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3-Phase Electrostatic Stepper Micromotors
( Former project )

E. Sarajlic, C. Yamahata, M. Cordero, H. Fujita

Keywords: Linear Stepper Motor, Rotary Stepper Motor, Vertical Trench Isolation, Flexure Mechanisms, Double Parallelogram Linear Guiding, Folded-beam Suspension, Virtual Pivot

SEM micrograph showing the electrical network created by vertical trench isolation technology

 
The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) for improvement of capacity and performance of hard-disk drives.
A voice-coil motor (VCM) is currently used in hard–disk drives for positioning the read/write head attached to the tip of the gimbal suspension. The servo bandwidth of the head- positioning mechanism is limited by the vibration modes of the suspension, which is typically found in the kHz range. An alternative approach — in which a microactuator carrying a read/write head is used for fine positioning in combination with a VCM for coarse positioning — is expected to improve the bandwidth and the accuracy of the tracking servo system.

To adjust the skew angle of the read/write head in hard-disk drives, we investigate the use of:
  • A 3-phase Electrostatic Linear Stepper Micromotor;
  • A 3-phase Electrostatic Rotary Stepper Micromotor.

The main advantages of this micromotor compared with conventional microactuators are the open-loop operation, immunity to driving voltage input noise and repeatability of output displacement.

Poster presented at the 19th MicroMechanics Europe Workshop (MME 2008, Aachen, Germany).

Poster presented at the 22nd IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS 2009, Sorrento, Italy).   ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++
  
Presentation given at the 15th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (Transducers 2009, Denver, CO, USA).  

Video clip demonstrating the operation of a linear stepper motor.

Video clip demonstrating the operation of a rotary stepper motor.

Our work presented at MME 2008 received a Best Poster Award.

Our work presented at MEMS 2009 received the SRC Paper Award from the Storage Research Consortium in Japan.

This research is supported by the Storage Research Consortium in Japan (SRC).

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Last modified: March 28th, 2015