same plane. Thus, they may be used to realize the layouts 15 (table 1). Layout 6 requires one microbridge with more than two contact pads to be arranged in two different layers. Therefore, bridge design 5(c) and (d) can be used. In the following, a microbridge design consisting of a 90 arrangement of four beams is considered (design 5(a)) that are joined in the center. The length, width and thickness of each beam is 1.5, 0.1 and 0.02 mm, respectively. The forcedeection characteristic of these bridges has been investigated by a micro-hook attached to a load cell. The hook has been xed below the center of the bridge mounted on a linear stage. By driving the linear stage relatively to the hook the corresponding forces are determined. Figure 6 shows the forcedeection characteristic of a single TiNi microbridge (design 5(a)) at room temperature and in heated condition for T > A f . In both cases, the force increases non-linearly with increasing deection. At room temperature, a maximum force of 50 mN is reached for an out-of-plane deection of 200 m. This force increases considerably upon heating the microactuator above the A f -temperature. The solid line represents a simulated forcedeection characteristic based on an elastic bridge model that assumes a simplied geometry with xed end points and a point load in the center [1]. Based on the model, a deection of about 160 m corresponds to a strain of about 0.3%, which is considered to be the maximum allowable strain in the austenitic (A-) phase. The deection in the R-phase state is limited by the transformation strain of about 0.8% that corresponds to a maximum allowable out-ofplane deection of 250 m at room temperature. The antagonistic switching mechanism is realized by predeecting the SMA microbridges with respect to each other 5

in out-of-plane direction. As sketched in gure 7, the total pre-deection dpre is given by the difference of spacer and substrate thickness h sp h sub , while the actuator displacement x is described by the motion of the spacer midpoint. Hence, depending on the displacement x of the spacer, the out-of-plane deection of SMA microbridges m1 and m2 is dpre /2 + x and dpre /2 + x , respectively. Figure 8 shows experimentally determined forcedisplacement characteristics of two coupled SMA microbridges in the R- and A-phase condition for a total pre-deection dpre of 300 m. The inset illustrates the conditions of different actuator displacements x . The displacement x becomes zero when the SMA microbridges m1 and m2 are equally deected. The end positions of the switching mechanism are reached when the two microbridges are in opposite phase condition. The corresponding force equilibria are given by the intersections of the R- and A-phase characteristics of the microbridges, which are denoted as E1 and E2 in gure 8. The actuation stroke s is given by |x E 1 | + |x E 2 |. From gure 8 it is obvious that the force equilibrium between the microbridges and, thus, the end positions can no longer be maintained after switching the heating poweroff. Therefore, a ferromagnetic retention mechanism is used to keep the microbridges in place and to provide additional contact forces. The minimum required magnetic retention force Fmin is given by the change of actuation force in the positions E1 or E2, when switching from A- to R-phase. By alternate actuation of both microbridges, the system switches between the two end positions E1 and E2. Upon heating the SMA microbridge with larger deection from the R- to A-phase, a strong increase of force occurs due to the large stiffness in A-phase condition. The corresponding maximum switching force Fmax is an upper limit for the magnetic retention force to enable switching between the end positions. For each pre-deection dpre , the force characteristics are constructed similarly to gure 8. In each case, we determine the actuation stroke s , the minimum required magnetic retention force Fmin and the maximum switching force Fmax . Figure 9 shows these parameters as a function of pre-deection dpre . Figure 10 shows the pre-deection for the case of layout 6. In this case, a single SMA microbridge of design 5(c) or (d) may be used (5(d) is shown) since the supporting bond pads are arranged in two different layers, as sketched in gure 10(b). By applying an electrical current I1 , the center disc will move towards the top layer and vice versa for current I2 .

Smart Mater. Struct. 19 (2010) 094004

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Figure 8. Force characteristics of microbridge 1 and 2 depending on the displacement x of the spacer for a total pre-deection of 300 m. The inset schematically illustrates the cases of force equilibrium in x E 1 and x E 2 as well as the initial position in x = 0.

Figure 9. Calculated actuation stroke s , minimum required magnetic retention force Fmin and maximum switching force Fmax versus the total pre-deection dpre .

Figure 11. Normalized ferromagnetic attraction force as a function of the diameter ratio of the hard- and soft-magnetic structures M / D.

