A Six-Degree-of-Freedom Compliant Micro-Manipulator for Silicon Optical Bench

The concept of the Micro-Hexflex originated from the HexFlext m , a monolithic sixdegree-of-freedom compliant mechanism. The Micro-Hexflex-a miniaturized version of HexFlex-uses sandwich structures with U-shaped electro-thermal actuators to achieve six-axis displacement via in-plane actuators. The Micro-Hexflex is designed to maneuver an optical fiber, but it can also be applied to other communication technologies. This thesis describes the development of a six-degree-of-freedom actuator concept that provides simultaneous in-plane and out-of-plane displacement. Thermal actuation is achieved by using two identical silicon layers joined by thermal oxide. Accordingly, the device creates out-of-plane displacement when the actuators of a single layer are energized. In-plane motion is achieved by actuating both layers simultaneously. The thickness of each layer, on the order of five microns, controls the maximum out-of-plane displacement. The Micro-Hexflex has a predicted working volume of 5x5x3 cubic microns and a force output of 200 micro-Newtons. A macro-scale model was built and tested. The macroscale model has demonstrated linearity over the 50 cubic microns testing volume. The experimental results agree with the finite element analysis to within 7 percent error. Thesis Supervisor: Martin L. Culpepper Title: Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering