@inproceedings{3e43a48164b743a2bced41d5804232b3,
title = "Lifetime estimation and reliability study of electrothermal MEMS actuators",
abstract = "This work will present a detailed discussion on development of an automated test platform for reliability and lifetime expectancy studies of electrothermal micro-actuators. The actuators are designed using the top-most polysilicon layer of Sandia National Laboratories' SUMMiT V process. The image acquisition of the device is done using a Basler A 601f digital CCD c-mount camera, connected to a microscope with a 100 × magnification. To calculate the in-plane displacements of the device, a National Instruments' Vision image analysis software routine was utilized. An initial study is done to determine the actuator displacement characteristics with respect to the applied power. Based on the results from this study, the region of plastic deformation of the devices is determined. Arrhenius relationship theory is presented to model the plastic deformation based failure mechanism and allow the activation energy to be calculated.",
keywords = "Chevron actuator, Electrothermal actuator, Lifetime, Reliability",
author = "Ganapathy Sivakumar and Stephen Johns and Nava, {Jesus A.} and Tim Dallas",
year = "2010",
doi = "10.1117/12.842410",
language = "English",
isbn = "9780819479884",
series = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",
booktitle = "Reliability, Packaging, Testing, and Characterization of MEMS/MOEMS and Nanodevices IX",
note = "null ; Conference date: 25-01-2010 Through 26-01-2010",
}