Deap Based Actuator for Tactile and Microfluidics Applications

This paper presents a novel DEAP (dielectric electroactive polymer) based actuator for the generation of refreshable 3D deformation shapes. The shape formation is obtained by a controlled and multiple cooperative buckling behavior of a PDMS strip-like membrane using patterned, isolated electrodes along the strip and applying an appropriate voltage to these electrodes. The size of the deformed surface can be scaled from some hundred micrometers to some centimeters. The fabrication process of a test sample is shown and the maximum deflection height of the presented actuator is about 260 μm at an applied voltage of 3900 V.