High Voltage Driver for MEMS Actuators and Sensors

Piezoelectric or capacitive actuators or sensors are used in numerous industrial, medical and commercial applications to control or measure physical parameters. A large number of these elements require high voltages at low power dissipation. Especially for portable and mobile devices, there is thus a need to miniaturize the high voltage driver for MEMS actuators and sensors, by implementing it through an integrated circuit.

The Fraunhofer EMFT F&E team is developing integrated high-voltage drivers (ASIC) for piezoelectric actuators such as those used in micropumps. These solutions offer significantly improved energy efficiency. The electronics can be miniaturized further without compromising on performance - a crucial requirement for promising applications such as in medical implants or smartphones. 

Existing solutions can be supplemented with customer-specific requirements that go beyond pure high-voltage generation. For example, complete solutions for microdosing systems that enable pump monitoring and control can be implemented.  These fully integrated systems can then, for example, monitor the fault-free function of the pump or flow parameters.

These competences in the area of high voltage drivers for MEMS actuators and sensors are available at Fraunhofer EMFT for your application topics. We look forward to hearing from you!