Temperature Homogenization of Co-Integrated Shape Memory—Silicon Bimorph Actuators †
1
Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
2
Institute for Materials Science, Kiel University (CAU), 24143 Kiel, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the First International Electronic Conference on Actuator Technology: Materials, Devices and Applications, 23–27 November 2020; Available online: https://iecat2020.sciforum.net/.
Proceedings 2020, 64(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/IeCAT2020-08501
Published: 20 November 2020
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 1st International Electronic Conference on Actuator Technology: Materials, Devices and Applications)
The high work density and beneficial downscaling of shape memory alloy (SMA) actuation performance provide a basis for the development of actuators and systems at microscales. Here, we report a novel monolithic fabrication approach for the co-integration of SMA and Si microstructures to enable SMA-Si bimorph microactuation. Double-beam cantilevers are chosen for the actuator layout to enable electrothermal actuation by Joule heating. The SMA materials under investigation are NiMnGa and NiTi(Hf) films with tunable phase transformation temperatures. We show that Joule heating of the cantilevers generates increasing temperature gradients for decreasing cantilever size, which hampers actuation performance. In order to cope with this problem, a new method for design optimization is presented based on finite element modeling (FEM) simulations. We demonstrate that temperature homogenization can be achieved by the design of additional folded beams in the perpendicular direction to the active beam cantilevers. Thereby, power consumption can be reduced by more than 35 % and maximum deflection can be increased up to a factor of 2 depending on the cantilever geometry.
Keywords:
microactuator; shape memory bimorph effect; finite element modeling; e-beam lithography; silicon technology
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Arivanandhan, G.; Li, Z.; Curtis, S.; Velvaluri, P.; Quandt, E.; Kohl, M. Temperature Homogenization of Co-Integrated Shape Memory—Silicon Bimorph Actuators. Proceedings 2020, 64, 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/IeCAT2020-08501
AMA Style
Arivanandhan G, Li Z, Curtis S, Velvaluri P, Quandt E, Kohl M. Temperature Homogenization of Co-Integrated Shape Memory—Silicon Bimorph Actuators. Proceedings. 2020; 64(1):8. https://doi.org/10.3390/IeCAT2020-08501
Chicago/Turabian StyleArivanandhan, Gowtham, Zixiong Li, Sabrina Curtis, Prasanth Velvaluri, Eckhard Quandt, and Manfred Kohl. 2020. "Temperature Homogenization of Co-Integrated Shape Memory—Silicon Bimorph Actuators" Proceedings 64, no. 1: 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/IeCAT2020-08501
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