A Micromachined Tunable Bistable Mechanism

作者：Du Han^*; Zhou Guangya; Chau Fook Siong

来源：Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, 2016, 25(4): 708-715.

DOI：10.1109/JMEMS.2016.2576466

• Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)
• tunable bistability
• electrostatic
• noninterdigitated comb drive

A novel micromachined tunable bistable mechanism is developed and demonstrated on a microelectromechanical systems prototype device. The proposed design, modeling, and characterization of the prototype device, which is electrostatically driven and fabricated by silicon-on-insulator multi-user MEMS processes (SOIMUMPs), are presented. The mechanism comprises noninterdigitated comb drives, which are specially designed to generate a nonlinear electrostatic force that results in adjustable bistability when balanced with a linear mechanical restoring force. The finite element method (FEM) simulation is utilized to analyze the bistability and its tunability. In experimentation, the distance between the two stable states is able to be tuned from 6.5 to 8 mu m by just varying the locking voltage. [2016-0023]

• 出版日期2016-8