Figure 10. Schematic of a single microbridge design for layout 6 in top (a) and side view (b). The corresponding circuit plan is indicated. The pre-deection dpre is realized by contact pads in different layers.

duy tri 6. Magnetic retaining structures

A parameter study based on nite element (FE) simulations with the tool FEMM [15] has been accomplished to determine optimum geometries of the hard- and soft-magnetic structures for layout 1. In order to allow for easy fabrication, disc-shaped soft-magnetic and cylindrical-shaped hard-magnetic structures are considered. The material properties of the soft-magnetic NiFe used for the FE simulations has been determined with an alternating gradient magnetometer (AGM). According to the supplier, the molded NdFeB magnet exhibits a coercivity of 113.8 104 A m1 and an isotropic relative permeability of 1.049. 6

Figure 11 shows a FE simulation of the normalized ferromagnetic attraction force as a function of the diameter ratio of the hard-magnetic cylinder and soft-magnetic disc M / D for xed heights of 1000 and 100 m, respectively. The gap between hard- and soft-magnetic components has been set to 1 m. Obviously, small magnet diameters and correspondingly small diameter ratios are less favorable due to the limited eld strength. On the other hand, large magnet diameters are less favorable as well, because the soft-magnetic disc only senses the part of the magnetic eld with low gradient. In the present study, a pronounced maximum is found for the diameter ratio M / D of 0.94. Thus, for a soft-magnetic disc of 800 m diameter, the optimum ferromagnetic force is achieved for a NdFeB magnet with a diameter of D = 750 m. By increasing the thickness of the soft-magnetic layer, the ferromagnetic force rst increases linearly in the range of small thicknesses and then saturates above about 250 m (not shown here). In the layout, we therefore chose a maximum thickness of 200 m taking into account technological constraints of the electroplating process. The effects of magnetization direction and separation distance h sp between the two soft-magnetic layers on the ferromagnetic attraction force can be neglected as long as the separation distance is kept larger than 400 m. Figure 12 gives an overview of simulated force displacement characteristics obtained for different combinations of diameters and thicknesses of hard-magnetic cylinders and soft-magnetic discs, assuming a displacement range of

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Figure 12. Net-magnetic force Fmag versus displacement for different diameters and thicknesses of hard-magnetic cylinders ( M , h M ) and soft-magnetic discs ( D , WD).

Figure 13. Fabrication process ow (layout 1), using a two-step transfer bonding technology [9].

35 m. Best results are found for diameter/thickness of NdFeB cylinders and FeNi discs of 750 m/1 mm and 800 m/200 m, respectively. In this case, the minimum required magnetic retention force Fmin of 28.5 mN is reached for relatively small displacements of |x | = 15 m. In the end positions of |x | = 35 m, the magnetic attraction force exceeds Fmin by 60 mN.

7. Fabrication process
Previous work showed that SMA microstructures can be integrated in a microsystem on the wafer scale by transfer bonding in a single step [16]. In the present case (layout 1), the coupled antagonistic pair of two microbridges and of the FeNi discs requires a 3D integration technology that can be accomplished by introducing a two-step transfer bonding process [9]. Figure 13 schematically illustrates the developed process ow. In step 1, the SMA foil is bonded to a support wafer covered by a sacricial layer. Subsequently, the SMA foil is micromachined by lithography and wet chemical etching and the FeNi layer is electroplated onto the SMA layer (step 2). In the rst transfer bonding step (35), a transfer wafer is bonded temporarily to the rst layer of SMA microbridges and the resulting stack is released from the support wafer. The transfer wafer contains micromachined cavities with depths in the range of the FeNi layer thickness (100 m) to facilitate stress-free transfer bonding. The rst transfer bonding step is completed by bonding the stack to a hot-embossed polymer substrate. In the next steps (6, 7), the hot-embossed polymer spacers are bonded to the stack and released from their support wafer. In addition, the transfer wafer is released to obtain freestanding microbridges. 7

Figure 14. Center part of a bistable SMA microactuator (layout 1) in the end position at magnet 1 (a) and magnet 2 (b).

In the second transfer bonding step (8, 9), the second layer of microbridges is bonded to the backside of the polymer substrate. In this case, a low-temperature adhesive bonding process below the R-phase transformation temperature is required. Final release of the second transfer wafer leads to a pre-strained pair of SMA microbridges. Final assembly includes dicing, packaging and electrical contacting. The packaging is realized by two polymer housings containing the NdFeB magnets. A fully functional demonstrator (layout 1) of the bistable SMA microactuator is shown in gure 14. The overall dimensions including the housings are 7 7 4 mm3 . In the case of layout 4, no FeNi layers are needed and the polymer spacer is replaced by a hard-magnetic spacer. Therefore, the transfer wafer is without cavities to facilitate stress-free transfer bonding of the SMA microbridges. The soft-magnetic inset is realized by a layer of FeNi (200 m thickness), integrated in the polymer packaging. Figure 15 shows the switching mechanism of a switch without packaging. The diameter and height of the hard-magnetic spacer in

