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A Mems Pressure Sensor Using Electrostatic Levitation, Mohammad Mousavi, Mohammad Alzgool, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Applying electrostatic levitation force to the initially-closed gap-closing electrodes of our micro-electro- mechanical system (MEMS) creates multi actuation mechanisms, and opens a new world to the MEMS applications.

Electrostatic levitation allows us to measure physical quantities, such as air pressure, by exploiting pull-in instability and releasing. The beam starts from a pulled-in position by applying a voltage difference between two gap-closing electrodes. When enough voltage is applied to the side electrodes, the cantilever beam is released. At the release instant, electrostatic forces, restoring force, and surface force are applied to the cantilever. According to the experimental results of this work, …