Ultra large deflection of thin PZT/aluminium cantilever beam

Abstract

Flexible piezoelectric cantilever beam has been realized by depositing lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film (4.5 μm) by chemical solution deposition (CSD) onto very thin aluminium foil (16 μm). The tip deflection of the beam has been measured as a function of the frequency of the applied sinusoidal voltage to the PZT film for different amplitudes. Resonance curves have been compared to a classical model of an oscillating system under sinusoidal stress with a very good agreement. Despite of weak ferroelectric properties (remnant polarization: 13 μC/cm2), ultra-large deflection amplitudes have been measured under very moderate applied voltage values: 750 μm@10 V for quasi-static mode and 5 mm@10 V at the resonance frequency (~12 Hz), which makes this PZT/aluminium composite film very promising for highly flexible actuation applications where large displacements are wanted.