Electrostatic actuated mems for precision AC voltage references
The purpose of this paper is to present results on the design of electrostatic actuated micro- electromechanical systems (MEMS) aiming at developing AC voltage references through mechanical-electrical transduction for electrical metrology and more generally for miniaturized instrumentation. Several test MEMS architectures (targeted AC voltages from 10 V up to 100 V) for the vertical motion have been designed and are under fabrication by an epitaxial silicon on insulator (SOI) surface micromachining process with the aim to investigate the potentialities of the different structures with respect to the geometrical dispersion, the strain sensitivity and the electrical stability.
Dielectric charging in radio frequency microelectromechanical system capacitive switches: A study of material properties and device performance
The paper analyze the direct relation between the dielectric polarization mechanisms and the radio frequency microelectromechanical system capacitive switches performance. The dielectric polarization mechanisms are investigated in metal-insulator-metal capacitors with the aid of the thermally stimulated depolarization current method. The performance of microelectromechanical system is studied through the temperature dependence of the bias for the minimum capacitance. The simultaneous assessment allows the discrimination of dipolar and space charge polarization that allows the prediction of the shift of capacitance minimum with temperature.
Fabrication, simulation and experiment of a rotating electrostatic silicon mirror with large angular deflection
We propose in this paper the complete study of a bulk micromachined silicon micromirror able to tilt up to /spl plusmn/20/spl deg/ at a relatively high frequency (1 kHz). These structures actuated with particular electrodes could be also used as a digital micromirror up to 35/spl deg/. Their behaviours have been tested in term of static and frequency responses. A non-linear phenomenon has been observed at very large angle. The pressure dependence of the quality factor of the microstructure is reported. Lifetime aspect has also been tested.