Poling Conditions of Pre-Stressed Piezoelectric Actuators and Their Displacement

The poling procedure has always been the key issue in producing piezoelectric actuators with optimised performance. This is also true with the relatively new category of pre-stressed bender actuators, where mechanical bias achieved with a passive layer is introduced in the actuators during manufacturing. Due to these factors, the behaviour of the actuator under poling is different compared to its bulk counterparts. In this paper, two different thicknesses of commercial PZT 5A and PZT 5H materials were used in bulk actuators and pre-stressed benders realised by new method. Pre-stress was introduced by using a post-fired biasing layer utilising sintering shrinkage and difference in thermal expansion. The hysteresis loop of the actuators was measured under 0.5–7.0 MV/m electric fields at 25–125^∘C temperatures, providing information about their remnant polarisation and coercive field before poling. The results showed that high electric field and 25^∘C temperatures in poling provided higher remnant polarisation and coercive electric field than using 125^∘C temperature at poling. Difference was especially significant in coercive electric field values where up to 114.8% difference was obtained for PZT 5H bulk actuator and 65.9% for pre-stressed actuators. Higher coercive fields can be utilized as increased operating voltage range of piezoelectric devices. The differences in results obtained here and by others can be explained by the different pre-stress level, stronger clamping of the thicker passive layers of the RAINBOW and THUNDER actuators and passive ring area introducing high tensile stresses. The same conditions were used to pole the actuators, after which the displacement and dielectric constant of the actuators were measured. The displacement measurements showed that remnant polarisation has good correlation with displacement. This fact can be used in estimating pre-stressed actuator performance before actual poling. The dielectric constant measurements with a small signal after poling gave even better correlation than the remnant polarisation.     

Relaxation Motion and Possible Memory of Domain Structures in Barium Titanate Ceramics Studied by Mechanical and Dielectric Losses

The relaxation motion and memory effect of domain structures have been investigated using mechanical and dielectric loss measurements in BaTiO₃ ceramics with grains sizes varied from 1 m to 50 m. The measurements of mechanical loss, elastic modulus, dielectric loss and permittivity show that each phase transition induces a loss peak and an anomaly in the dielectric constants and elastic modulus, furthermore, a number of relaxation loss peaks due to ferroelectric domains in the samples with large grain have been observed. All the relaxation peaks can be analysed by Arrhenius relationship for a wide range of frequency from 10^–2 to 10⁶ Hz. The activation energies of relaxation peaks have been determined as 0.92 eV, 0.68 eV, 0.47 eV, and 0.29 eV for the peaks located in the tetragonal, orthorhombic, and rhombohedral phase, with Arrhenius perfactor in the order of 10^–13 s. Moreover, one relaxation process is insensitive to ferroelectric phase transitions, and it can exist in all the ferroelectric phases. This implies a possible memory effect of ferroelectric domain structures. Such a motion of domain wall is limited in fine-grained materials. Effect of vacuum annealing on the relaxation peak in the tetragonal phase is also studied to clarify the mechanisms of the peak. These relaxation peaks could be explained by the interaction between different domain walls and the diffusion of oxygen vacancy in the domains.     

Preparation and properties of Lanthanum lead zirconate titanate thin films by hydrothermal method

Abstract

Ferroelectric polycrystalline Lanthanum lead zirconate titanate (abbreviated to PLZT) thin films with perovskite structure were prepared by hydrothermal method. Ferroelectric polycrystalline PLZT thin films with perovskite structure on titanium substrate were obtained at 180°C for 5 hr. The film thickness was easily controlled by repeating hydrothermal method. The densities of the PLZT thin films measured by Archimedes’ method were lower than those of ceramics. We fabricated bimorph-type bending actuators using these thin films and analyzed the displacement induced by the electric field. The actuators were bent by applied voltage without poling, because the polar axis in the as-deposited these thin films were aligned in the direction from the thin films surface to the substrate. The dielectric constant of these films were about 600 at room temperature for 1 kHz.     

AC and DC conductivity studies in pulsed laser ablated (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films

Abstract

A comparison of the ac conductivity of laser ablated (Ba, Sr)TiO₃ thin films was made for films grown at different substrate temperatures. The ac conductivity was studied as a function of frequency and ambient temperature ranging from room temperature to 460°C. Conductivity results from ac and dc measurements were compared in their an respective Arrhenius plots revealing interesting coincidences. The value of the activation energies computed from the Arrhenius plot of à _ac with 1000/T ranged from 0.97 to 1.3 eV in the high temperature region to 0.36 to 0.54 eV in the low temperature region for different samples. The activation energies obtained from pure dc measurement for fields greater than 100 kV/cm across the samples were in the range of 1.06 to 1.32 eV for different samples. The similarity in results suggests a common origin in the de conduction process in the concerned temperature range and was attributed to ionic conduction resulting from oxygen vacancy motion which has been observed to be significant at high temperatures and high fields. For high temperature grown samples the value of activation energy computed from the Arrhenius plots was comparatively less than those grown at lower substrate temperatures. The difference was attributed to the microstructure and the effect of grain boundaries on the motion of oxygen vacancies leading to the conduction process.     

