Analysis of new actuation methods for capacitive shunt micro switchs

This work investigates the use of new actuation methods in capacitive shunt micro switches. We formulate the coupled electromechanical problem by taking into account the fringing effects and nonlinearities due to mid-plane stretching. Static analysis is undertaken using the Differential Quadrature Method (DQM) to obtain the pull in voltage which is verified by means of the Finite Element Method (FEM). Based on Galerkin approximation, a single degree of freedom dynamic model is developed and limit-cycle solutions are calculated using the Finite Difference Method (FDM). In addition to the harmonic waveform signal, we apply novel actuation waveform signals to simulate the frequency-response. We show that, biased signals, using a square wave signal reduces significantly the pull-in voltage compared to the triangular and harmonic signal. Finally, these results are validated experimentally.