MEMS-based step-up voltage conversion for comb-drive actuation

This report is the result of the master's thesis of Jarno Groenesteijn. Theoretical and practical research has been done on a voltage step-up converter based on a comb-drive to investigate the possibilities of this new converter. The analytical description is used to make a computer model to predict the mechanical and electrical behaviour of the converter. Eight different test structures are designed and fabricated to test the operation of the converter and to improve the quality of the computer model. Measurement on the mechanical behaviour of the comb-drives have been combined with finite element simulations on the electrical behaviour of the comb-drives to find an accurate computer model of the voltage step-up converter. Analysis has been done to find the most important elements that reduce the performance of the converter and solutions to these problems have been proposed.