Design, modeling and simulation of electrostatic flexures for microelectromechanical systems (MEMSEF)

This paper reports the design, modeling and simulation for the fabrication of Electrostatic flexures for Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMSEF). Flexures and flexure-based MEMS devices are mostly used in mechanisms where a rotational degree of freedom is desired across a broad range of scientific applications. The desired rotation of flexures is affected by many factors including structural dimensions, micro-fabrication techniques, response time of the flexural device, force or torque for angular deflection, and applied micro-actuation mechanisms. In this paper, we have modeled a device that has two torsional flexures 15x2x1 mum(3) that support a polysilicon square plate 20x20x2 mum(3). The fabrication was accomplished using the Multi-user MEMS Process (MUMPS). We studied both analytical and simulation results to investigate the force required to make contact with the substrate, the different resonant frequency modes of vibration, and the voltage and torque required to obtain a desired angle of rotation, between the poly square and the substrate. The design and properties of this flexural device have many advantages over conventional flexure-based devices. The device can be used in many MEMS applications, including optical microelectronics, beam-steering and communications.