Bi-stable micro actuator based on stress engineered nano-diamond

摘要

In this work we present a bi-stabie diamond micro-bridge with a centre operating contact, which can be used in various fields of application. The actuator is based on the thermal bi-metal actuation principle, switching a double anchored cantilever beam between two bi-stable positions as described previously [P. Schmid, F. J. Hernandez-Guillen and E. Kohn, Diamond and Related Materials, 12 (2003), pp. 418-421]. The actuator device is composed of two parts: (a) the beam actuator (which enables a bi-stable vertical movement of an operating contact) with frame and pillars, and (b) the base plate, which contains the contact base. The bimetal actuator principle allows the generation of large forces acting onto the base, since the base-plate technology is independent from that of the actuator. Hybrid integration of this system offers applications in various fields. Several examples are proposed and described.