Smart Mater. Struct. 19 (2010) 094004

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Figure 15. Photograph in angular top view of a plain switching mechanism (layout 4) with a hard-magnetic spacer.

contact forces are optimized by the layout and pre-strain of the SMA microbridges as well as by the soft- and hard-magnetic structures for magnetic retention. The design is compatible to batch fabrication on the wafer level. A new process ow for batch fabrication is used that includes a two-step transfer bonding technology allowing wafer-scale integration of the SMA microactuators and the technology of electroplating of a soft-magnetic layer directly on the SMA layer. A demonstrator with outer dimensions of 7 7 4 mm3 is presented that shows a maximum stroke and retention force of 84 m and 30 mN, respectively. The maximum switching force is about 160 mN, which outperforms existing microactuators of comparable size. The achieved specications of large stroke and force open up a broad application potential in microsystems technology as they meet current requirements, e.g., for microrelays, micro-optical switches and microvalves. Compared to conventional electromagnetic bistable principles, no complex three-dimensional structures such as coils are required.

References
[1] Kohl M 2004 Shape Memory Microactuators (Springer Book Series on Microtechnology and MEMS) (Berlin: Springer) [2] Kohl M, Just E, Peging W and Miyazaki S 2000 SMA microgripper with integrated antagonism Sensors Actuators A 83 20813 [3] Kohl M, Dittmann D, Quandt E and Winzek B 2000 Thin lm shape memory microvalves with adjustable operation temperature Sensors Actuators A 83 2149 [4] Kohl M, Brugger D, Ohtsuka M and Takagi T 2004 A novel actuation mechanism on the basis of ferromagnetic SMA thin lms Sensors Actuators 114 44550 [5] Ren H and Gerhard E 1997 Design and fabrication of a current-pulse-excited bistable magnetic micro-actuator Sensors Actuators A 58 25964 [6] Capanu M, Boyd J G and Hesketh P J 2000 Design, fabrication and testing of a bistable electro-magnetically actuated microvalve J. Microelectromech. Syst. 9 1819 [7] Schomburg W K and Goll C 1998 Design optimization of bistable microdiaphragm valves Sensors Actuators A 64 25964 [8] Barth J, Grund T, Krevet B and Kohl M 2008 A magnetic force-enhanced bistable shape memory microactuator Proc. Actuator 08 (Bremen, Germany) ed H Borgmann pp 3869 [9] Barth J, Krevet B and Kohl M 2009 A bistable SMA microactuator with large work output Proc. Transducers 2009 (Denver, CO) pp 414 [10] http://stage.imt.kit.edu/english/419.php [11] Miyzaki S and Otsuka K 1986 Deformation and transition behaviour associated with the R-phase in TiNi alloys Metall. Trans. 17A 5363 [12] Kohl M, Krevet B, Ohtsuka M, Brugger D and Liu Y 2006 Ferromagnetic shape memory microactuators Mater. Trans. 47 63944 [13] Ma B M, Herchenroeder J W, Smith B, Suda M, Brown D N and Chen Z 2002 Recent development in bonded NdFeB magnets J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 239 41823 [14] Lileev A S, Parilov A A and Blatov V G 2002 Properties of hard magnetic NdFeB lms versus different sputtering conditions J. Magn. Magn. Mater. 242245 13003 [15] http://www.femm.info/wiki/HomePage [16] Grund T, Guerre R, Despont M and Kohl M 2008 Transfer bonding technology for batch fabrication of SMA microactuators Eur. Phys. J. 158 23742

Figure 16. Full actuation cycles of the coupled SMA microbridges without NdFeB magnets (circles) and of the bistable SMA microactuator (squares).

between the two SMA microbridges are 750 and 1000 m, respectively. The overall pre-deection of the microbridges is 300 m.

8. Performance characteristics
Figure 16 shows typical displacement characteristics of the antagonistic switching mechanism (layout 1) and the bistable SMA microactuator for a pre-deection of 300 m. Successive heating and cooling of both SMA microbridges is required to pass through a complete actuation cycle. By switching the heating power-off after reaching the end position (a), elastic forces drive the system partially backwards towards an intermediate position (b) as long as magnetic retention forces are absent. In this case, only a quasi-bistable behavior with a small stroke of about 15 m is observed for Pel = 0 W. In combination with the optimized magnetic retention mechanism, a fully bistable behavior is achieved, as shown in gure 16 by the line labeled with squares. Due to the additional magnetic forces the maximum stroke at Pel = 0 W can be tuned to s = 84 m. Switching of the bistable actuator occurs between 20 and 25 mW.

9. Conclusions
By combining antagonistic SMA actuation with magnetic retention, a bistable microactuator is realized that offers large work output at low power consumption. The stroke and 8