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J. Toledo, V Ruiz-Díez, A. Díaz, D. Ruiz, A. Donoso, J. Bellido, E Wistrela, M. Kucera, U. Schmid, J. Hernando-Garcia, J.L. Sànchez-Rojas:
"Design and Characterization of In-Plane Piezoelectric Microactuators";
actuators, 6 (2017), 19; 1 - 13.

In this paper, two different piezoelectricmicroactuator designs are studied. The corresponding
devices were designed for optimal in-plane displacements and different high flexibilities, proven
by electrical and optical characterization. Both actuators presented two dominant vibrational modes
in the frequency range below 1 MHz: an out-of-plane bending and an in-plane extensional mode.
Nevertheless, the latter mode is the only one that allows the use of the device as a modal in-plane
actuator. Finite ElementMethod (FEM) simulations confirmed that the displacement per applied voltage
was superior for the low-stiffness actuator, which was also verified through optical measurements in a
quasi-static analysis, obtaining a displacement per volt of 0.22 and 0.13 nm/V for the low-stiffness and
high-stiffness actuator, respectively. In addition, electrical measurements were performed using an
impedance analyzer which, in combination with the optical characterization in resonance, allowed
the determination of the electromechanical and stiffness coefficients. The low-stiffness actuator
exhibited a stiffness coefficient of 5 104 N/m, thus being more suitable as a modal actuator than
the high-stiffness actuator with a stiffness of 2.5 105 N/m.

In this paper, two different piezoelectricmicroactuator designs are studied. The corresponding
devices were designed for optimal in-plane displacements and different high flexibilities, proven
by electrical and optical characterization. Both actuators presented two dominant vibrational modes
in the frequency range below 1 MHz: an out-of-plane bending and an in-plane extensional mode.
Nevertheless, the latter mode is the only one that allows the use of the device as a modal in-plane
actuator. Finite ElementMethod (FEM) simulations confirmed that the displacement per applied voltage
was superior for the low-stiffness actuator, which was also verified through optical measurements in a
quasi-static analysis, obtaining a displacement per volt of 0.22 and 0.13 nm/V for the low-stiffness and
high-stiffness actuator, respectively. In addition, electrical measurements were performed using an
impedance analyzer which, in combination with the optical characterization in resonance, allowed
the determination of the electromechanical and stiffness coefficients. The low-stiffness actuator
exhibited a stiffness coefficient of 5 104 N/m, thus being more suitable as a modal actuator than
the high-stiffness actuator with a stiffness of 2.5 105 N/m.

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/act6020019