A stress gradient was induced in two directions (through the plane of the beam and along its length) to produce a beam deflection of specific curvature. The stress gradient was produced by altering the conditions during electroplating. The pull-down characteristics of four electrostatic actuators were measured. Stressed, hard gold was patterned in a triangular shape on top of stress-free soft gold. This stress gradient along the length of the beams significantly improved the tuning range compared with devices containing spatially uniform stress. The tuning range of the variably stressed gold devices improved by 30 percent for the double-hinged square devices, by 45 percent for the double-hinged elliptical devices, and by 35 percent for the double-hinged rectangular device. Voltage cycling and temperature variation has no significant impact on the pull-down characteristics of the actuator.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.