Electrostatic actuator designed for capacitive detections of orthogonal displacements of a few micrometers with a subnanometric sensitivity

E. Lennon; T. Fournier; J. Chaussy; F. Ayela

doi:10.1117/12.425396

5 April 2001 Electrostatic actuator designed for capacitive detections of orthogonal displacements of a few micrometers with a subnanometric sensitivity

E. Lennon, T. Fournier, J. Chaussy, F. Ayela

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4408, Design, Test, Integration, and Packaging of MEMS/MOEMS 2001; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.425396
Event: Design, Test, Integration, and Packaging of MEMS/MOEMS 2001, 2001, Cannes-Mandelieu, France

Abstract

This article presents an innovative micromachined silicon device with an electrostatic actuation and a capacitive detection. This device, which is no temperature dependent and shows no hysteretic distortion, is a free standing membrane with four coplanar electrodes in close proximity for the lateral displacements and a parallel electrode for the vertical displacement. The use of phosphorous doped silicon allows the application of an electrostatic force between one electrode and the moving diaphragm. The deep micromachining of the actuator and the electronic detection which gives way to a mechanical sensitivity below 1 angstrom/(root)Hz are presented. The sub-nanometric control of such a membrane with a very low calorific capacity and a relative large area allows new applications towards the scanning thermal microscopy.

Citation Download Citation

E. Lennon, T. Fournier, J. Chaussy, and F. Ayela "Electrostatic actuator designed for capacitive detections of orthogonal displacements of a few micrometers with a subnanometric sensitivity", Proc. SPIE 4408, Design, Test, Integration, and Packaging of MEMS/MOEMS 2001, (5 April 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.425396

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