State-of-the-art surface acoustic wave linear motor and its future applications

Two merits of the surface acoustic wave (SAW) device are its high energy density and small size. However, the driving frequency is around 10 MHz or higher. In spite of the difficulties involved with high frequency, the high energy density is attractive for actuator applications. The SAW linear motor's no load speed and maximum output force were 1.1 m/s and 3.5 N using a silicon slider. The silicon slider dimensions were 4 x 4 x 0.3 mm3. We made a lot of 30 microns diameter projections on the silicon surface. The acceleration was 1000 m/s2. The SAW motor is expected to be a high speed, quick response, high resolution microactuator, and much more. High driving voltage was a problem. Our newly designed electrode proved that the driving voltage was reduced to less than 10 V to excite the traveling wave. For actual applications, the SAW device will be placed in a slider. This design is effective in terms of performance and cost. The nanotribology of the SAW motor is also an important and interesting subject.