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Low-Voltage High-Frequency Lamb-Wave-Driven Micromotors

Authors :
Zhaoxun Wang
Wei Wei
Menglun Zhang
Xuexin Duan
Quanning Li
Xuejiao Chen
Qingrui Yang
Wei Pang
Source :
Micromachines, Vol 15, Iss 6, p 716 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2024.

Abstract

By leveraging the benefits of a high energy density, miniaturization and integration, acoustic-wave-driven micromotors have recently emerged as powerful tools for microfluidic actuation. In this study, a Lamb-wave-driven micromotor is proposed for the first time. This motor consists of a ring-shaped Lamb wave actuator array with a rotor and a fluid coupling layer in between. On a driving mechanism level, high-frequency Lamb waves of 380 MHz generate strong acoustic streaming effects over an extremely short distance; on a mechanical design level, each Lamb wave actuator incorporates a reflector on one side of the actuator, while an acoustic opening is incorporated on the other side to limit wave energy leakage; and on electrical design level, the electrodes placed on the two sides of the film enhance the capacitance in the vertical direction, which facilitates impedance matching within a smaller area. As a result, the Lamb-wave-driven solution features a much lower driving voltage and a smaller size compared with conventional surface acoustic-wave-driven solutions. For an improved motor performance, actuator array configurations, rotor sizes, and liquid coupling layer thicknesses are examined via simulations and experiments. The results show the micromotor with a rotor with a diameter of 5 mm can achieve a maximum angular velocity of 250 rpm with an input voltage of 6 V. The proposed micromotor is a new prototype for acoustic-wave-driven actuators and demonstrates potential for lab-on-a-chip applications.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2072666X
Volume :
15
Issue :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Micromachines
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.4b331d1d4f22426eb5df7c4a3eb11cee
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/mi15060716