Design and Analyses of New Configured Vertical Electro-Thermal Microactuators

This paper presents a new design, the simulation, fabrication and characterization of different out-of-plane electro-thermal microactuators. Innovative claims include: a) the new design based on the Z-shape realized on the vertical direction; b) the easy fabrication of the microactuator using different structural materials, such as conductive material Aluminum and dielectric material SU-8 with implanted Gold heaters; c) large vertical motion at low voltage; d) a variety of applications, such as in positioning and manipulation of micro-elements (like mirrors, lenses or bio-elements), in electronics as for switches or RF applications.