Eisaku Suwa

Lead-Free Piezoelectric MEMS Energy Harvesters of (K,Na)NbO3 Thin Films on Stainless Steel Cantilevers

We fabricated piezoelectric MEMS energy harvesters (EHs) of lead-free (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) thin films on microfabricated stainless steel cantilevers. The use of metal substrates makes it possible to fabricate thin cantilevers owing to a large fracture toughness compared with Si substrates. KNN films were directly deposited onto Pt-coated stainless steel cantilevers by rf-magnetron sputtering, thereby simplifying the fabrication process of the EHs. From XRD measurement, we confirmed that the KNN films on Pt-coated stainless steel cantilevers had a perovskite structure with a preferential (001) orientation. The transverse piezoelectric coefficient e31f and relative dielectric constant er were measured to be -3.8 C/m2 and 409, respectively. From the evaluation of the power generation performance of a KNN thin-film EH (length: 7.5 mm, width: 5.0 mm, weight of tip mass: 25 mg), we obtained a large average output power of 1.6 µW under vibration at 393 Hz and 10 m/s2.

Fabrication of High-Efficiency Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters of Epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 Thin Films by Laser Lift-off

Abstract We fabricated piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters of c-axis-oriented epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) thin films on stainless steel (SS304) cantilevers in an effort to improve their power-generation efficiency and toughness. Using radio-frequency magnetron sputtering, we deposited the epitaxial PZT thin films on the MgO substrates, and then transferred the PZT films onto microfabricated SS304 cantilevers using laser lift-off (LLO). LLO did not degrade the transferred epitaxial PZT thin films, which exhibited a high piezoelectric coefficient (e31,f=–4.8 C/m2) and a low relative dielectric constant (εr=340), comparable to those of the original PZT thin film on MgO. At a resonance frequency of 143 Hz, the energy harvesters generated large output power of 1.8 μW at an acceleration of 1.0 m/s2, and the output power reached a maximum of 49 μW at an acceleration of 7.5 m/s2.

Modeling of metal-based piezoelectric MEMS energy harvesters

We fabricated a piezoelectric MEMS energy harvester (EH) of Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 (PZT) thin film on stainless steel cantilever. The use of metal substrates makes it possible to fabricate thin cantilevers owing to a large fracture toughness compared with Si substrates. The PZT thin film was directly deposited onto 50-μm-thick stainless steel substrate by rf-magnetron sputtering. By attaching a tip mass (weight: 480 mg) to the substrate, the resonant frequency of the cantilever (length: 10 mm, width: 10 mm) was dropped to about 75 Hz. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement, we confirmed that the PZT thin film on Pt-coated stainless steel substrate had a perovskite structure with a random orientation. The relative dielectric constant εr and transverse piezoelectric coefficient e31, f were measured to be 650 and -1.7 C/m2, respectively. From the evaluation of the power generation performance of the PZT thin-film EH, we obtained a large average output power of 1.1 μW under vibration at a low frequency of 75 Hz (acceleration amplitude: 5 m/s2, load resistance: 20 kΩ). Moreover, the experimental output voltages with open circuit state were in good agreement with the theoretical values calculated using theoretical equation.