Design and Analysis of an Electro Thermally Symmetrical Actuated Microgripper

This paper presents design and analysis of an electrothermally symmetrical actuated microgripper applicable for performing micro assembly or biological cell manipulation. Integration of micro-optics with microdevice leads to achieve extremely precise control over the operation of the device. Geometry, material, actuation, control, accuracy in measurement and temperature distribution are important factors which have to be taken into account for designing the efficient microgripper device. In this work, analyses of four different geometries are performed by means of COMSOL Multiphysics 5.2 with implementing Finite Element Methods. Then, temperature distribution along the fingertip, displacement of gripper site as well as optical efficiency vs. displacement and electrical potential are illustrated. Results show in addition to the industrial application of this device, the usage of that as a cell manipulator is possible.





References:
[1] A. Baracu et al., “Design and fabrication of a MEMS chevron-type thermal actuator,” in AIP Conference Proceedings, 2015, vol. 1646, no. 1, pp. 25–30.
[2] J. H. Comtois, M. A. Michalicek, and C. C. Barron, “Characterization of electrothermal actuators and arrays fabricated in a four-level, planarized surface-micromachined polycrystalline silicon process,” in Solid State Sensors and Actuators, 1997. TRANSDUCERS’97 Chicago, 1997 International Conference on, 1997, vol. 2, pp. 769–772.
[3] I. Giouroudi, H. Hötzendorfer, J. Kosel, D. Andrijasevic, and W. Brenner, “Development of a microgripping system for handling of microcomponents,” Precis. Eng., vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 148–152, 2008.
[4] S. Iamoni and A. Som??, “Design of an electro-thermally actuated cell microgripper,” in Microsystem Technologies, 2014, vol. 20, no. 4–5, pp. 869–877.
[5] F. Beyeler et al., “Monolithically fabricated microgripper with integrated force sensor for manipulating microobjects and biological cells aligned in an ultrasonic field,” J. microelectromechanical Syst., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 7–15, 2007.
[6] W. N. Sharpe, B. Yuan, R. Vaidyanathan, and R. L. Edwards, “Measurements of Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, and tensile strength of polysilicon,” in Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, 1997. MEMS’97, Proceedings, IEEE., Tenth Annual International Workshop on, 1997, pp. 424–429.
[7] D. Mihov and B. Katerska, “Some biocompatible materials used in medical practice,” Trakia J. Sci., vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 119–125, 2010.
[8] N. Chronis and L. P. Lee, “Electrothermally Activated SU-8 Microgripper for Single Cell Manipulation in Solution,” vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 857–863, 2005.