access icon free Out-of-plane buckled cantilever microstructures with adjustable angular positions using thermal bimorph actuation for transducer applications

The integration of thermal bimorph actuators and buckled cantilever structures to form an out-of-plane plate with adjustable angular positions is reported. This structure could be used as a platform to build other transducers such as optical micromirrors, scanning antennas, switches or low-frequency oscillators. The electromechanical characterisation has shown that these structures can adjust their angular position by 6° when they are operated using a DC source. The thermal characterisation performed by an infrared camera showed that the heat-affected zone reaches a maximum temperature of 125°C while the rest of the structure remains unaffected by the generated heat.

Inspec keywords: microactuators; oscillators; transducers; scanning antennas; cantilevers; micromirrors

Other keywords: scanning antenna; transducer application; out-of-plane buckled cantilever microstructure; adjustable angular position; thermal bimorph actuation; DC source; optical micromirror; temperature 125 C; thermal characterisation; infrared camera; low-frequency oscillator; electromechanical characterisation

Subjects: Sensing devices and transducers; MEMS and NEMS device technology

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