Superparamagnetic photosensitive polymer nanocomposite for microactuators

Abstract

We present a photosensitive polymer composite with superparamagnetic characteristics for the fabrication of microactuators. A uniform distribution of particles in the photosensitive polymer matrix SU-8 is achieved by applying superparamagnetic nanoparticles with the aid of a surfactant. The composite contains Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4</sub> nanoparticles up to 3 vol.% (12 wt.%) with diameters of around 13 nm. Superparamagnetic composite microcantilevers are successfully fabricated and actuated in resonance by the magnetic field of an external coil.