Surface micromachined force gauges: uncertainty and reliability

Optimal design of a micromachined force gauge under uncertainty

Micromachined force gauges, like many microdevices, are subject to inevitable and inherent uncertainty in dimensional and material parameters that lead to variability in the gauge accuracy and reliability. This paper presents a methodology for the design of a micromachined force gauge under uncertainty, in which the measured force and the maximum stress in the beams in the gauge are related to ...

Force Balanced Micromachined Pressure Sensors

This paper discusses the fabrication and testing of two lowvoltage force-balanced pressure sensors. In these devices the force acting on a diaphragm under external pressure and its corresponding deflection are counterbalanced with the force and deflection generated in a parallel plate electrostatic actuator mechanically coupled to the diaphragm. The low balancing voltage is attained using a for...

Surface-Micromachined Photonic Integrated Circuits

The ability to integrate micro-optical elements with movable structures and microactuators has opened up many new opportunities for optical and optoelectronic systems"2. It allows us to manipulate optical beams more effectively than conventional methods, and is scalable to large optical systems. Optical MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) have applications in di~play~"'~, sensing6, and optica...

Paraffin Actuated Surface Micromachined Valves

A new, active, normally-open blocking microvalve that uses the thermal expansion of a sealed, thin paraffin patch for actuation has been fabricated and tested. The entire structure is batch-fabricated by surface micromachining the actuator and channel materials on top of a single substrate. The paraffin actuated microvalves are suitable for applications requiring many devices on a single die, l...

Force-rebalanced Lorentz force magnetometer based on a micromachined oscillator