Characteristics of piezoelectric cantilevers embedded in LTCC

Abstract Accurate modelling is required for the effective utilization and optimization of embedded functional materials and structures. In this study, piezoelectric cantilevers with passive low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) and steel layers were modelled and manufactured. The displacement performance of the actuators was studied utilizing FEM models created with ATILA software. Commercial piezoceramic PZ29 was used for the actuators with an active size of 17 mm × 5 mm × 0.25 mm. The displacement characteristics of the actuators with different electric fields and passive layer thicknesses were measured. Both manufactured actuator types exhibited high effective d 31 piezoelectric coefficients and large displacements e.g., ∼120 μm under ±0.35 V/μm electric field. The influence of the LTCC process and modelling parameters for the piezoelectric material were characterised for the further utilization of embedded actuators in the ceramic circuit board.

[1]  N. Setter,et al.  New high performance-low cost monolithic bimorph piezoelectric actuators for applications requiring large displacements with significant forces , 2000, ISAF 2000. Proceedings of the 2000 12th IEEE International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics (IEEE Cat. No.00CH37076).

[2]  L. E. Cross,et al.  Electromechanical coupling and output efficiency of piezoelectric bending actuators , 1999, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[3]  T. L. Z. O. J. and Piezoelectric ceramics characterization , 2001 .

[4]  L. Eric Cross,et al.  Tip Deflection and Blocking Force of Soft PZT‐Based Cantilever RAINBOW Actuators , 2004 .

[5]  Hirofumi Takahashi,et al.  Design of bimorph piezo-composite actuators with functionally graded microstructure , 2003 .

[6]  Seung-Ho Lee,et al.  PZN-PZT flextensional actuator by co-extrusion process , 2005 .

[7]  Jari Juuti,et al.  Characterization and modelling of 3D piezoelectric ceramic structures with ATILA software , 2005 .

[8]  J. Juuti,et al.  Manufacturing of prestressed piezoelectric unimorphs using a postfired biasing layer , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[9]  L. E. Cross,et al.  Estimation of the Effective d31 Coefficients of the Piezoelectric Layer in Rainbow Actuators , 2001 .

[10]  Hannu Moilanen,et al.  Laser interferometric measurement of displacement-field characteristics of piezoelectric actuators and actuator materials , 2001 .

[11]  James S. Vartuli,et al.  Electromechanical Properties of a Ceramic d31‐Gradient Flextensional Actuator , 2001 .

[12]  K. Uchino Materials issues in design and performance of piezoelectric actuators: an overview , 1998 .

[13]  Christopher Niezrecki,et al.  Piezoelectric actuation: State of the art , 2001 .