Abstract
If the size of a mechanical device is reduced by a factor 10, its mass—and, consequently, inertial and gravitational forces—decrease by a factor 103; on the other side, forces depending on the device surface like the electrostatic interaction due to surface charge density, decrease by a factor 102. Therefore, the ratio of the electrostatic forces to the inertial ones increase by a factor 10; this remark stands as one of the main reasons behind the exploitation of electric field for generating motion in a device exhibiting sub-millimetric size.
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References
Di Barba P, Savini A, Wiak S (2008) Field models in electricity and magnetism. Springer, Berlin, Germany
Jones TB, Nenadic NG (2013) Electromechanics and MEMS. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
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Di Barba, P., Wiak, S. (2020). Device Miniaturization Principles. In: MEMS: Field Models and Optimal Design. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 573 . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21496-8_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21496-8_7
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