Micromachined electrostatic vertical actuator

Patent · Tue Oct 19 00:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:872600

Lee, Abraham P ^[1]; Sommargren, Gary E ^[2]; McConaghy, Charles F ^[3]; Krulevitch, Peter A ^[4]

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1. Walnut Creek, CA
2. Santa Cruz, CA
3. Livermore, CA
4. Pleasanton, CA

A micromachined vertical actuator utilizing a levitational force, such as in electrostatic comb drives, provides vertical actuation that is relatively linear in actuation for control, and can be readily combined with parallel plate capacitive position sensing for position control. The micromachined electrostatic vertical actuator provides accurate movement in the sub-micron to micron ranges which is desirable in the phase modulation instrument, such as optical phase shifting. For example, compact, inexpensive, and position controllable micromirrors utilizing an electrostatic vertical actuator can replace the large, expensive, and difficult-to-maintain piezoelectric actuators. A thirty pound piezoelectric actuator with corner cube reflectors, as utilized in a phase shifting diffraction interferometer can be replaced with a micromirror and a lens. For any very precise and small amplitudes of motion` micromachined electrostatic actuation may be used because it is the most compact in size, with low power consumption and has more straightforward sensing and control options.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• Assignee: Regents of University of California (Oakland, CA)
• Patent Number(s): US 5969848
• Application Number: 08/888000
• OSTI ID: 872600
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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/359/73/250/310/361/
accurate
actuation
actuator
actuator utilizing
actuators
amplitudes
capacitive
comb
combined
compact
consumption
control
controllable
corner
corner cube
cube
desirable
difficult-to-maintain
diffraction
diffraction interferometer
drives
electrostatic
electrostatic comb
example
expensive
force
inexpensive
instrument
interferometer
lens
levitational
linear
micromachined
micromirror
micromirrors
micron
micron range
modulation
motion
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optical
optical phase
options
parallel
parallel plate
phase
phase modulation
phase shift
phase shifting
piezoelectric
plate
position
position control
position sensing
pound
power
power consumption
precise
provides
provides accurate
provides vertical
ranges
readily
reflectors
relatively
replace
replaced
sensing
shifting
shifting diffraction
size
straightforward
sub-micron
thirty
utilized
utilizing
vertical
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vertical actuator