A Micro Pattern of Fine Scale PZT Ceramic Structures for the Energy Harvester

Abstract

Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) have recently become an important area of technology. MEMS combine mechanical and electrical functions in devices at very small scales. Recently, micro-scaled flexible energy harvesters have been paid attentions to apply for the wearable electronics and portable devices. In this article we describe a micro-pattern of fine scale ceramic structures utilizing SU-8 negative photoresist by standard UV lithography. SU-8 processing was developed to implement platform structures as permanent and functional material incorporated with silicon-on-insulator technologies. Fine scale ceramic structures of the micro-pillar structure were formed through embossing and molding. Polymer molds of the pillar structure were removed during firing depending on aspect ratio and feature size of the fine scale ceramic structures. Micro-patterned fine scale (Pb,Zr)TiO₃ ceramics structure with pillar shape were prepared by this method. We have studied the micro-patterns of fine scale (Pb,Zr)TiO₃ ceramic structures through scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis and piezoelectric properties analysis.

Keywords:

• MEMS
• PZT
• Micro-pillar
• PDMS
• Energy Harvester

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MEST) (No. 2011–0029625) and internal research grant from Kwangwoon University 2013.