A Flexible Printed Circuit Board Based Microelectromechanical Field Mill with a Vertical Movement Shutter Driven by...

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Materials Science
• Physics

Background:

• Conventional micromachined electric field mills face performance limitations due to shutter lifting in strong DC fields.
• Existing designs with lateral moving shutters are susceptible to mechanical failures under high electric field strengths.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) electric field mill that utilizes a vertical movement shutter.
• To address the shutter lifting issue encountered in traditional electric field mill designs.
• To enhance the performance and reliability of DC electric field measurement sensors.

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of a MEMS electric field mill on a flexible printed circuit board (PCB) substrate.
• Utilizing a laser-cutting process for sensor release and an electrostatic actuator for vertical shutter movement.
• Employing a lock-in amplifier synchronized at twice the driving signal frequency for signal processing.

Main Results:

• The vertical shutter design effectively mitigates shutter lifting problems.
• The sensor achieved a maximum sensitivity of 5.1 V/kVm^-1 when operated at its resonance frequency of 840 Hz.
• Demonstrated excellent linearity of 1.1% for DC electric field measurements within the range of 1.25 kV/m to 25 kV/m.

Conclusions:

• The developed MEMS electric field mill with a vertical shutter offers a robust solution for accurate DC electric field measurement.
• The novel design enhances sensor reliability and performance, particularly in high electric field environments.
• This technology holds promise for improved applications in atmospheric monitoring, space weather, and electrostatic discharge studies.