Title

Vertical Electrostatic Force In Mems Cantilever Ir Sensor

Keywords

Cantilever; Casimir force; Electrostatic; Finite element analysis; IR sensor; MEMS; Repulsive force

Abstract

A MEMS cantilever IR detector that repetitively lifts from the surface under the influence of a saw-tooth electrostatic force, where the contact duty cycle is a measure of the absorbed IR radiation, is analyzed. The design is comprised of three parallel conducting plates. Fixed buried and surface plates are held at opposite potential. A moveable cantilever is biased the same as the surface plate. Calculations based on energy methods with position-dependent capacity and electrostatic induction coefficients demonstrate the upward sign of the force on the cantilever and determine the force magnitude. 2D finite element method calculations of the local fields confirm the sign of the force and determine its distribution across the cantilever. The upward force is maximized when the surface plate is slightly larger than the other two. The electrostatic repulsion is compared with Casimir sticking force to determine the maximum useful contact area. MEMS devices were fabricated and the vertical displacement of the cantilever was observed in a number of experiments. The approach may be applied also to MEMS actuators and micromirrors. © 2014 SPIE.

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Publication Title

Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

Volume

9070

Number of Pages

-

Document Type

Article; Proceedings Paper

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2052355

Socpus ID

84906258309 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84906258309

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