Vertical comb drive actuator for the measurement of piezoelectric coefficients in small-scale systems

J. Wooldridge, A. Muniz-Piniella, M. Stewart, T. A.V. Shean, P. M. Weaver, M. G. Cain

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) vertical levitation comb drive actuator has been created for the measurement of piezoelectric coefficients in thin/thick films or piezoelectrically active micro-scale components of other MEMS devices. The device exerts a dynamic force of 33 μN at an applied voltage of 100 V. The charge developed on the piezoelectric test device is measured using a charge sensitive pre-amplifier and lock-in technique, enabling measurements down to 1×10-5 pC. The system was tested with ten different piezoelectric samples with coefficients in the range 70-1375 pC N -1 and showed a good correlation (r = 0.9997) to measurements performed with macroscopic applied stresses, and piezoelectric impedance resonance techniques. The measurement of the direct piezoelectric effect in micro- and nano-scale piezo-materials has been made possible using MEMS processing technology. This new application of a MEMS metrology device has been developed and fully characterized in order to accurately evaluate the functional properties of piezoelectric materials at the scale required in micro- to nano-scale applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number035028
JournalJournal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
Volume23
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

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