Ultrasound Enhanced Electrostatic Batch Assembly of Microstructures

The assembly of released parts of microsystems is the last, but a very crucial, step that often requires tradeoffs in the yield and performance of the whole system. Various applications with different concerns have triggered some of the assembly methods today available. Methods that make use of surface tension forces [1], magnetic forces [2], centrifugal forces [3], on chip actuators and robotic assembly with micro-grippers [4] are some examples. A recent assembly method developed in our group is thermokinetic actuation which exploits forces due to the interplay between temperature and pressure of the gas molecules which surround the microstructures as well as ultrasonic actuation for stiction reduction [5].