Abstract
Shuffle motors are electrostatic stepper micromotors that employ a built-in mechanical leverage to produce large output forces as well as high resolution displacements. These motors can generally move only over predefined paths that served as driving electrodes. Here, we present the design, modeling and experimental characterization of a novel shuffle motor that moves over an unpatterned, electrically grounded surface. By combining the novel design with an innovative micromachining method based on vertical trench isolation, we have greatly simplified the fabrication of the shuffle motors and significantly improved their overall performance characteristics and reliability. Depending on the propulsion voltage, our motor with external dimensions of 290 μm × 410 mm displays two distinct operational modes with adjustable step sizes varying respectively from 0.6 to 7 nm and from 49 to 62 nm. The prototype was driven up to a cycling frequency of 80 kHz, showing nearly linear dependence of its velocity with frequency and a maximum velocity of 3.6 mm/s. For driving voltages of 55 V, the device had a maximum travel range of ±70 μm and exhibited an output force of 1.7 mN, resulting in the highest force and power densities reported so far for an electrostatic micromotor. After five days of operation, it had traveled a cumulative distance of more than 1.5 km in 34 billion steps without noticeable deterioration in performance.
Highlights
Microactuators are small-scale transducers that transform non-mechanical energy into mechanical work
We present a new design for the shuffle motor
Our motor moves over an unpatterned, electrically grounded surface, while driving voltage signals are directly applied to the plate and to the clamps. By combining this novel design with an innovative micromachining method based on vertical trench isolation [21], we have greatly simplified the fabrication of the shuffle motors
Summary
Microactuators are small-scale transducers that transform non-mechanical energy into mechanical work. Electrostatic micromotors based on stepping motion [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13] are a practical solution for generating large output forces and large displacements simultaneously These motors use a “large force-short stroke” microactuator to produce small, powerful steps. Our motor moves over an unpatterned, electrically grounded surface, while driving voltage signals are directly applied to the plate and to the clamps By combining this novel design with an innovative micromachining method based on vertical trench isolation [21], we have greatly simplified the fabrication of the shuffle motors. We demonstrate stepping motion of the motor and characterize its performance in terms of speed, average step size and output force
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