Characterization of a Dipole Surface Drive Actuator With Large Travel and Force

This paper presents a detailed study of the dynamic performance of an electrostatic surface drive actuator. This actuator is capable of producing 50 g's of acceleration with 70 <formula><tex>$\mu$</tex></formula>m travel at a 30 V bias. For the first time, air operation of a dipole surface actuator is demonstrated and we describe a fabrication process that has increased device yield more than an order of magnitude. Detailed characterization of the actuator performance is enabled by the integration of a capacitive position sensor that provides 0.5 <formula formulatype="inline"><tex>$\hbox{\rm{\AA}}$</tex> </formula> resolution in a 1-Hz bandwidth. The performance of this actuator is compared with other micromachined actuators and with more conventional milliactuators. <papernumber>1736</papernumber>