This work considers microresonators that are driven by a temperature-gradient actuator. The driving forces in the temperature-gradient actuation scheme are internal mechanical moments induced by temperature gradients. In this work, a model for analyzing the dynamic thermomechanical response of temperature-gradient actuators is presented. In this model, the two-dimensional nature of the temperature field is fully considered. Several test structures were fabricated and their dynamic thermomechanical response was found to be in agreement with the model predictions. Some examples of parametric analysis are presented that show how the two-dimensional model can be used to optimize the system parameters under specific constraints of the operation conditions.
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