LARGE AIR GAP ACTUATOR
This invention relates to microswitches having a large air gap and a large contact force for use in micro instrumentation and telecommunications.
Background to the invention
There is a need for a low cost, compact switch array for use in network remote reconfiguration. Such switches should be useful in low current applications and also in applications, where the power is used only during the on or off operation.
Such applications are mainly intended for low speed switching. It appears that large air gap switches have not been developed for micro switching or micro actuators although this has been addressed in mechanical switches.
USA patent 5578980 relates to a hybrid switch that combines a semiconductor switch with an electromagnetic switch to inhibit arcing of the electromagnetic switch. Hybrid switches are also proposed in USA patent 5970186 which relates to an electro-optic hybrid switch.
In order to provide remotely controllable links between groups of lines, typically large matrices of relays are required. Conventional relays are not cost or space effective in this application. Micro relays have been proposed in USA patent 5778513 and WO 01/80258 but these have not addressed the problems of stable switching or large air gap switches.
It is an object of this invention to provide a microactuator capable of stable large air gap switching.
Brief description of the invention
To this end the present invention provides a micro cantilever actuator in which the cantilever incorporates a layer of magnetic material and a layer of electroactive material and the cantilever is deflected by a combination of electromagnetic and electric forces.
The electroactive material may be an electronic or ionic electroactive polymer or preferably a piezoelectric material.
The combination of the two mechanisms enables the actuator to make contact over a large air gap. This mechanism may be used in micro devices where a large air gap is required for actuators for valves or other applications where a large opening is required. The micro actuator may be of a cantilever design with an air gap between the end of the cantilever and a magnetic core having an electromagnetic coil wound around it and a permanent magnet wherein the cantilever beam incorporates a piezo electric member. The deflection the beam by the electromagnetic force is insufficient to make contact but the additional deflection provided by actuation of the piezo member closes the gap and establishes contact.
The actuator is designed so that once contact is established the magnetic force of the permanent magnet is sufficient to maintain contact and keep the actuator in the closed or on position. By simply reversing the current in the coil the magnetic force of the permanent magnet can be opened so that the actuator moves to the open or off position. This means the actuator only requires power during the switching operation. The magnetic or piezo actuation can be activated individually or simultaneously to increase or decrease the actuation force. In another embodiment the present invention provides a large air gap micro switch for use in a switching array in which the switch includes a) a cantilever switch arm which incorporates a layer of magnetic material and a layer of an electroactive material b) a coil wound on a magnetic core seated on a permanent magnet c) the free end of the cantilever is positioned above the magnetic core with an air gap between the end of the cantilever and the magnetic core and the cantilever is deflected by a combination of electromagnetic and electric forces
Any suitable piezo material may be used such as a piezo ceramic material like
PZT (Lead ZirconateTitanate), PLZT or a piezo polymer such as PVDF(polyvinylidenefluoride), a copolymer of PVDF or PVSDF.
The magnetic material may be a soft magnetic material such as nickel or a permalloy material. The electro active material is bonded to the magnetic material on the face remote from the magnetic core.
Detailed description of the invention
An embodiment of this invention will be described with reference to the drawings in which :
Figure 1 illustrates the configuration of the hybrid switch; Figure 2 illustrates the construction of the cantilever beam used in the switch of figure 1 ;
Figure 3 illustrates the relationship between beam deflection and thickness of the piezo layer;
Figure 4 illustrates the relationship between beam deflection and thickness of the magnetic layer;
Figure 5 illustrates the relationship between tip deflection and the beam length.
Figure 6 illustrates the configuration of a hybrid microswitch;
Figure 7 illustrates the fabricated planar copper coil and permalloy core of the switch of figure 6; Figure 8 illustrates the detail profile of the microcoil of the switch of figure 6.
The principle of the switch of this invention is illustrated in figure 1.
A first embodiment of this invention consists of a PVDF cantilever with Permalloy plated structure on the top with the copper coil wound Permalloy core assembled on a silicon substrate along with a permanent magnet at the bottom.
The dimensions and design variables of the first embodiment of the device are:
Cantilever Beam: 5000μm x1000μm x (28μm PVDF +5μm permalloy)
Magnet components:
Permalloy yoke: φ500μm x3000μm Permeablity=500 Copper Coil 200μm x1250μm (50μm diameter include insulation layer)
Si wafer 10OOOμm x330μm
Permanent Magnet 600μm x300μm, Hc=12 KOe, Br=1.32Tesla
Current: 50-80 Ma
Magnetic force = 160 μN Air gap = 400-500μm
Beam applied voltage: 100-150V
Beam deflection: 70-90μm
When an electromagnetic coil (wound around the permalloy core) is energized using a designated current, it generates an electromagnetic force, which attracts the cantilever towards the core. However, this force is not sufficient to close the circuit, as the air gap is larger than the maximum possible deflection. Additional deflection is achieved using the PVDF, based on the piezoelectric actuation. This brings the switch to ON position.
As the direction of the current changed, it generates a force in the opposite direction, which opens the circuit, bringing it to off position. As shown in figure 3 the tip deflection of the beam is greatly affected by the thickness of PVDF film. The available thicknesses of PVDF film are 9, 28, 52 and 110um. The thinner the layer of PVDF, the larger is the beam deflection. In the experiment illustrated 28um thick PVDF was used.
The thickness of electroplated permalloy film on the deflection of the beam is illustrated in figure 4. The tip deflection of cantilever beam is related to the thickness of the two layers of the beam.
The optimised thickness of permalloy layer is 2~5 urn for a 28micron thick PVDF piezo layer. In the figure 1 embodiment the thickness is 5 microns because a thin plated layer is easy to damage during connection with the permalloy core. The micro switch of this invention may be fabricated using conventional deposition techniques used for making micro relays. The coil may be manufactured as a planar coil with 40 to 80 turns in one layer through lithographic patterning and electrodeposition. Typical actuator size is 20mm2. The length of cantilever beam and applied voltage is illustrated in figure 5 The tip deflection of cantilever beam is proportional to the square of beam length and proportional to the applied voltage. All the design variables above are based on the applied voltage of 100V.
The microswitch shown in figures 6, 7 and 8 is a second embodiment of the invention and consists of a PVDF cantilever with permalloy plated structure on the top with the planar copper micro coil wound permalloy core fabricated on a silicon substrate by using conventional photolithography method along with a permanent magnet attached at the bottom.
The dimensions and design variables of the second embodiment of the device are:
Cantilever Beam: 3000μm xlOOOμm x (28μm PVDF +5μm permalloy) Or 2000μm x lOOOμm x (9μm PVDF + 2μm permalloy)
Magnet components: Permalloy core: 500μm x 500μm x(40~60)μm permeability=500
Copper micro coil: 25μm wide x 30μm thick 20 turn
Si wafer 500μm thick
Permanent Magnet 400μm x 400μm x 200μm, Hc=10 KOe, Br=0.41Tesla ( supplied by VACUUMSCHMELZE GmbH & Co KG, Germany) Current: 30-50 mA
Magnetic force = 50μN
Air gap = 50-200μm
Beam applied voltage: 100-150V
Beam deflection: 25-50μm
In this embodiment a 5 micron thick permalloy layer was electroplated on 28μm
PVDF because thin plated layer is easy to damage during the connection with permalloy core. The alternative option is electroplating 2μm permalloy on 9μm
PVDF polymer. The coil as illustrated in figures 7 and 8 was manufactured as a planar coil 12 with
20 turns in one layer around a permalloy core 11 through lithographic patterning and electrodeposition. Typical actuator size is 12mm2.
The microswitch or micro actuator of this invention is useful in micro instrumentation and telecommunications where low cost, compact switch arrays are needed in network remote reconfiguration. It is more useful in low current applications and also in applications, where the power is used only during the on or off operation. It is mainly intended for low speed switching. The major advantage of the hybrid actuator of this invention is its large contact force (few hundred micro Newton) in the large air gap. The large deflection achieved compared to prior art actuators is a significant advantage. No power is required after the switching operation in both the ON and OFF positions.
Although this invention has been described with reference to switches it is applicable to any application requiring a micro actuator with a relatively large distance to traverse and this may include valves which need a large opening. Those skilled in the art will realise that this invention not only has many applications but may also be varied within the basic principle of the invention.