Modelling and Characterization of Screen-Printed Metallic Electrothermal Microactuators

摘要

A metallic electrothermal microactuator has been fabricated with screen-printing technology based on a sacrificial layer process. The actuator, printed on a standard 96% alumina, consists of two linked copper beams of different widths partially suspended above the substrate to which they are anchored. Energy-dispersive X-rays analyses demonstrate the harmlessness of the process with regard to the metallic layer. Whilst increasing dc voltage between both anchors of the electrothermal microactuator, the deflection is optically measured using a calibrated CCD camera. The temperature distribution measured with an IR camera in the actuator compares well to that calculated with finite element simulations.