Stability of a cavity based electromagnetic suspension system for micro-scale actuators

An electromagnetic levitation system comprising a detuned microwave cavity is investigated. The cavity takes the form of a ring-resonator supporting a TM mode, the fields of which generate suspension forces on an unattached 'free' wall of the cavity. The electromagnetic forces over the surface of the free-wall or 'float', which in the most basic format takes the form of a flat disc, are determined by solving the modal equations for a range of possible levitated positions of the float, both aligned and misaligned. These force estimates are then used to determine the dynamic responses of the disc-shaped float to assess the stability and robustness of the suspension mechanism.