Novel Piezoelectric-Based Power Supply for Driving Piezoelectric Actuators Designed for Active Vibration Damping Applications

This paper describes a novel step-up DC-AC piezoelectric-based power supply for driving piezoelectric actuators. Piezoelectric actuators have been demonstrated to be very attractive in applications requiring fast response and high actuation force, such as active damping applications. These actuators are commonly installed in self-powered systems (cars, helicopters, aircrafts, satellites, etc.) with limitation in the battery performance, dimensions and maximum weight. Nevertheless, the required driving electrical AC voltage for these actuators is typically in the range of 100 V to 1000 V, quite far from the 9 to 24 V of common batteries. Thus, the use of heavy, large and EMI-noisy electromagnetic transformers becomes necessary which is a drawback for the compact size required. This paper introduces an alternative system for driving piezoelectric actuators using a novel design of piezoelectric transformer, the Transoner®. The proposed solution allows a reduction in size, weight and magnetic noise generation compared to the classical electromagnetic-based systems. The work represents a completely novel approach to the possibilities of piezoelectric transformers for powering high voltage piezoelectric actuators. The solution offers significant advantages in environments requiring high integration, low weight, and low electromagnetic interferences operated with batteries. A circuit configuration capable of converting a 24 V DC input voltage up to 600 V _pp AC output voltage with frequency and magnitude control is implemented. Experimental results are presented for a standard multilayer piezoelectric actuator driven at 100 V _pp within the range of 10 Hz to 500 Hz.     

Low-temperature dielectric properties of double-perovskite Ca2CoNbO6

Double-perovskite Ca₂CoNbO₆ (CCNO) ceramics were prepared via the solid-state reaction route. Their dielectric properties were investigated as a function of temperature (between 100 and 330?K) in the frequency range from 40?Hz to 10?MHz. Two thermally activated dielectric relaxations were observed with the activation energy around 0.13?eV for the low-temperature relaxation and 0.37?eV for the high-temperature relaxation. Annealing in O₂ and N₂ can remarkably change the dielectric constant, background, relaxation peak intensity and position, etc. These results can be well explained based on the fact that both oxygen and cobalt vacancies coexist in the sample. The low-temperature relaxation was found to be related to the dipolar effect due to the hopping holes, and the high-temperature relaxation was associated with the defect relaxation caused by oxygen and cobalt vacancies.     

Investigation on structural and electrical properties of BZT ceramics synthesized at low temperature

Abstract

Due to environmental concerns, lead free ceramics such as KNN- NBT and BT have growing interest in applications such as actuators and sensors. Among them Barium Zirconate Titanate (BZT) has become most attractive because it is derived from two perovskite lattice i.e. Barium Titanate (BaTiO₃) and Barium Zirconate (BaZrO₃). It has been reported that Zirconium substitution in titanium lattice enhances the material properties. In the present paper BZT was prepared using solid state route. By adding a mixture of Li₂CO₃ as a sintering aid, the sample could be sintered at 1150?°C having around 94% of the theoretical density. Prepared samples were then subjected to XRD analysis. X-ray diffraction revealed the formation of single phase material. It is observed that the electrical properties of such low-temperature sintered samples are comparable with BZT samples prepared via conventional sintering at a high temperature. It is also observed that the curie temperature shift towards room temperature for a samples sintered at low temperature.     

Dielectric properties of BiFeO3 ceramics obtained from mechanochemically synthesized nanopowders

Dielectric behaviour of BiFeO₃ ceramics, obtained by hot-pressing of nanopowders produced by mechanochemical synthesis from Bi₂O₃ and Fe₂O₃ oxides (weight ratio 2:1), was studied in the temperature range 125?C575?K. The ceramics was found to exhibit step-like dielectric response ??*(T) with high permittivity values, similar to the behaviour of materials with giant dielectric permittivity. Three overlapping relaxation processes contribute to the dielectric response: i) relaxation in the low-temperature range (220?C420?K), characterized by activation energy of 0.4?eV, ii) relaxation in the temperature range 320?C520?K with activation energy of 1.0?eV and iii) broad dielectric anomaly in the vicinity of 420?K, which disappears after 1?h annealing at 775?K. The low-temperature relaxation is ascribed to the carrier hopping process between Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions. The presence of mixed valence of the Fe ions was proved by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Dielectric relaxation in the middle-temperature range is considered as a result of grain boundary effect and internal barrier layers related to Bi₂₅FeO₄₀ phase as verified by X-ray diffraction. The high-temperature dielectric anomaly we relate to short-range hopping of ordered oxygen vacancies.     

