Bimorph

About: Bimorph is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3339 publications have been published within this topic receiving 51880 citations.

Thermally actuated CMOS micromirrors

Abstract: Thermally actuated micromirrors fabricated using a standard CMOS process and one subsequent anisotropic silicon etch step are presented. The device consists of a mirror plate supported by bimorph cantilever beams. Even short beams show a large deflection effect. A theoretical analysis valid for n-morph bending beams has been derived and found to be consistent with experimental and computer-simulation results.

A reliable single-layer out-of-plane micromachined thermal actuator ☆

Abstract: Out-of-plane electrothermal actuators have been applied to a variety of fields with the bimorph effect being the most commonly used driving method, due to simple fabrication process However, such an actuator experiences a shear force at the interface of different materials, while actuated Delamination therefore takes place and decreases its lifetime In this study, a novel bi-directional out-of-plane electrothermal actuator is designed and fabricated Unlike the bi-metal and hot–cold arm thermal actuator, this actuator can move in two directions Since this actuator is consisted of only single-layer thin film material, it can prevent from delamination According to the static load–deflection test, this actuator can achieve bi-directional actuation with amplitude near 6–7 μm when driven at 5 V According to the vibration test, the dynamics of the actuator is influenced not only by the thermal characteristics but also by the vibration modes Consequently, the thermal actuator still has a significant output when driven near 40 kHz The actuator were experienced a fatigue test which shows that its resonant frequency remains unchanged after 10 9 cycles of continuous operation with driving voltage at 225 V

Improve efficiency of harvesting random energy by snap-through in a quad-stable harvester

Abstract: In response to the defects of the bi-stable energy harvester (BEH), we develop a novel quad-stable energy harvester (QEH) to improve the harvesting efficiency. The device is made up of a bimorph cantilever beam having a tip magnet and three external fixed magnets. By introducing the repulsion forces between magnets, the function of potential energy of the QEH is given. It owns four potential wells. It is proved that the quad-stable harvester can cross the barriers and realize snap-through easier. Validation experiments were performed by frequency sweeping and random excitations. Results show that compared to the BEH the frequency bandwidth of snap-through of the novel device is much wider. The QEH can make a dense snap-through in response under random excitation, and give out a large output voltage. This shows that the proposed QEH is more effective in energy harvesting applications.

Human powered piezoelectric power generating device

Abstract: An energy scavenging apparatus comprises a frame which can be human-carried or human-borne; plural cantilevered bimorph piezoelectric members connected to the frame to have an essentially parallel orientation, each cantilevered bimorph piezoelectric member comprising a proximal end connected to the frame and a distal end; and, a mass member connected to the distal end of the plural cantilevered bimorph piezoelectric members.

Integrated atomic force microscopy array probe with metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor stress sensor, thermal bimorph actuator, and on-chip complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor electronics

Abstract: A microfabricated 2×1 array of active and self-detecting cantilevers is presented for applications in atomic force microscopy (AFM). The integrated deflection sensor is based on a stress sensing metal–oxide–semiconductor transistor. Full custom complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor amplifiers for signal readout are combined on the same chip. A sensor sensitivity of 2.25 mV/nm, or a change in current ΔId/Id=2.8×10−6/nm, was obtained at the final output stage. Three Al–Si thermal bimorph actuators are integrated on each cantilever for self-excitation and feedback actuation. The efficiencies of the heaters are 2.4–4.7 K/mW. In the experimental setup, a maximum displacement of 8 μm was achieved at 45 mW input. A pair of parallel AFM images in the constant height mode, a typical tapping mode image, and a constant force image with 1.3 μm high features have been successfully taken with the array probe.