In this paper we will present methods for displacement characterization of topology optimized electro-thermal microactuators. Although thermal actuators are the object of our research, these methods are general in nature and can be applied for any type of laterally driven actuator. Characterization of these actuators is done by recording the power dissipated in the actuator and, by the use of a framegrabber, grabbing a microscope image of the work-point of the actuator. From the microscope images displacement information is found by image analysis. Using the presented method, displacements can be measured with a resolution of 5 nm. This highly accurate displacement measuring method is used to calculate displacement distributions form which the strain distribution can be calculated.

Date Published: 10 March 1999
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 3680, Design, Test, and Microfabrication of MEMS and MOEMS, (10 March 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.341175

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3680:
Design, Test, and Microfabrication of MEMS and MOEMS
Bernard Courtois; Wolfgang Ehrfeld; Selden B. Crary; Wolfgang Ehrfeld; Hiroyuki Fujita; Jean Michel Karam; Karen W. Markus, Editor(s)