Experimental dynamic trapping of electrostatically actuated bistable micro-beams

Published

February 15, 2016

Author(s)

Lior Medina, Rivka Gilat, Robert Ilic, Slava Krylov

Abstract

We demonstrate dynamic snap-through from a primary to a secondary statically inaccessible stable configuration in single crystal silicon, curved, doubly clamped micromechanical beam structures. Nanoscale motion of the fabricated bistable micromechanical devices was transduced using a high speed camera. Our experimental and theoretical results collectively show, that the transition between the two stable states was solely achieved by a tailored time dependent electrostatic actuation. Fast imaging of micromechanical motion allowed for direct visualization of dynamic trapping at the statically inaccessible state. These results further suggest that our direct dynamic actuation transcends prevalent limitations in controlling geometrically non-linear microstructures, and may have applications extending to multi-stable, topologically optimized micromechanical logic and non-volatile memory architectures.

Citation

Applied Physics Letters

Volume

108

Issue

7

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941731

Local Download

Keywords

Curved micro-beam, Tailored electrostatic actuation, Dynamic trapping, Dynamic snap-through, Pull-in, MEMS/NEMS, High speed imaging, Dynamic bistability

Citation

Medina, L. , Gilat, R. , Ilic, R. and Krylov, S. (2016), Experimental dynamic trapping of electrostatically actuated bistable micro-beams, Applied Physics Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4941731, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=919653 (Accessed October 27, 2025)