Microstamped opto-mechanical actuator for tactile displays

Carlos J. Camargo; Núria Torras; Humberto Campanella; Jean E. Marshall; Kirill Zinoviev; Eva M. Campo; Eugene M. Terentjev; Jaume Esteve

doi:10.1117/12.893279

31 August 2011 Microstamped opto-mechanical actuator for tactile displays

Carlos J. Camargo, Núria Torras, Humberto Campanella, Jean E. Marshall, Kirill Zinoviev, Eva M. Campo, Eugene M. Terentjev, Jaume Esteve

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8107, Nano-Opto-Mechanical Systems (NOMS); 810709 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.893279
Event: SPIE NanoScience + Engineering, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Over the last few years, several technologies have been adapted for use in tactile displays, such as thermo-pneumatic actuators, piezoelectric polymers and dielectric elastomers. None of these approaches offers high-performance for refreshable Braille display system (RBDS), due to considerations of weight, power efficiency and response speed. Optical actuation offers an attractive alternative to solve limitations of current-art technologies, allowing electromechanical decoupling, elimination of actuation circuits and remote controllability. Creating these opticallydriven devices requires liquid crystal - carbon nanotube (LC-CNT) composites that show a reversible shape change in response to an applied light. This work thus reports on novel opto-actuated Braille dots based on LC-CNT composite and silicon mold microstamping. The manufacturing approach succeeds on producing blisters according to the Braille standard for the visually impaired, by taking shear-aligned LC-CNT films and silicon stamps. For this application, we need to define specifically-shaped structures. Some technologies have succeeded on elastomer microstructuring. Nevertheless, they are not applicable for LC-CNT molding because they do not consider the stretching of the polymer which is required for LC-CNT fabrication. Our process demonstrates that composites micro-molding and their 3-D structuring is feasible by silicon-based stamping. Its work principle involves the mechanical stretching, allowing the LC mesogens alignment.

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Carlos J. Camargo, Núria Torras, Humberto Campanella, Jean E. Marshall, Kirill Zinoviev, Eva M. Campo, Eugene M. Terentjev, and Jaume Esteve "Microstamped opto-mechanical actuator for tactile displays", Proc. SPIE 8107, Nano-Opto-Mechanical Systems (NOMS), 810709 (31 August 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.893279

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