Print Email Facebook Twitter Flexible piezoelectric AlN transducers buckled through package-induced preloading for mechanical energy harvesting Title Flexible piezoelectric AlN transducers buckled through package-induced preloading for mechanical energy harvesting Author Mariello, M. (University of Salento; Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Arnesano) Blad, Thijs (TU Delft Mechatronic Systems Design) Mastronardi, V. M. (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Arnesano) Madaro, F. (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Arnesano) Guido, F. (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Arnesano) Staufer, U. (TU Delft Micro and Nano Engineering) Tolou, N. (TU Delft Mechatronic Systems Design) De Vittorio, M. (University of Salento; Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Arnesano) Date 2021 Abstract There is a high demand for novel flexible micro-devices for energy harvesting from low-frequency and random mechanical sources. The research of new functional designs is required to strategically enhance the performances and to increase the control on mechanical flexibility. In this work we report the fabrication and characterization of bi-stable and statically balanced thin-film piezoelectric transducers based on Aluminum Nitride (AlN). The device consists of a piezoelectric layer sandwiched between two thin Molybdenum electrodes that were deposited on a Kapton substrate by reactive sputtering and patterned by UV lithography. In order to improve the out-of-plane flexibility, the mechanical design is distinguished by a post-buckled flexure that introduces a negative stiffness to compensate the otherwise positive stiffness of the system. The buckling was introduced by a new method, called Package-Induced Preloading (PIP) where the mechanisms are laminated over a package with a geometry extending out-of-plane. The induced buckling resulted in bi-stable and statically balanced mechanisms which demonstrated an enhanced voltage output during a triggered snapping step. A preliminary study shows potential for the statically balanced designs and the PIP method for wind energy harvesting, revealing prospective applications and future improvements for the development of energy harvesters. Subject Aluminum Nitride (AlN)BucklingCompliant micro-mechanismsMechanical energy harvestingPackage-induced preloadingPiezoelectric transducers To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:52a18b73-2373-408a-befb-0a8d56b39656 DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105986 ISSN 2211-2855 Source Nano Energy, 85 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2021 M. Mariello, Thijs Blad, V. M. Mastronardi, F. Madaro, F. Guido, U. Staufer, N. Tolou, M. De Vittorio Files PDF 1_s2.0_S2211285521002445_main.pdf 11.32 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:52a18b73-2373-408a-befb-0a8d56b39656/datastream/OBJ/view