New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

New on/off functionality for fast, sensitive, ultra-small technologies

Date:
September 15, 2020
Source:
Osaka University
Summary:
Researchers have developed an ultra-small actuator that can be turned on and off in a fraction of a millisecond and exhibits nanometer-scale position control. This actuator is unparalleled in modern technologies, and will be useful in robotics, medicine, and many other advanced applications.
Share:
FULL STORY

How do you turn on and off an ultra-small component in advanced technologies? You need an actuator, a device that transmits an input such as electricity into physical motion. However, actuators in small-scale technologies to date have critical limitations. For example, if it's difficult to integrate the actuator into semiconductor electronics, real-world applications of the technology will be limited. An actuator design that operates quickly, has precise on/off control, and is compatible with modern electronics would be immensely useful.

In a study recently published in Nano Letters, a team including researchers from Osaka University has developed such an actuator. Its sensitivity, fast on/off response, and nanometer-scale precision are unparalleled.

The researchers' actuator is based on vanadium oxide crystals. Many current technologies use a property of vanadium oxide known as the phase transition to cause out-of-plane bending motions within small-scale devices. For example, such actuators are useful in ultra-small mirrors. Using the phase transition to cause in-plane bending is far more difficult, but would be useful, for example, in ultra-small grippers in medicine.

"At 68°C, vanadium oxide undergoes a sharp monoclinic to rutile phase transition that's useful in microscale technologies," explains co-author Teruo Kanki. "We used a chevron-type (sawtooth) device geometry to amplify in-plane bending of the crystal, and open up new applications."

Using a two-step protocol, the researchers fabricated a fifteen-micrometer-long vanadium oxide crystal attached by a series of ten-micrometer arms to a fixed frame. By means of a phase transition caused by a readily attainable stimulus -- a 10°C temperature change -- the crystal moves 225 nanometers in-plane. The expansion behavior is highly reproducible, over thousands of cycles and several months.

"We also moved the actuator in-plane in response to a laser beam," says Nicola Manca and Luca Pelligrino, co-authors. "The on/off response time was a fraction of a millisecond near the phase transition temperature, with little change at other temperatures, which makes our actuators the most advanced in the world."

Small-scale technologies such as advanced implanted drug delivery devices wouldn't work without the ability to rapidly turn them on and off. The underlying principle of the researchers' actuator -- a reversible phase transition for on/off, in-plane motion -- will dramatically expand the utility of many modern technologies. The researchers expect that the accuracy and speed of their actuator will be especially useful to micro-robotics.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Osaka University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Nicola Manca, Teruo Kanki, Fumiya Endo, Daniele Marré, Luca Pellegrino. Planar Nanoactuators Based on VO2 Phase Transition. Nano Letters, 2020; DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02638

Cite This Page:

Osaka University. "New on/off functionality for fast, sensitive, ultra-small technologies." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 September 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200915110003.htm>.
Osaka University. (2020, September 15). New on/off functionality for fast, sensitive, ultra-small technologies. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200915110003.htm
Osaka University. "New on/off functionality for fast, sensitive, ultra-small technologies." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200915110003.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES