Magnetic actuation of hinged microstructures

We have investigated magnetic actuation of hinged, surface micromachined st ructures, EIectroplated magnetic material (Permalloy) is integrated with tw o types of hinged microstructures and the magnetic actuation process has be en experimentally characterized, Under a given external magnetic field, the angular displacement of a hinged structure is determined by the volume of the magnetic material or by the stiffness of an auxiliary flexural loading spring. We have demonstrated parallel actuation of large arrays of hinged m icrostructures under a global (wafer stale) external magnetic field. The de sign rules for achieving a prescribed asynchronous actuation sequence among a group of microstructures have been determined to enable efficient parall el assembly of three-dimensional (3-D) microstructures. [337].