Photo-induced electrostatic actuators towards micro gap regulator and micro gripper based on lead lanthanum zirconate titanate ceramics

Abstract

Photo-induced actuators enable potential applications involving soft robots, biomedical engineering, and microelectromechanical system due to the contactless energy supply and high spatial and temporal controllability of light. However, obtaining a fast and reliable photo-induced actuation remains a great challenge. Herein, we report a strategy to realize rapid photo-induced actuation by utilizing a composite actuation mechanism, which combines photoelectric effect and electrostatic actuation mechanism. Novel photo-induced PLZT-based electrostatic actuators (PPEAs) are then proposed towards micro gap regulator (MGR) and micro gripper. Within the electrostatic pull-in point, we demonstrate that the gap of the PPEA regarded as an MGR can be tunable upon light irradiation through simulations. Besides, the pull-in instability enables the PPEA with rapid clamping action to be a micro gripper. Micro grippers with sandwich-like multilayer arms are fabricated using a simplified photolithography process and the fundamental operation and performance of our gripper are demonstrated through a series of experiments. More importantly, the two developed components are driven rapidly and reliably by light, providing great potential to facilitate the current research in photo-induced actuation.