Low-Voltage Tri-Electrode Electrostatic Actuator Using Solid Gap-Spacing Materials

Employing a tri-electrode electrostatic actuator revealed a significant improvement in reducing the controlling voltage. However, the primary electrode fixed voltage can be a few times higher than the conventional topology. In this work, materials with relative permittivity of εr = 4.2, 6.2 and 10 were explored as the spacing material to reduce the primary voltage, and the results are compared with using air. Simulations showed that the controlling voltage can be reduced more than two times (at εr = 4.2) compared to the conventional topology while the primary electrode voltage required is lower than for air spacing and not more than two times larger than the conventional.