IGBT器件封装用有机硅凝胶宽频介电特性与温度影响

有机硅凝胶材料作为IGBT器件封装用绝缘材料,在器件的运行工况下,器件承受着重复性导通关断电压,对应频谱宽,且器件损耗将引起温度升高。为了能够准确分析器件内部电场特性,运用频域介电谱技术对有机硅凝胶在宽频、宽温度范围内的介电特性进行研究,利用叉指电极,实现对有机硅凝胶在不同温度下的宽频介电谱测试。采用Cole-Cole介电模型对实验数据进行拟合,并分析温度对Cole-Cole模型特征参量的影响规律。研究结果表明：频率和温度对有机硅凝胶的介电特性均有较大影响,在低频高温下,有机硅凝胶材料相对复介电常数的实部、虚部都显著增加。在所提取的Cole-Cole介电模型的特征参量中,直流电导率σ₀及特征参量Δε₁与温度之间的关系都满足Arrhenius方程,热活化能分别为0.233 eV与0.691 eV;弛豫时间τ₁和τ₂随温度的变化规律有所不同,但在高温时都明显增加。对半导体器件封装用有机硅凝胶材料介电特性的认知可以为器件内部电场分析和绝缘设计提供基础数据支撑。     

IGBT器件封装用有机硅凝胶宽频介电特性与温度影响

有机硅凝胶材料作为IGBT器件封装用绝缘材料,在器件的运行工况下,器件承受着重复性导通关断电压,对应频谱宽,且器件损耗将引起温度升高。为了能够准确分析器件内部电场特性,运用频域介电谱技术对有机硅凝胶在宽频、宽温度范围内的介电特性进行研究,利用叉指电极,实现对有机硅凝胶在不同温度下的宽频介电谱测试。采用Cole-Cole介电模型对实验数据进行拟合,并分析温度对Cole-Cole模型特征参量的影响规律。研究结果表明：频率和温度对有机硅凝胶的介电特性均有较大影响,在低频高温下,有机硅凝胶材料相对复介电常数的实部、虚部都显著增加。在所提取的Cole-Cole介电模型的特征参量中,直流电导率σ₀及特征参量Δε₁与温度之间的关系都满足Arrhenius方程,热活化能分别为0.233 eV与0.691 eV;弛豫时间τ₁和τ₂随温度的变化规律有所不同,但在高温时都明显增加。对半导体器件封装用有机硅凝胶材料介电特性的认知可以为器件内部电场分析和绝缘设计提供基础数据支撑。     

Impact of high‐κ gate dielectric and other physical parameters on the electrostatics and threshold voltage of long channel gate‐all‐around nanowire transistor

High‐κ gate‐all‐around structure counters the Short Channel Effect (SCEs) mostly providing excellent off‐state performance, whereas high mobility III–V channel ensures better on‐state performance, rendering III–V nanowire GAAFET a potential candidate for replacing the current FinFETs in microchips. In this paper, a 2D simulator for the III–V GAAFET based on self‐consistent solution of Schrodinger–Poisson equation is proposed. Using this simulator, capacitance–voltage profile and threshold voltage are characterized, which reveal that gate dielectric constant (κ) and oxide thickness do not affect threshold voltage significantly at lower channel doping. Moreover, change in alloy composition of In_xGa_1‐xAs, channel doping, and cross‐sectional area has trivial effects on the inversion capacitance although threshold voltage can be shifted by the former two. Although, channel material also affects the threshold voltage, most sharp change in threshold voltage is observed with change in fin width of the channel (0.005 V/nm for above 10 nm fin width and 0.064 V/nm for sub‐10 nm fin width). Simulation suggests that for lower channel doping below 10²³ m⁻³, fin width variation affects the threshold voltage most. Whereas when the doping is higher than 10²³ m⁻³, both the thickness and dielectric constant of the oxide material have strong effects on threshold voltage (0.05 V/nm oxide thickness and 0.01 V/per unit change in κ). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cylinders or walls? A new computational model to estimate the MR transverse relaxation rate dependence on trabecular bone architecture

Objective

Bone density is distributed in a complex network of interconnecting trabecular plates and rods that are interspersed with bone marrow. A computational model to assess the dependence of the relaxation rate on the geometry of bone can consider the distribution of bone material in the form of two components: cylinders and open walls (walls with gaps). We investigate whether the experimentally known dependence of the transverse relaxation rate on the trabecular bone structure can be usefully interpreted in terms of these two components.

