Massood Tabib-Azar – författare

This text provides comprehensive coverage of the emerging topic of microactuators that has attracted much attention in recent years. Largely owing to the microfabrication methods used in the microelectrics industry, microactuators are being developed at a very fast rate. The book covers the fundamentals of actuation in a textbook manner and it exposes the reader to some research examples. In combining fundamentals with the latest reported actuators, this book distinguishes itself from other monographs or textbooks. The main intended audiences of Microactuators are academic and industrial researchers and graduate students interested in initiating projects in microactuators. It can also be used as a textbook for a senior/graduate level course in the general area of sensors and actuators.

Controlling the mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of materials by advanced fabrication methods (Le. ; Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) has become the new paradigm in our research era. Sensors, being the most vital part of the electronic data processing and decision making machines, stand to gain the most from engineering of the properties of materials. Microfabrication technology has already contributed significantly to the batch fabrication of micro-sensors with higher over all qualities compared to their counterparts that are fabricated using other methods. Batch fabrication of micro-sensors i) results in more uniform properties of co-fabricated devices, ii) nearly eliminates the need for characterization of individual sensors, and iii) eliminates a need for laborious alignment procedures. A less obvious benefit of using microfabrication methods is the possibility of precise control over the dimensions of the sensor. This control enables engineering of some of the properties of the material which affect the sensor's operation. There are many examples of this in the literature. Optical sensors are known to have superior properties over their counterparts that use other (i. e. ; electrostatic and magnetic) means of detection. To name a few, these advantages are: i) immunity to electromagnetic interferences, ii) higher sensitivities compared to the other types of sensors, iii) simplicity of operation principles, and iv) simplicity of overall construction.

Controlling the mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of materials by advanced fabrication methods (Le. ; Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) has become the new paradigm in our research era. Sensors, being the most vital part of the electronic data processing and decision making machines, stand to gain the most from engineering of the properties of materials. Microfabrication technology has already contributed significantly to the batch fabrication of micro-sensors with higher over all qualities compared to their counterparts that are fabricated using other methods. Batch fabrication of micro-sensors i) results in more uniform properties of co-fabricated devices, ii) nearly eliminates the need for characterization of individual sensors, and iii) eliminates a need for laborious alignment procedures. A less obvious benefit of using microfabrication methods is the possibility of precise control over the dimensions of the sensor. This control enables engineering of some of the properties of the material which affect the sensor's operation. There are many examples of this in the literature. Optical sensors are known to have superior properties over their counterparts that use other (i. e. ; electrostatic and magnetic) means of detection. To name a few, these advantages are: i) immunity to electromagnetic interferences, ii) higher sensitivities compared to the other types of sensors, iii) simplicity of operation principles, and iv) simplicity of overall construction.

219 8. 2 Sensors 221 8. 3 Physical Sensors 222 8. 3. 1 Electrical Sensing Means 223 8. 3. 2 Magnetic Field Methods 231 8. 3. 3 Optical Methods 232 8. 4 Chemical Sensors 241 8. 4. 1 Electrical Gas and Chemical Sensors 243 8. 4. 2 Guided-Optics Intrinsic Chemical Sensors 246 8. 4. 3 Extrinsic Chemical Sensors 250 8. 4. 4 Polymer Waveguide Chemical Sensors 251 8. 4. 5 Surface Plasmon Chemical Sensors 252 8. 4. 6 Indicator-Mediated Extrinsic Sensing 253 8. 4. 7 Optical Biosensors 256 8. 4. 8 Ultrasonic Gas and Chemical Sensors 257 8. 4. 9 Intelligent Sensors 258 8. 5 Connections/Links and Wiring 258 8. 5. 1 Optical Links 260 8. 5. 2 Requirement on the Processing Unit/Intelligence 262 8. 6 Actuators 263 8. 7 Signal Processing/Computing 264 8. 7. 1 Implicit Computation 266 8. 7. 2 Explicit Computation 267 8. 8 References 274 Subject Index 279 Micro-Actuators (Electrical, Magnetic, Thermal, Optical, Mechanical, and Chemical) It has become quite apparent that sensors and actuators are the main bottleneck of the modem information processing and control systems. Microprocessors and computers used to be the main limiting element in most information processing systems. But thanks to the enonnous progress in the microelectronics industry, most information analysis tasks can be processed in real time. The data has to be acquired by the processor in some form and processed and used to produce some useful function in the real world.

Controlling the mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of materials by advanced fabrication methods (Le. ; Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) has become the new paradigm in our research era. Sensors, being the most vital part of the electronic data processing and decision making machines, stand to gain the most from engineering of the properties of materials. Microfabrication technology has already contributed significantly to the batch fabrication of micro-sensors with higher over all qualities compared to their counterparts that are fabricated using other methods. Batch fabrication of micro-sensors i) results in more uniform properties of co-fabricated devices, ii) nearly eliminates the need for characterization of individual sensors, and iii) eliminates a need for laborious alignment procedures. A less obvious benefit of using microfabrication methods is the possibility of precise control over the dimensions of the sensor. This control enables engineering of some of the properties of the material which affect the sensor''s operation. There are many examples of this in the literature. Optical sensors are known to have superior properties over their counterparts that use other (i. e. ; electrostatic and magnetic) means of detection. To name a few, these advantages are: i) immunity to electromagnetic interferences, ii) higher sensitivities compared to the other types of sensors, iii) simplicity of operation principles, and iv) simplicity of overall construction.