Most electrostatic actuators fabricated by MEMS technology require high actuation voltage and suffer from the pull-in phenomenon that limits the operation range. We present an amplitude-modulated resonant drive circuit to drive electrostatic actuators at much lower supply voltage than that of conventional actuators to extend their operation range. Analytical and numerical models facilitate stability analysis of electrostatic actuators coupled with the resonant drive circuit. We study the impact of parasitic capacitance and the quality factor of the resonant drive circuit on the operation range of electrostatic actuators. Furthermore, we present a new method to measure the displacement of electrostatic actuators by sensing the phase delay of the actuation voltage with respect to the input voltage. This measurement method allows us to easily incorporate feedback control into existing electrostatic actuators without any modification to the actuator itself.

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