Characterization of Thermally Driven V -shaped MEMS Actuator Using an Alternate Nonlinear RC Model

This paper presents a reduced and efficient alternate model to simulate the nonlinear dynamics of a thermally driven V-shaped MEMS actuator. The experimental observation of the dynamic voltage-displacement relationship shows an overdamped response with a variable rise-time and fall-time indicating the simultaneous presence of complex energy storage and energy dissipation mechanisms. To completely characterize these mechanisms and yet have a simple representation for control, we develop an alternate model consisting of a set of ordinary nonlinear differential equations representing the behavior of a nonlinear RC circuit with variable parameters that are a function of the applied voltage. The simulation results show good agreement with the measured data and confirm the accuracy of the proposed alternate model.