Simulation and Measurement of a Comb-Structure Silicon-Polymer Thermally Actuated Micro-Gripper

Conference paper (2007)

Authors

F Krecinic External organisation
T Chu Duc Electronic Components, Technology and Materials - EEMCS
GK Lau Computational Design and Mechanics - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Pasqualina M Sarro Electronic Components, Technology and Materials - EEMCS
Research Group
Electronic Components, Technology and Materials (EEMCS) (TU Delft)
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Published Date

2007

Language

Undefined/Unknown

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Faculty

Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Department

Microelectronics

Research Group

Electronic Components, Technology and Materials

Abstract

This paper presents simulation and measurement results characterizing a novel design of an electro-thermally actuated micro-gripper for micro-particles manipulation. The gripper structure consists of a comb-like, high aspect ratio silicon frame with an integrated aluminum heater on top. The comb-structure trenches are filled with SU8, a photo-patternable polymer material. The gripper fabrication process makes use of standard semiconductor processing steps and materials. The presented gripper features a large maximum total jaw displacement of 68 µm at a driving voltage of 4 V and a total power consumption of 93,8 mW. the simulated force capability of the device is 0.57 mN per µm jaw displacement.

Key Words: Bimorph actuator, SU8 polymer, micro-gripper, FE simulation, electro-thermal-elastic coupling.