Lead–Zirconate–Titanate Acoustic Energy Harvesters with Dual Top Electrodes

Abstract

In this paper, we present the power generation performances of a lead–zirconate–titanate (PZT) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) acoustic energy harvester having dual top electrodes to utilize the different polarizations of charges on the surface of a vibrating PZT diaphragm at first resonance. The PZT acoustic energy harvester had a diaphragm with a diameter of 2 mm consisting of Al (0.1 µm)/PZT (1 µm)/Pt (0.1 µm)/Ti (0.1 µm)/SiO 2 (1.5 µm), and the diaphragm vibrations were excited by sound pressure. The top Al electrodes independently cover the peripheral surface and the central surface of the PZT diaphragm. The peripheral energy harvester generated a power of 5.28×10 -11 W, and the central energy harvester generated a power of 4.25×10 -11 W at a sound pressure level of 100 dB (0.01 W/m 2 ) at 4.92 kHz. Thus, nearly 80% of the total power of the energy harvesters can be increased by utilizing the polarization at the central part of the diaphragm, which was usually not considered when only the peripheral part of the diaphragm was utilized.