Deflection and load characterisation of bimorph actuators for bioMEMS and other applications

This work is concerned with the performance evaluation of thermally activated bimorph cantilevers. A range of cantilevers has been fabricated using state of the art microfabrication techniques. The cantilevers are 600 mum long and have initial (non-resonant) displacement of 250 mum. Following the successful fabrication of wafer-scale bimorph cantilevers thermal/mechanical tests have been carried out under loaded and non-loaded conditions. Such cantilevers may have applications as actuators, biosensors, and micromixers. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.