Low-Energy Consumption Actuation for Microelectrothermal Actuators via Capacitive Discharge Excitation

Microelectrothermal actuators are widely used in various microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), but challenges related to energy consumption and response time persist, especially in energy-constrained systems. This paper presents an innovative approach to achieving low-energy consumption in microelectrothermal actuators through capacitive discharge excitation. A theoretical model is developed to analyze the actuator’s displacement, temperature, and response time as functions of applied voltage and capacitance. Experimental results validate the theoretical predictions, showing that with an applied voltage of 56 V and a capacitance of 0.1 mF, the actuator achieves a displacement of 160 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>m within 7.65 ms, consuming only 0.157 J of energy. Compared to traditional constant voltage excitation (24 V), the proposed capacitive discharge excitation method reduces energy consumption by 21.1% and shortens the response time by 81.4%. Additionally, a matching strategy for selecting capacitors is proposed, considering the limitations of available capacitor specifications. The study highlights that higher applied voltage and lower capacitance lead to faster response times and reduced energy consumption, offering a promising solution for energy-efficient MEMS applications. [2024-0225]