Piezoelectric MEMS generators fabricated with an aerosol deposition PZT thin film

In this paper, we present the development of two piezoelectric MEMS generators, {3–1} mode and {3–3} mode, which have the ability to scavenge mechanical energy of ambient vibrations and transform it into useful electrical power. These two piezoelectric MEMS generators are of cantilever type made by a silicon process and which can transform mechanical energy into electrical energy through its piezoelectric PZT layers. We developed a PZT deposition machine which uses an aerosol deposition method to fabricate the high-quality PZT thin film efficiently. Our experimental results show that our {3–1} mode device possesses a maximum open circuit output voltage of 2.675 VP-P and a maximum output power of 2.765 µW with 1.792 VP-P output voltage excited at a resonant frequency of 255.9 Hz under a 2.5 g acceleration level. The {3–3} mode device possessed a maximum open circuit output voltage of 4.127 VP-P and a maximum output power of 1.288 µW with 2.292 VP-P output voltage at its resonant frequency of 214 Hz at a 2g acceleration. We also compared the output characteristics of both the {3–1} mode and the {3–3} mode piezoelectric MEMS generators which were both excited at a 2g acceleration level.