A micro transportation system (MTS) with large movement of containers driven by electrostatic comb-drive actuators

Abstract

This paper describes a Si micro transportation system (MTS) to drive micro containers in straight movement based on a ratchet mechanism and electrostatic comb-drive actuators. This MTS consists of linear comb actuators, micro containers and ratchet racks. The lateral movements of ratchet racks push the micro containers which move straight in a perpendicular direction with different velocities. The MTS was fabricated from a SOI wafer by using only one mask. In our experiments, the movement of the micro container has been tested with driving frequency ranges from 1 Hz to 20 Hz. The velocity of the micro container was proportional to the driving frequency, and it matched well with the theoretical calculation.