3.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION

Assuming the steady-state solution, the temporal terms would vanish and elastic
force and Lorenz force would be pushing the beam up and electrostatic force will
be pushing it down. In other words there are two type of forces acting on the
beam; closing force F
C
and opening forces F
elastic
+ F
L
. By varying q
1
over the
feasible domain which starts at the straight position of the beam and goes all the
way to the contact of two electrodes, four equilibrium points were found.











As q
1
increases the gap between flexible film and substrate decreases so q
1
= 0
indicates the undeformed thin film and q
1
= 1 corresponding no gap.










Table 2. shows the results of the numerical simulation using the values for the
parameters defined in table 1. Based on the values of
1
P
on table 2, points S
1
and
S
2
are stable and U
1
and U
2
are unstable. Phase plane of time dependent
simulation around S
1
and U
1
show that S
1
is a sink and U
1
is a saddle point.












4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Studying the dynamic behavior of the flexible thin film under opposing
electrostatic and Lorenz forces, shows that there are four equilibrium points
considering first mode shape function of the flexible thin film. Based on local
analysis of the forces acting on the electrodes in small neighborhood of each
equilibrium point, the numerical simulation shows there are two regimes of
operation. In the first regime, there is almost no tunneling current, i.e. the
dominant forces maintain the equilibrium are electrostatic and Coulomb forces.
This regime is well-studied in the literature of electrostatic MEMS devices. The
second more interesting regime occurs when the gap gets even smaller and the
electrode reaches another pair of equilibrium positions. In this regime the
tunneling current starts to be considerable and therefore the resulting Lorenz
force takes over the role of the elastic restoring force. The tunneling
phenomenon adds two new equilibrium points similar to the two equilibria
generated by the interaction between elastic and Coulomb forces. The existence
of the the stable equilibrium point in the second regime makes this system
useful in solid-state technology.
Motivation:
Combined thermionic emission and tunneling of hot electrons (thermo-
tunneling) has emerged as a potential new solid-state cooling technology.
Practical implementation of thermo-tunneling, however, requires the
formation of a nanometer-sized gap spanning macroscopically significant
surfaces. Thermo-tunneling is a term used to describe combined emission
of hot electrons (thermionic emission) and tunneling of electrons through a
narrow potential barrier between two surfaces (field emission). Thermo-
tunneling of hot electrons across a few-nanometer gap has application to
vacuum electronics, flat panel displays, and holds great potential in thermo-
electric cooling and energy generation. Development of new thermo-
tunneling applications requires creation of a stable nanometer gap between
two surfaces. This presentation is focused on our effort to investigate the
stability of the thin flexible structure under electrostatic and Lorenz forces
opposing each other.

1. PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION OF A FLEXIBLE ELEC- TRODE
SYSTEM
Principle of Operation: The device under study consists of a thin membrane
strip collector electrode (anode) suspended over the emitting electrode
(cathode). The structure is placed in a vacuum enclosure with an externally
generated magnetic field perpendicular to the current flow in the membrane.
The resulting Lorentz force, F
L
is then directed upwards, separating the two
surfaces. Coulomb forces produced by the surface charge on the two
electrodes and image charges due to the tunneling electrons in the gap,
produce an attractive electrostatic force closing the gap, F
C
. A potential bias
is applied to the substrate and one of the end pads of the electrode, which
upon the action of the electrostatic forces contacts the substrate initially in
the middle. At that point, a lateral current is established in the active half of
the beam which is also subjected to a transversal magnetic field. The
resulting Lorentz force is then responsible for lifting upwards the active
portion of the electrode.














Dynamics of Nanometer Gap Formation in Thermo-Tunneling Devices for
Energy Conversion
Award Number: 0927661 Program: CMMI-Dynamics and Dynamical Systems
PI: Eniko T. Enikov, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona
For more information visit www.nanro.arizona.edu/research E-mail: Enikov@engr.arizona.edu

2. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
The beam can be modeled as Euler-Bernoulli beam undergoing small
deflections. Using the notation from Figure Beam , the equation of motion of the
beam are represented by the transversal deflection function w
(x,t)
is given by





Neglecting the contribution of the fringe electrostatic field, the distributed
Coulomb force is given by, Lorenz force can be computed through integration of
the local tunneling current density over the length of the cantilever from x to L:




3. MODAL ANALYSIS
Galerkin decomposition method is used to approximate the differential equation
by a reduced order model of a finite number of discrete modal equations. By
separating the temporal and spacial variables using functions q
m
(t) and o
m
(t)
respectively, one can rewrite the beam transversal deflection in the form of a
series of products:



Where o
m
is:





Rewriting the main differential equation after multiplying it by o
m
and integrating
over the length of the beam one can get:



Considering only the first mode shape function we have:







Characteristic equation of the reduced order differential equation would be:



Looking at the sign of
1
P
= k
1
P
-o
1
P
+ |
1
P
one can determine the stability of
reduced order differential equation.


L
F
C
F
t
w
c
x
E
t
w
b + =
c
c
+
c
c
I ' +
c
c
4
4
2
2
u p
2
2
0
) ( 2 w d
b V
F
C
+
=
c

+
=
L
x
L
w d
L
ds e C
w d
bVB
F
T
.

=
~
n
m
m m
t t q t x w
1
) ( ) ( ) , ( o
)) cos( ) (cosh( )) sin( )) (sinh( ) (
0
x S x S J x S x S C t
i i i i i m
= o
1 ) cos( ) cosh( =
i i
S S
H C
F F Kq q C q M = + +
P P
q k q c q m
1 1 1 1 1 11 1 11
| o = + +
1
1
q
F
C P
c
c
= o
1
1
q
F
L P
c
c
= |
P P
k c m
1 1 1 11
2
11
| o = + +
Equilibrium points {S1,U1,S2,U2} Close Neighborhood of S1
TABLE1. Parameters Values
TABLE 2. Derivatives of Forces at Each Equilibrium Point
Phase Plane Diagram around S2 Phase Portrate
Test Structure of Thermo Tunneling Apparatus
NSF Grant Number: CMMI- 0927661
PI: Eniko T. Enikov Institution: University of Arizona
Tittle: Dynamics of Nanometer Gap Formation in Thermo-Tunneling Devices for
Energy Conversion

- Research Objectives
This Research aims to study the dynamics of a
flexible thin film to maintain a nanometer gap to
produce thermo-tunneling current as a heat
transfer mechanismin solid state cooling devices.
- Significant results
Based on the numerical analysis done using
the Galerkin decomposition, four equilibrium
points were found. The result showed a
dynamical system with two different regimes
of behavior. During the first regime there is no
tunneling current while it is tunneling after a
transition point. There is one stable and one
saddle point at first regime and one stable and
unstable set of equilibrium points at second
regime.
- Graphics


- Approach
A reduced order mathematical model has been
developed in order to simulate the behavior of the
dynamical system in time. An experimental test
device is fabricated to validate theoretical results.
- Boarder Impact
This research has significant effect on solid state
cooling technology. Knowing about the dynamic
behavior of nanometer vacuum gap cantilever
beam can help to design controllers to maintain
the nanometer scale gap between two electrodes.

Test Device apparatus EquilibriumPoints
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
34
-28
S1
U2 U1
S2
Q
_
D
o
t ( m
/ s
)
Q (um)