Researchers from the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) and the French lab CEA-Leti unveiled a novel microactuator driving system at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2025. The system combines solid-state battery technology with integrated circuit designs for simultaneous energy storage and voltage boost conversion.
Senior author Patrick Mercier (left), a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and first author Zixiao Lin, an electrical engineering Ph.D. student of UC San Diego. Photo credit: David Baillot/Jacobs School of Engineering
The research, detailed in the paper “An Autonomous and Lightweight Microactuator Driving System Using Flying Solid-State Batteries,” addresses the challenge of efficiently delivering high voltages (tens to hundreds of volts) in a compact, lightweight form factor suitable for micro-actuators.
The system employs a unique approach: It divides a solid-state battery into smaller units and dynamically arranges them to achieve high-voltage outputs. This eliminates the need for traditional bulky components like capacitors or inductors, resulting in a smaller and lighter design.
“The design uniquely integrates energy storage and voltage conversion, setting a new standard in efficiency and autonomy for small electromechanical actuators. In addition, by leveraging a novel battery matrix, this is the first demonstration of such a system for ultra-low-power, high-voltage applications,”
According to Patrick Mercier, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, co-director of the Center for Wearable Sensors, and Site Director of the Power Management Integration Center at UC San Diego, “Microdrones and microrobotic systems already require a battery, and so it costs us next to nothing to use a solid-state battery, split it up into smaller pieces, and dynamically rearrange the small pieces to generate the voltages we need. This is the smallest and lightest way we could think of to generate the high voltages needed to run these sorts of systems.”
Die shot of an integrated circuit controlling a microbattery matrix, specially designed to explore a 2-in-1 storage and voltage boost technique.
Photo credit: Patrick Mercier/UC San Diego
A key aspect of the technology is the solid-state battery, which maintains high energy density even when miniaturized and split into small parts. This enables ultra-lightweight systems with scalable performance. The paper showcases a proof of concept with up to 56.1V voltage generation capability at frequencies up to a few Hz, suitable for microactuation systems.
Early data, validated with commercial solid-state batteries, indicates the potential for further performance improvements using advanced batteries developed at CEA-Leti. Extrapolated data suggests the system can scale down to weights as low as 14 mg without sacrificing efficiency, making it a potentially valuable technology for weight-constrained autonomous robots and small embedded medical devices.
