Pull-in time-energy product of electrostatic actuators:: comparison of experiments with simulation

Measurements of voltage and current transients of a scaled model of an electrostatic microactuator have been performed. Experiments were made at a variety of values of the actuation source resistance, and the effects on the pull-in time and on the energy consumed in a switching event were analysed. It is concluded that the pull-in time remains sensibly constant until source resistance values are reached corresponding more closely to current-controlled than to voltage-controlled actuation. Furthermore, the energy consumed per switching event monotonically decreases with increasing source resistance. There is an optimum source resistance at which a minimum can be found for the product of pull-in time and energy in agreement with earlier theoretical predictions. The experimental results are quantitatively compared with Saber simulations incorporating an analog hardware description language model for the actuator. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.