Actually at these small gaps, I believe the breakdown tends to follow
the Paschen curves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschen%27s_law).
We've been able to apply a few hundred volts across 2 micron gaps
without arcing in our MEMS mirrors -- though we typically don't use
such high voltages.

Felix


On Jun 28, 2010, at 4:42 PM, Gareth Jenkins wrote:

> I also have no experience of such setups but if you are dropping a
> voltage across a 20micron air gap, given the breakdown voltage of air
> is 30kV/cm, you'll only be able to apply 60V before breakdown.
> Maybe you can try it in a vacuum?
>
> Gareth

Felix Lu
felix_lu@yahoo.com