STTR Phase I: Long Stroke Micromachined Arrayed Cell Electrostatic Actuators for Highly Integrated Micro-Positioning

STTR 第一阶段：用于高度集成微定位的长冲程微机械阵列单元静电执行器

• 批准号: 2014678
• 负责人: Amin Abbasalipour
• 金额: $ 22.5万
• 依托单位: SILICON DYNAMIX, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-06-01 至 2021-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2014678&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; Long; Stroke; Micromachined

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to advance the development of a highly integrated power-efficient micro-actuator technology. All electrically powered systems with mechanical moving parts utilize actuators to convert electrical energy into mechanical motion, including robots, surgical/medical micro-devices, precision micro/nano-positioning systems, and optical systems like the Compact Camera Modules (CCM) in smartphones and tablets. The market for electromechanical actuators embedded in compact camera modules was an estimated $2+ B in 2018. The proposed project will advance a technology for these CCM optical systems.This Small Business Technology Transfer Research Phase I project aims to explore commercialization of arrayed cell electrostatic (ACE) actuators. Arrangement of individual micro-scale actuator cells, resembling that of biological muscle cells, allows addition of force and displacements of a large number of cells, leading to large actuator displacements of hundreds of microns. Submicron electrostatic transduction airgaps within the actuator cells between electrodes tens of microns tall are realized via a bulk micromachining fabrication process utilizing a sacrificial layer technique. Submicron transduction gaps lead to large work output per actuator volume and lower operating voltage, both of which are major limiting factors for electrostatic actuators. This project specifically focuses on micro-lens manipulators to replace conventional Voice Coil Motors (VCM) in compact camera modules for Auto-Focus (AF) and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) functions. The targeted actuators can lead to more compact CCMs with improved auto-focus and image stabilization performance, lower power consumption, and without the VCM heat deteriorating the image sensor performance. The technical efforts will focus on design, fabrication, and characterization of a chip-scale low-power 5-degree of freedom (DOF) micro-lens manipulator suitable for use in compact camera modules. Comprehensive long-term reliability and durability tests will be performed on the fabricated prototypes to determine the limitations and viability of the actuators.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这一小型企业技术转移（STTR）I阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是推动高度集成的强力微型激代技术的开发。 所有带有机械运动部件的电力系统都利用执行器将电能转换为机械运动，包括机器人，手术/医疗微设备，精密微/纳米位置系统以及智能手机和平板电脑中的紧凑型相机模块（CCM）等光学系统。 嵌入紧凑型相机模块中的机电执行器市场估计为2018年的$ 2+ b。拟议的项目将推动这些CCM光学系统的技术。该小型企业技术转移研究阶段I项目旨在探索阵列静电静电（ACE）致敬器的商业化。 单个微尺度致动物细胞的排列，类似于生物肌肉细胞的细胞，允许添加大量细胞的力和位移，从而导致数百微米的大量执行器位移。 电极之间的沉积物静电转导空气胶条通过使用牺牲层技术实现了数十千微米的电极数以数十万微米的制造工艺。 亚微米转导差距导致每个执行器体积的工作输出较大，并且工作电压较低，这两者都是静电执行器的主要限制因素。 该项目专门针对微型镜头操纵器，以替换用于自动对焦（AF）和光学图像稳定（OIS）功能的紧凑型相机模块中常规语音线圈电动机（VCM）。 有针对性的执行器可以通过改进的自动对焦和图像稳定性能，降低功率消耗以及VCM热量导致更紧凑的CCM，而不会导致图像传感器的性能恶化。技术工作将集中于设计，制造和表征芯片尺度的低功率自由度（DOF）微镜头操纵器，适用于紧凑型相机模块。 全面的长期可靠性和耐用性测试将在制造的原型上进行，以确定执行器的限制和生存能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并认为使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛影响的审查标准，认为值得通过评估来获得支持。