5-kV switches on flexible plastic substrate for electro-active polymer actuators

In this paper, we demonstrate high voltage (up to 5-kV) thin film switches made on Kapton foil and their integration into a nine-element EAP actuator array. The DC high voltage is supplied to each actuator through a photoconductive switch, which is addressed with a laser. Each cell of the array consists of a 1-cm/sup 2//spl times/30-/spl mu/m thick acrylic diaphragm and a 310-nm thick amorphous silicon switch.