The image is a colorized Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM) of a salient-pole electrostatically actuated micromotor made from polycrystalline silicon using surface micromachining techniques. The central rotating element of the motor (e.g., the rotor) is the circular structure in the middle (shown in blue) held to the substrate by the central bearing (which is shown in red). Properly phased voltage potentials are placed on the motor stators (typically 120 degrees advanced in phase sequentially around the stators), which are equally spaced around the perimeter of the rotor (also shown in blue) and these applied voltages on the stators cause the central rotor to turn around the bearing at extremely high angular velocities. This device was made through the MEMS and Nanotechnology Exchange fabrication network.
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