Development of micro actuator using magnetic powder and elastic material (first report) - Theoretical formulation of magnetic force applied to micro particle

It is important to control the microstructure of powder particles as they could be used to fabricate new functional materials. The deformation of microstructures by the application of magnetic fields is one of the effective methods for controlling microstructures. We attempt to employ magnetic particles and an elastic material to fabricate a new micro device without electric wiring. It is essential to understand how magnetic force works to the micro particle for designing a new micro actuator device. Theoretical formulation is proposed and used to express magnetic effect and deformation of the elastic material. As the result, it is found that the proposed microstructure using magnetic particles and elastic material can be scaled down to nano level. Simple actuators of various sizes are fabricated to show they could work similarly even if the scales are different.