Energy-efficient MEMS electrothermal actuators based on high-voltage pulse excitation and on-chip status feedback

IF 4.1 3区工程技术 Q2 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

Sensors and Actuators A-physical Pub Date : 2025-03-26 DOI:10.1016/j.sna.2025.116487

Xiaoyu Kong, Yun Cao, Hengbo Zhu, Haining Lu, Shenghong Lei, Weirong Nie, Zhanwen Xi

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) electrothermal actuators (ETAs) are widely used for their compact design and compatibility with Integrated Circuits (ICs). However, their high energy consumption limits integration in energy-constrained systems. This paper introduces a novel approach to improve the energy efficiency of MEMS ETAs. High-voltage pulses are used to quickly drive the actuator to its target position, while a status feedback mechanism ensures timely power disconnection, reducing thermal damage from high-voltage excitation. The temperature and displacement responses of a V-shaped ETA under high-voltage pulse excitation are analyzed in detail. Experiments demonstrate that achieving a displacement of 160 µm requires only 2.0 ms and consumes 80.5 mJ in a non-vacuum environment with a 64 V pulse, a 66.4% reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional methods. In a vacuum environment, a 30 V pulse achieves actuation in 11.0 ms with 90.4 mJ of energy consumption, a 77.7% reduction. Both experimental and simulation results highlight the effectiveness of this approach, achieving significant reductions in actuation time and energy consumption with higher input voltages.

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来源期刊

Sensors and Actuators A-physical 工程技术-工程：电子与电气

CiteScore

8.10

自引率

6.50%

发文量

630

审稿时长

49 days

期刊介绍： Sensors and Actuators A: Physical brings together multidisciplinary interests in one journal entirely devoted to disseminating information on all aspects of research and development of solid-state devices for transducing physical signals. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical regularly publishes original papers, letters to the Editors and from time to time invited review articles within the following device areas: • Fundamentals and Physics, such as: classification of effects, physical effects, measurement theory, modelling of sensors, measurement standards, measurement errors, units and constants, time and frequency measurement. Modeling papers should bring new modeling techniques to the field and be supported by experimental results. • Materials and their Processing, such as: piezoelectric materials, polymers, metal oxides, III-V and II-VI semiconductors, thick and thin films, optical glass fibres, amorphous, polycrystalline and monocrystalline silicon. • Optoelectronic sensors, such as: photovoltaic diodes, photoconductors, photodiodes, phototransistors, positron-sensitive photodetectors, optoisolators, photodiode arrays, charge-coupled devices, light-emitting diodes, injection lasers and liquid-crystal displays. • Mechanical sensors, such as: metallic, thin-film and semiconductor strain gauges, diffused silicon pressure sensors, silicon accelerometers, solid-state displacement transducers, piezo junction devices, piezoelectric field-effect transducers (PiFETs), tunnel-diode strain sensors, surface acoustic wave devices, silicon micromechanical switches, solid-state flow meters and electronic flow controllers. Etc...