Displacement sensing of a micro-electro-thermal actuator using a monolithically integrated thermal sensor

The present paper describes a novel concept that employs a thermal-based approach for in-situ displacement sensing of electro-thermal actuators. A device encompassing an in-plane electro-thermal actuator and a thermal sensor was monolithically fabricated using the MetalMUMPS process. Analytical models were developed for both the actuator and the thermal sensor. Simulation and experimental results demonstrated good agreement. The experimental results indicated that the sensor achieved high linearity and sensitivity (∼4.5 nm/Ω).