Femtosecond Laser Ablation of Dielectric Elastomer Microactuator Arrays Enables Scalable Smart Surface Manipulation

Miniaturization of manipulation systems can be advanced using dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). In this work, we present a laser-assisted fabrication method for DEA electrodes using a femtosecond laser, enabling the formation of both macro- and microscale electrode patterns with high precision. The low ablation threshold of carbon nanotubes, combined with the near-infrared transparency of elastomers, allows for selective removal of the conductive layer with minimal thermal damage to the elastomer. This single-step laser ablation process was employed to fabricate the actuation layers of DEAs, incorporating both the electrode geometry and integrated conductive wire connections. Based on this approach, we constructed a miniaturized cone-shaped actuator composed of two stacked actuation layers separated by a central cylindrical pin, resulting in simultaneous actuation and self-sensing. We further introduced cone-shaped DEA arrays (up to 4 × 4) to realize scalable smart surface manipulation. Their capabilities have been demonstrated through two representative applications: (i) guiding a steel ball through a maze by dynamically tilting the maze surface by the DEA arrays and (ii) steering a reflected laser beam by controlling the orientation of a mirror via the DEA array. These demonstrations highlight the scalability and multifunctionality of laser-fabricated DEA arrays for next-generation soft robotic interactive surface systems.