A Sensitivity Approach to Force Calculation in Electrostatic MEMS Devices

This paper presents a novel method for the computation of force in an electrostatically operated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device. The approach is based on continuum design sensitivity analysis (CDSA) and can be used with any analysis system. The method, unlike that of Maxwell stresses, does not require an airgap surrounding the body. The method is applied to the calculation of the tilt angle of a MEMS micromirror, and numerical results are compared with experimental measurements on the real device.