A Technological Approach for Miniaturization of Three-Dimensional Inductive Levitation Microsuspensions

• Published in: IEEE magnetics letters 2022, Vol.13, p.1-4
• Main Authors: Mamleyev, Emil R., Voigt, Achim, Moazenzadeh, Ali, Korvink, Jan G., Kohl, Manfred, Poletkin, Kirill
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coils (windings); contactless suspension; Diameters; Electromagnetics; Impedance; Inductance; Levitation; Magnetic levitation; Magnetic separation; microcoils; microfabrication; Microstructure; Miniaturization; Three-dimensional displays; Windings
• ISSN: 1949-307X; 1949-3088
• DOI: 10.1109/LMAG.2022.3174522

In this letter, we report on a technological approach for miniaturization of a inductive levitating microsuspension based on nested three-dimensional (3-D) microcoil structures. In the developed approach, each 3-D microcoil is fabricated separately, beginning with the innermost and thus the smallest coil diameter of the nested microstructure. This helps to overcome fabrication restrictions due to the wire-bonding process and is primarily caused by the size of the bond-head and provides the opportunity to fabricate smaller nested 3-D microcoil structures. We fabricated a nested two-microcoil structure, the inner coil having a diameter of 1000 \mum and 14 windings, the outer coil with a diameter of 1900 \mum and eight windings, and demonstrated its application as an inductive levitating microsuspension. In particular, a fabricated 3-D inductive levitating microsuspension was able to levitate a 1100 \mum diameter disc-shaped proof mass at a height up to 45 \mum.