Piezoelectric MEMS cantilever power generators for vibration energy harvesting
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Lee, Bor-Shiun
Abstract
Over the years, there has been a growing interest in the field of power harvesting technologies for low-power electronic devices, such as wireless sensor networks and biomedical sensor applications. Of all possible energy sources, the mechanical vibrations have been considered a potential choice for power harvesting in a wide variety of applications. This dissertation presents the development of cantilever-based piezoelectric MEMS power generators which have the ability to scavenge mechanical energy of ambient vibrations and transform it into useful electrical power that can be used in energy storage applications. The piezoelectric MEMS generators utilize the lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, PZT) material for transforming mechanical strain energy into electrical charge by using the d31 and d33 modes of PZT. A MEMS piezoelectric bimorph generator is also developed with serial and parallel connections. A theoretical model is presented to investigate the relations between the output characteristics and the design parameters of the piezoelectric MEMS generators. To improve the piezoelectric MEMS generator fabrication process, a self-made PZT deposition chamber which could deposit PZT thin film up to tens micron in minutes was used to deposit the piezoelectric layer on the beam structure of the piezoelectric MEMS generator. Experimental results confirm that our devices have the ability to generate power in the micro-watt range and the output voltage is higher than the minimum requirement for diode band-gaps in the rectifier circuit.
Subjects
MEMS
piezoelectric material
cantilever beam
power harvesting
Type
thesis
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