A Compact, Easily Assembled Micromirror With Liquid Metal Pivot

Author(s):  
Hongjun Zeng ◽  
Alan Feinerman ◽  
Zhiliang Wan

We have developed a new approach to achieve a high-speed micromirror, which can rapidly tilt large angles with a low voltage and a compact footprint. In our approach we use a liquid metal drop with a low vapor pressure as the pivot, and the micromirror is tilted by an electrostatic torque. Micromirrors (1 mm x 1 mm) and the actuating circuit are microfabricated with a centralized wetting area surrounded by a non-wetting Parylene area to confine the drop. The frequency response curve shows that the mirror has 78V snap-down voltage and resonant frequency at 165Hz, and has a potential resonant frequency more than 3k Hz if the size of the mirror and liquid metal pivot is reduced. A micromirror with a liquid metal pivot is expected to have significantly higher reliability since a liquid drop does not suffer from mechanical fatigue. Due to the single point support, the micromirror can be tilted in an arbitrary direction, and the fabrication process is simpler than those required to create solid torsional weak links.

2013 ◽  
Vol 549 ◽  
pp. 156-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Buffa ◽  
Davide Campanella ◽  
Rossano Mirabile ◽  
Livan Fratini

Single-point incremental forming (SPIF) is a quite new sheet-forming process which offers the possibility to deform complex parts without dedicated dies using a single-point tool and a standard three-axis CNC machine. Although the process mechanics enables higher strains with respect to traditional sheet-forming processes, research has been focused on further increasing the maximum forming angle. In the paper, a new approach is used to enhance the material formability through a localized sheet heating as a consequence of the friction work caused by high speed rotating tool. Numerical simulation was utilized to relate the effect of temperature with the main field variables distribution in the sheet.


Author(s):  
Arthur V. Jones

With the introduction of field-emission sources and “immersion-type” objective lenses, the resolution obtainable with modern scanning electron microscopes is approaching that obtainable in STEM and TEM-but only with specific types of specimens. Bulk specimens still suffer from the restrictions imposed by internal scattering and the need to be conducting. Advances in coating techniques have largely overcome these problems but for a sizeable body of specimens, the restrictions imposed by coating are unacceptable.For such specimens, low voltage operation, with its low beam penetration and freedom from charging artifacts, is the method of choice.Unfortunately the technical dificulties in producing an electron beam sufficiently small and of sufficient intensity are considerably greater at low beam energies — so much so that a radical reevaluation of convential design concepts is needed.The probe diameter is usually given by


Author(s):  
Francisco Lamas ◽  
Miguel A. M. Ramirez ◽  
Antonio Carlos Fernandes

Flow Induced Motions are always an important subject during both design and operational phases of an offshore platform life. These motions could significantly affect the performance of the platform, including its mooring and oil production systems. These kind of analyses are performed using basically two different approaches: experimental tests with reduced models and, more recently, with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) dynamic analysis. The main objective of this work is to present a new approach, based on an analytical methodology using static CFD analyses to estimate the response on yaw motions of a Tension Leg Wellhead Platform on one of the several types of motions that can be classified as flow-induced motions, known as galloping. The first step is to review the equations that govern the yaw motions of an ocean platform when subjected to currents from different angles of attack. The yaw moment coefficients will be obtained using CFD steady-state analysis, on which the yaw moments will be calculated for several angles of attack, placed around the central angle where the analysis is being carried out. Having the force coefficients plotted against the angle values, we can adjust a polynomial curve around each analysis point in order to evaluate the amplitude of the yaw motion using a limit cycle approach. Other properties of the system which are flow-dependent, such as damping and added mass, will also be estimated using CFD. The last part of this work consists in comparing the analytical results with experimental results obtained at the LOC/COPPE-UFRJ laboratory facilities.


Nanophotonics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1765-1773
Author(s):  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Jianfeng Gao ◽  
Senbiao Qin ◽  
Ming Cheng ◽  
Kang Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract We design and demonstrate an asymmetric Ge/SiGe coupled quantum well (CQW) waveguide modulator for both intensity and phase modulation with a low bias voltage in silicon photonic integration. The asymmetric CQWs consisting of two quantum wells with different widths are employed as the active region to enhance the electro-optical characteristics of the device by controlling the coupling of the wave functions. The fabricated device can realize 5 dB extinction ratio at 1446 nm and 1.4 × 10−3 electrorefractive index variation at 1530 nm with the associated modulation efficiency V π L π of 0.055 V cm under 1 V reverse bias. The 3 dB bandwidth for high frequency response is 27 GHz under 1 V bias and the energy consumption per bit is less than 100 fJ/bit. The proposed device offers a pathway towards a low voltage, low energy consumption, high speed and compact modulator for silicon photonic integrated devices, as well as opens possibilities for achieving advanced modulation format in a more compact and simple frame.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4144
Author(s):  
Yatai Ji ◽  
Paolo Giangrande ◽  
Vincenzo Madonna ◽  
Weiduo Zhao ◽  
Michael Galea

Transportation electrification has kept pushing low-voltage inverter-fed electrical machines to reach a higher power density while guaranteeing appropriate reliability levels. Methods commonly adopted to boost power density (i.e., higher current density, faster switching frequency for high speed, and higher DC link voltage) will unavoidably increase the stress to the insulation system which leads to a decrease in reliability. Thus, a trade-off is required between power density and reliability during the machine design. Currently, it is a challenging task to evaluate reliability during the design stage and the over-engineering approach is applied. To solve this problem, physics of failure (POF) is introduced and its feasibility for electrical machine (EM) design is discussed through reviewing past work on insulation investigation. Then the special focus is given to partial discharge (PD) whose occurrence means the end-of-life of low-voltage EMs. The PD-free design methodology based on understanding the physics of PD is presented to substitute the over-engineering approach. Finally, a comprehensive reliability-oriented design (ROD) approach adopting POF and PD-free design strategy is given as a potential solution for reliable and high-performance inverter-fed low-voltage EM design.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Xingrui Huang ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Zezheng Li ◽  
Huan Guan ◽  
Qingquan Wei ◽  
...  

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 551
Author(s):  
Zhongjian Bian ◽  
Xiaofeng Hong ◽  
Yanan Guo ◽  
Lirida Naviner ◽  
Wei Ge ◽  
...  

Spintronic based embedded magnetic random access memory (eMRAM) is becoming a foundry validated solution for the next-generation nonvolatile memory applications. The hybrid complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)/magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) integration has been selected as a proper candidate for energy harvesting, area-constraint and energy-efficiency Internet of Things (IoT) systems-on-chips. Multi-VDD (low supply voltage) techniques were adopted to minimize energy dissipation in MRAM, at the cost of reduced writing/sensing speed and margin. Meanwhile, yield can be severely affected due to variations in process parameters. In this work, we conduct a thorough analysis of MRAM sensing margin and yield. We propose a current-mode sensing amplifier (CSA) named 1D high-sensing 1D margin, high 1D speed and 1D stability (HMSS-SA) with reconfigured reference path and pre-charge transistor. Process-voltage-temperature (PVT) aware analysis is performed based on an MTJ compact model and an industrial 28 nm CMOS technology, explicitly considering low-voltage (0.7 V), low tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) (50%) and high temperature (85 °C) scenario as the worst sensing case. A case study takes a brief look at sensing circuits, which is applied to in-memory bit-wise computing. Simulation results indicate that the proposed high-sensing margin, high speed and stability sensing-sensing amplifier (HMSS-SA) achieves remarkable performance up to 2.5 GHz sensing frequency. At 0.65 V supply voltage, it can achieve 1 GHz operation frequency with only 0.3% failure rate.


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