MEMS Offset-Beam Torsional Electrothermal Actuators

Prototypes of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) rotational actuators based on a principle of torsion induced by thermal expansion of electrically heated offset beams have been designed, fabricated, and tested. It is envisioned that after further development, these actuators might be used to satisfy stringent competing requirements for smaller, larger-force, largerdisplacement actuators in increasingly complex MEMS systems. Until now, MEMS thermal actuators have been regarded as inefficient and capable of producing, variously, either large forces and small displacements or small forces and large displacements. The actuators of the present type are intended to overcome some of the deficiencies heretofore attributed to MEMS thermal actuators by producing medium displacements and medium forces.