Dynamic control of high-voltage actuator arrays by light-pattern projection on photoconductive switches

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel light-pattern projection method for individually controlling high-voltage actuator arrays using on-chip photoconductive switches, offering a flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional wiring and microelectronics.

Contribution

It presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon photoconductive switches for high-voltage control, demonstrating their integration in diverse applications.

Findings

Switches are robust and efficiently controlled by light.

The approach supports both AC and DC actuator configurations.

Successful demonstrations include microfluidic patterning and haptic displays.

Abstract

The ability to control high-voltage actuator arrays relies, to date, on expensive microelectronic processes or on individual wiring of each actuator to a single off-chip high-voltage switch. Here we present an alternative approach that uses on-chip photoconductive switches together with a light projection system to individually address high-voltage actuators. Each actuator is connected to one or more switches that are nominally OFF unless turned ON using direct light illumination. We selected hydrogenated amorphous silicon as our photoconductive material, and we provide complete characterization of its light to dark conductance, breakdown field, and spectral response. The resulting switches are very robust, and we provide full details of their fabrication processes. We demonstrate that the switches can be integrated in different architectures to support both AC and DC-driven actuators and provide engineering guidelines for their functional design. To demonstrate the versatility of our approach, we demonstrate the use of the photoconductive switches in two distinctly different applications control of micrometer-sized gate electrodes for patterning flow fields in a microfluidic chamber, and control of centimeter-sized electrostatic actuators for creating mechanical deformations for haptic displays.