PZT MEMS for an Extremely Sensitive Magnetometer

The application of a Pt/PZT/Pt sandwich structure in place of a polysilicon material for a xylophone magnetometer bar can greatly improve the sensitivity of the device. This is the first time a piezoelectric activation has been used to resonate a xylophone bar comprised of SiO2/Ta/Pt/PZT/Pt. Both optical beam and scanning laser Doppler vibrometer methods were used for characterizing the bar deflection. A fabrication process for freely suspended xylophone magnetometer bars is presented. When the device was placed in a vacuum ambient the Quality factor improved to a value of 1800.