PIEZOELECTRIC T-BEAM MICROACTUATORS

This paper introduces a novel T-beam actuator fabricated by a piezoelectric MEMS fabrication process. ICP-RIE etching from the front and back of a bulk PZT chip is used to produce stair stepped structures through the thickness with complex in-plane shapes. Masked electrode deposition creates active and passive regions in the PZT structure. With a T-shaped cross-section, and bottom and top flange and web electrodes, a cantilevered beam can bend in-plane and out-of-plane with bimorph actuation in both directions. One of these T-beam actuators is fabricated and experimentally tested. An experimentally validated model predicts that the cross-section geometry can be optimized to produce higher displacement and blocking force.