Fully integrated electromagnetic actuator using resin-bonded NdFeB micromagnets

This paper presents the fabrication and characterization of a novel fully integrated electromagnetic actuator using resin-bonded NdFeB micromagnets. The whole architecture is formed using the surface micromachining technology with a laminated photoresist sacrificial layer process on quartz substrate. Thanks to the MEMS compatible fabrication process, the volume of the fabricated actuator is only about 10 mm
³
, which makes it one of the smallest electromagnetic actuators reported to date. By altering the direction of the input current, the actuating displacements of approximately ±10 μm in both attraction and repulsion could be achieved. This serves to demonstrate the viability and compatibility of using polymer-bonded magnets for MEMS applications.