Abstract
The authors report the characterization and optimization of thermal actuators based upon thin elastomeric films on glass slides with integrated microheaters. By performing a systematic study of actuation performance with respect to heater size and elastomeric film thickness, the relationships between these parameters and actuation speed, efficiency, and crosstalk are elucidated. Combining these experimental studies with calculated temperature profiles provides an estimate of the maximum attainable actuation, which is predicted to be as large as 20% of the elastomeric film thickness. Based on these results, the authors provide a strategy for optimizing actuator geometry for a desired application in terms of selected actuation range and temperature tolerance. These results can be used to explore the feasibility of applying thermal actuation in a massively parallel format in low-cost microelectromechanical systems for applications such as high throughput, individually addressable cantilever-free scanning probe lithography.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 6F201 |
| Journal | Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology B: Microelectronics and Nanometer Structures |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2013 |
Funding
C.A.M. acknowledges the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR, Awards FA9550-12-1-0280 and FA9550-12-1-0141), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA, Award N66001-08-1-2044), and the National Science Foundation (NSF, Awards DBI-1152139 and DMB-1124131) for support of this research. K.A.B. gratefully acknowledges support from Northwestern University's International Institute for Nanotechnology. D.J.E. acknowledges the DoD and AFOSR for a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, 32 CFR 168a.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering