Optical Actuation of MEMS Devices

The experiments on radiation pressure revealed some unexpected behavior of the beam when toggled by short duration laser pulses. While long duration laser pulses at a power level slightly above the toggle threshold reliably toggled the beam every time, short duration pulses of the same power toggled the beam only about two thirds of the time. In addition, when excessively high power levels (far above the toggle threshold) were used, the device would not reliably toggle regardless of the pulse duration. In order to shed light on this unexpected behavior, a new, nonlinear dynamic analysis of the bistable beam device used in those experiments is presented. This model explains the anomalies, and extensive experimental evidence supporting the validity of the model is also presented.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Sulfridge, Marc Allen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Taher Saif

• Engineering, Mechanical

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3086193

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/83792