Engineering Commons^™

Electrostatic Levitation: An Elegant Method To Control Mems Switching Operation, Mohammad Mousavi, Mohammad Alzgool, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

This paper investigates the characteristics of a micro-switch that uses two side electrodes to open a normally closed switch. The side electrodes surround the xed electrode in the well-known gap-closing electrode configuration. The side electrodes can open a closed switch and be tuned to respond appropriately to outside forces. The combined electrode system dramatically improves the control of a standard gap-closing electrode configuration. In conventional switches, a DC voltage above a certain value closes the switch. To re-open the switch, the voltage difference is reduced to peel o the moving electrode. Currently the contact area is carefully designed to avoid …