#New on/off functionality for fast, sensitive, ultra-small technologies

“We also moved the actuator in-plane in response to a laser beam,” says Nicola Manca and Luca Pelligrino, co-authors. “The on/off response time was a fraction of a millisecond near the phase transition temperature, with little change at other temperatures, which makes our actuators the most advanced in the world.”
Small-scale technologies such as advanced implanted drug delivery devices wouldn’t work without the ability to rapidly turn them on and off. The underlying principle of the researchers’ actuator—a reversible phase transition for on/off, in-plane motion—will dramatically expand the utility of many modern technologies. The researchers expect that the accuracy and speed of their actuator will be especially useful to micro-robotics.