Dynamics and stability of Micro and Nanostructures 

Electrostatically, magnetically or electro thermally actuated micro and nanostructures are inherently nonlinear and can manifest rich dynamic behavior.  The nonlinearities are often related to the small scale of the devices and are  not encountered in large-scale structures. The research in the area of dynamics and stability of micro structures conducted in our laboratory provides general, theoretical and experimental results, shedding light on the responses of this kind of systems, such as initially curved beams, plates (micro caps) and shells. The ultimate goal is to inspire a generation of new concepts of sensors, based on the use of nonlinear dynamic phenomena in applications. We have developed a new, unconventional approach, allowing fabrication of curved micro plates at the micro scale. The approach is based on the implementation of punch less stamping techniques.  Using this approach, devices of several configurations were fabricated and their behavior was explored theoretically and experimentally.