Factors enhancing the reliability of touch-mode electrostatic actuators

被引:46
作者
Cabuz, C
Cabuz, EI
Ohnstein, TR
Neus, J
Maboudian, R
机构
[1] Honeywell Technol Ctr, Plymouth, MN 55441 USA
[2] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Chem Engn, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA
关键词
electrostatic actuators; TMEA; humidity; charge trapping;
D O I
10.1016/S0924-4247(99)00281-2
中图分类号
TM [电工技术]; TN [电子技术、通信技术];
学科分类号
0808 ; 0809 ;
摘要
This paper discusses the failure modes frequently encountered in touch-mode electrostatic actuators (TMEA) and reports on practical ways of increasing the time to failure. Humidity is identified as the main source of anomalies in the behavior of TMEA and charge trapping in the dielectric as the main cause of stiction. A method for direct charge measurement is derived and the measurements show good agreement with the calculated data. A new driving scheme is proposed that, together with surface treatments based on self-assembled monolayer, desensitizes the actuator to environmental conditions. In this way, actuators working without failure in room air for over 40 million cycles were obtained. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:245 / 250
页数:6
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