Gutschmidt, S.Rochus, V.Golinval, J.2009-09-092009-09-092009Gutschmidt, S., Rochus, V., Golinval, J. (2009) Static and dynamic experimental investigations of a micro-electromechanical cantilever in air and vacuum. Delft, The Netherlands: 10th International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems. EuroSimE 2009, 26-29 Apr 2009.http://hdl.handle.net/10092/2821The dynamic response of electro-mechanically actuated micro structures is governed by nonlinear effects which directly influence their performance. To date, most work in the field of micro/nano systems is done experimentally and documented theoretical research consists of nonlinear lumped-mass models as well as continuum mechanics approaches. Existing and codified computational tools for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) more and more penetrate the market of designers and fabrication of such devices. The present work is the experimental part of a bench-mark study of a selected microbeam structure investigated with aforementioned analytical and computational techniques and compared to experiments performed with a Polytec MSA400 analyzer. The emphasis of this benchmark study is put on the nonlinear dynamic behavior with respect to qualitative and quantitative explanations of the electro-mechanical actuation and damping mechanisms.enConference Contributions - PublishedFields of Research::290000 Engineering and Technology::291800 Interdisciplinary Engineering::291804 NanotechnologyFields of Research::290000 Engineering and Technology::290900 Electrical and Electronic Engineering::290901 Electrical engineeringFields of Research::290000 Engineering and Technology::290500 Mechanical and Industrial Engineering::290501 Mechanical engineeringhttps://doi.org/10.1109/ESIME.2009.4938475