Design of MEMS vertical–horizontal chevron thermal actuators

This paper reports on the first investigation to design, build and characterize a dual vertical and horizontal microactuator based on the topology of a thermal chevron actuator. The chevron-based vertical actuator displays superior performance in comparison to existing electrostatic and electrothermal vertical actuators. The device has the capacity to produce linear vertical motion without deformation of the upper beam surface and is well suited for a variety of optical and microassembling applications. A methodology that may extend the capabilities of standard surface micromachining MEMS technology to design three-dimensional structures is also presented.