Pull-in voltage study of various structured Cantilever and Fixed-Fixed beam models using COMSOL multiphysics

Abstract

The present work involves the study of pull-in voltage of MEMS electrostatic Cantilever beam, Fixed-Fixed beam and modified beam structures with perforations of square, rectangular and circular shapes. The analysis is done using COMSOL 4.3 software. The dimensions of the Cantilever beam, Fixed-Fixed beam and three various structured beams modeled in this paper are length = 300 μm, width = 50 μm, thickness = 3 μm and gap between top electrode and ground plane is 2.5 μm. The pull-in voltage obtained for Cantilever beam is 17.6 V and for Fixed-Fixed beam is 118.8 V. For the modified models with square, rectangular and circular perforations are 12.18 V, 15.45 V and 13.75 V respectively. The results of the work demonstrate an ability to achieve lower pull-in voltage levels for three various structured beams modeled in this paper when compared to cantilever and Fixed-fixed beams. The dependence of the pull-in voltage on geometrical parameters, thrusts on stringent design considerations even at the initial stages.