Metallic microgripper with SU-8 adaptor as end-effectors for heterogeneous microano assembly applications

摘要

This paper presents design, fabrication, and characterization of easy-to-handle electroplated nickel microgrippers with SU-8 adaptors for heterogeneous microano assembly applications. Two distinctive designs of microgrippers as end-effectors of microano assembly applications have been developed in this work. The first design is 200 μm thick electroplated nickel microgripper with a plastic mechanical displacement amplifier that is driven by a piezoelectric actuator. The piezoelectric actuator is capable of creating ～5 μm displacement which is amplified to ～10 μm by the plastic mechanical amplifier and finally such displacement generates 50-139 μm microgripper tip displacement. The second design is 20 μm thick electroplated nickel microgripper embedded in SU-8 adaptor for easy-to-handle operation. The second design is electro-thermally actuated using a set of joule-heated bent beams. With applied actuation voltage in the range of 2-4 V, the microgripper generates tip displacement of 4-32 μm. Extensive thermal and mechanical finite element modeling have been carried out and measurement results were compared with the simulation results. Such developed easy-to-handle microgrippers can be used for microano pick-and-place assembly applications.