α-phase PVDF MEMS cantilever excited by electrostriction and evaluated up to 160 °C in air by laser-Doppler vibrometry

The electroactive polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has gained much interest in smart materials research with a wide application range for industry and consumer applications due to the low cost, flexibility, chemical resistance, non-toxicity, and light weight. In this work, we present an alpha-phase PVDF cantilever that exploits electrostriction as the main transducer mechanism for excitation. We realize thin PVDF films with a thickness of similar to 190 nm and a low roughness (similar to 19 nm RMS). Electrostrictive cantilevers need high electric fields to achieve amplitudes comparable to piezoelectric counterparts. At thinner films, lower voltage levels are requested for comparable electric fields, thus making electrostrictive PVDF cantilevers a viable route and subsequently allowing broader use of PVDF in MEMS devices. We use an asymmetric electrode design that has the advantage of shifting the neutral axis out of the PVDF without enhancing cantilever thickness with a supporting device layer. In addition, these devices can be produced by CMOS compatible micromachining techniques. We measured the electrostrictive and piezoelectric actuation signal with laser-Doppler vibrometry and showed the frequency spectrum and curvature of such alpha-phase PVDF cantilevers. The cantilevers have a curvate of up to 120 m(-1) at 1500 kV/cm. We demonstrate that the electrostrictive actuation has a low temperature dependency in the range from 25 up to 130 degrees C. A typical cantilever exhibits a geometry dependent low spring constant (k similar to 0.3 N m(-1)) and a low quality factor (Q similar to 75) in air.