The V-shaped electrothermal actuator has gained significant popularity as it was demonstrated to be a compact, stable and high rectilinear displacement device. However, existing electrothermal actuators usually require the driven voltage as high as several tens of volts to realize large displacements, imposing restrictions on the actuator’s integration in miniature mobile mechatronic systems. The paper presents a V-shaped metal-silicon actuator with low voltage, low power consumption and large displacement. The electro-thermal conversion and heat conduction mechanism of the actuator are improved by optimizing the architecture design of the actuator. An innovative method utilizing the double-sided inductively coupled plasma etching technique is developed for the fabrication. The motion of the actuator is characterized with a microscope-based dynamic test system. Finite element analysis is conducted to verify the device design and experimental results. The transient dynamic behaviour of the actuator is modelled for future control strategy. A rectilinear displacement as high as 80.7 μm80.7~\mu \text{m} is achieved at a voltage of 4.0 V and power of 1.12 W. The displacement per unit length to voltage ratio of the metal-silicon actuator is the largest among existing silicon actuators. The displacement per unit length to power of the actuator is also comparative to the highest value of existing actuators, demonstrating that the metal-silicon actuator can achieve large displacement with low voltage and power consumption. The proposed actuator has great potential for the applications in the miniature mechatronic systems such as cell phone, camera, safety and arming device. [2021-0048]

中文翻译：

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低电压、低功耗、大排量金属硅执行机构的设计与制作


V 形电热执行器因其紧凑、稳定和高直线位移装置而受到广泛欢迎。然而，现有的电热执行器通常需要高达几十伏的驱动电压才能实现大位移，这限制了执行器在微型移动机电系统中的集成。提出了一种低电压、低功耗、大位移的V型金属硅作动器。通过优化执行器的架构设计，改进了执行器的电热转换和导热机制。开发了一种利用双面电感耦合等离子体蚀刻技术的创新方法来制造。执行器的运动通过基于显微镜的动态测试系统进行表征。进行有限元分析来验证装置设计和实验结果。执行器的瞬态动态行为针对未来的控制策略进行了建模。在电压为4.0 V、功率为1.12 W时，直线位移高达80.7 μm80.7~\mu \text{m}。金属硅致动器的单位长度位移与电压之比是金属硅致动器中最大的。现有的硅致动器。执行器的单位长度位移功率也与现有执行器的最高值相当，表明金属硅执行器可以在低电压和功耗下实现大位移。所提出的执行器在手机、相机、安全和武装设备等微型机电系统中具有巨大的应用潜力。 [2021-0048]