Micro cantilevers are significant structure for MEMS devices, such as bio-chips, sensors and STEM/AFM probes. The beam deflection and its characteristics have been studied for various purposes. In this study, expending bubbles from thermal surface exert force on micro-cantilever beam and causes deflection of the beam. Cantilevers were fabricated by classic MEMS fabrication method; photolithography and dry etching. The micro-beam was fabricated from <100> n-type silicon wafer and its thickness varies from 10 micron to 30micron with various geometry (length, width and tip shapes). The distance from thermal surface and cantilever beam is also significant variables for analysis of bubble-beam interaction. We observed beam deflection with respect to various bubble generation conditions (bubble size, contact area and generating frequency). Simple analysis of bubble-beam interaction were performed and compared with experimental results.

Volume Subject Area:
Heat Transfer in Multiphase Systems
Topics:
Bubbles, Deflection, Microcantilevers, Microelectromechanical systems, Atomic force microscopy, Cantilever beams, Cantilevers, Dry etching, Geometry, Manufacturing, Microbeams, Photolithography, Probes, Semiconductor wafers, Sensors, Shapes
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Copyright © 2005
 by ASME
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