IP Library Granted Patent US 10,944,339
Granted Patent B2
US 10,944,339 · App. 15/509,782 · Granted Mar 9, 2021

Electrode design and low-cost fabrication method for assembling and actuation of miniature motors with ultrahigh and uniform speed

Inventors: Donglei Fan (Austin, TX); Kwanoh Kim (Austin, TX); Jianhe Guo (Austin, TX)
Assignee: BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM
H02N1/006B81B5/00B82B1/00C23C14/00C23C14/022C23C14/025C23C14/027C23C14/042C23C14/16C23C14/30C23C14/5873H01F1/01H01F7/02H01F41/0253
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,944,339
App. No.
15/509,782
Granted
Mar 9, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention includes miniature dots, miniature disks or miniature cylinders and methods of making the same by dispersing a particle in or on a dissolvable, meltable or etchable layer on a substrate, a portion of the particle exposed above a surface of the dissolvable, meltable or etchable layer; depositing a mask on the particles and the dissolvable substrate; removing the particles from the layer; etching an array of nanoholes in the substrate; depositing one or more metallic layers into the nanoholes to form an array of dots, disks or cylinders; and dissolving the dissolvable layer with a solvent to expose the dots, disks or cylinders. The dots, disks or cylinders can be included with two sets of microelectrodes for ultrahigh speed rotation of miniature motors, and/or can be designed with a magnetic configuration into miniature motors for uniform rotation speeds and prescribed angular displacement. The invention also includes modified diatom frustules, and miniature motors containing modified diatom frustules.

Claims (42)

1. A motor comprising:

a) a substrate;

b) a rotor;

c) a nanobearing comprising a plurality of layers, said plurality of layers comprising;

i) an adhesion layer coupled to the substrate;

ii) a non-magnetic layer distal to the substrate and proximate to the rotor; and

iii) a magnetic layer disposed between the adhesion layer and the non-magnetic layer;

said layers arranged along a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the substrate;

and

d) a quadrupole electrode

wherein the magnetic layer comprises:

cobalt in combination with at least one metal selected from platinum, iron, nickel, and silver; or

iron in combination with at least one metal selected from platinum, cobalt, nickel, and silver;

wherein the rotor has a first end and second end opposite and spaced apart, wherein said first and second ends are circumferentially rotatable in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, wherein the rotation is not sinusoidal and does not exhibit periodic oscillations in speed.

2. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the adhesion layer comprises chromium, titanium, or a combination thereof.

3. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the non-magnetic layer present in the magnet bearing comprises chromium, gold, titanium, diamond thin film, graphene, graphite, silver, or copper.

4. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the rotor is a nanowire.

5. The motor of claim 4 , wherein the nanowire is Au/Ni/Au.

6. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the rotor comprises a modified diatom frustule.

7. The motor of claim 6 , wherein the modified diatom frustule comprises a mask layer covering a portion of the frustule, said mask layer comprising a plurality of nanoholes comprising at least one metallic layer.

8. The motor of claim 7 , wherein the metallic layer in the mask layer comprises a mask-non-magnetic layer, a mask-magnetic layer, and a mask-adhesion layer.

9. The motor of 8 , wherein the mask-non-magnetic layer comprises Cr, Au, Ti, carbon, graphene, graphite, SiO 2 , Ag, Cu or a combination thereof, the mask-magnetic layer comprises Ni, Co, Fe, alloys thereof, or a combination thereof, and the mask-adhesion layer comprises Cr or Ti.

10. The motor of claim 9 , wherein the mask-non-magnetic layer comprises Au, the mask-magnetic layer comprises Ni, and the mask-adhesion layer comprises Cr.

11. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the nanobearing exhibits a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy.

12. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the nanobearing has a diameter from about 200 nm to about 500 nm.

13. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the rotor exhibits a perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, in-plane magnetic anisotropy, or a mixed magnetic anisotropy relative to a plane of motor rotation.

14. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a step motor.

15. The motor of claim 1 , wherein the motor is configured to provide from about 500,000 to about 2,000,000 rotations without failure.

16. A motor comprising:

a) a substrate;

b) a rotor having a perpendicular anisotropy;

c) a nanobearing comprising a plurality of layers, said plurality of layers comprising and having a perpendicular anisotropy;

iv) an adhesion layer coupled to the substrate;

v) a non-magnetic layer distal to the substrate and proximate to the rotor; and

vi) a magnetic layer disposed between the adhesion layer and the non-magnetic layer;

said layers arranged along a longitudinal axis perpendicular to the substrate;

and

d) a quadrupole electrode

wherein the magnetic layer comprises:

cobalt in combination with at least one metal selected from platinum, iron, nickel, and silver; or

iron in combination with at least one metal selected from platinum, cobalt, nickel, and silver;

wherein the rotor has a first end and second end opposite and spaced apart, wherein said first and second ends are circumferentially rotatable in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, wherein the rotation is not sinusoidal and does not exhibit periodic oscillations in speed; and wherein the motor is a step motor.

Assignments (2)
CONFIRMATORY LICENSE Recorded Jun 20, 2017
From: UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, AUSTIN
To: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Reel/Frame 042915/0169 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 15, 2017
From: FAN, DONGLEI; KIM, KWANOH; GUO, JIANHE
To: BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM
Reel/Frame 042721/0347 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62047969 · Sep 9, 2014
Related Publication 20170250625A1 · Aug 31, 2017