Materials and methods

We established a computer model based on an elementary computational cell. The model includes a variable number of open walls and infinitely long cylinders as well as multiple geometric parameters. The transverse relaxation rate is computed as a function of these parameters. Within the model, increasing the trabecular spacing with a fixed trabecular radius is equivalent to thinning the trabeculae while maintaining constant spacing.

Results

Increasing the number of cylinder and wall gap elements beyond their nearest neighbors does not change the transverse relaxation rate. Although the absolute contribution to the relaxation due to open walls is on average more important than that due to cylinders, the latter drops off rapidly. The change on transverse relaxation rate is larger for changing cylinder geometry than for changing wall geometry, as it can be seen from the effect on the relaxation rate when trabecular spacing is varied, compared to varying the size of wall gaps.

Conclusion

Our results provide strong evidence that trabecular thinning, which is associated with increasing age, decreases the relaxation rates. The effect of thinning plates and rods on the transverse relaxation can be understood in terms of simple cylinders and open walls. A reduction in the relaxation rate can be seen as an indication of thinning cylinders, corresponding to reduced bone stability and ultimately, osteoporosis.     

Processing and Characterization of Micromachined Actuators Based on Proton-Irradiated P(VDF-TrFE) Copolymer

ABSTRACT

Copolymers of vinylidene fluoride and trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE)) have been used in a variety of devices such as transducers, actuators and sensors because of their good electroactive properties. Our earlier work showed that the electric field-induced strain in P(VDF-TrFE) copolymers can be enhanced significantly after high energy proton irradiation. In this study, micromachined actuators using proton-irradiated P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer as the active element have been fabricated. P(VDF-TrFE) 70/30 mol% copolymer film with a thickness of ～ 3.3 μ m was spin-coated on a silicon (Si) substrate. After etching the Si substrate by bulk micromachining, an actuator in the form of a suspended membrane was obtained. High energy proton irradiation with a dose of 107 Mrad was carried out to modify the properties of the copolymer film. The resonance characteristics of the actuators based on these irradiated copolymer films were studied and the displacement induced in the actuators was measured using a laser vibrometer. These types of polymer-based micromechanical systems have the advantages of being lightweight and have high toughness, thereby reducing the risk of breakage. By applying different d.c. bias voltages, the magnitude of the displacement induced in the actuator can be varied.     

Design of an ambulatory piezoelectric actuator which has T-shape stator

Abstract

T-shaped ambulatory piezoelectric actuator which can be used for various purposes such as lifesaving and environmental monitoring was proposed. The actuator consists of eight piezoelectric benders, t-shaped stator, and four legs, and it is very simple in structure and has the advantages of being easily manufactured and downsizing. It is also driven by four legs and can be moved forward and backward. The piezoelectric bender was composed of a carbon body and a ceramic plate. Vibration motions of the piezoelectric benders in x and z axes were transfer to the legs and the elliptical displacements at the ends of the legs were obtained by combination of the phase difference of 90 degrees. Characteristics of the actuators were simulated by finite element analysis, and the optimized prototype actuator was fabricated and experimented.     

Dielectric relaxation phenomenon of rare earth Nd3+ modified bismuth layer ferroelectric ceramics fabricated by plasma active sintering method

Abstract

The crystalline structure, dielectric relaxation and ferroelectric properties of the solid solution, Nd _x Bi_4-x Ti₃O₁₂ (NBIT) compound were measured. The Curie temperature of the NBIT ceramics was determined to be 490°C from dielectric measurements. The dielectric constant of the NBIT ceramics shows a small anisotropic property. Polarization switching was observed using a Sawyer-Tower circuit at 50 Hz. Remnant polarizations and coercive fields could not be confirmed since the hysteresis loops were not saturated. The large dielectric relaxation is observed in the frequency range between 100 kHz and 1 MHz.     

Excitonic photoluminescence in CuAlS2 powders

Copper aluminum disulfide (CuAlS₂) powders were synthesized in the evacuated ampoule. The luminescence properties of obtained powders were evaluated by photoluminescence (PL) at various temperatures. The visible emission peaks at 2.16 and 1.90 eV, and weak ultraviolet emission peak at 3.47 eV were obtained in the room temperature PL. The temperature dependence of the PL revealed that the ultraviolet emission at room temperature was considered to be free-exciton. Several emission peaks related to free-exciton, bound-exciton and phonons were observed in the high-resolution PL at 12 K, reflecting that the obtained powders had high crystallinity. Emission peaks at 3.459 and 3.300 eV for CuAlS₂ were observed for the first time. The former emission might be originated from the bound exciton and the latter from the donor–acceptor pair recombination.     

Dielectric and polarization switching studies in nickel nanoparticles dispersed ferroelectric liquid crystal mixtures

ABSTRACT

We have investigated the effect of nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) in a pure ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) mixture. Dielectric spectroscopy was done in the frequency range of 20 Hz–10 MHz. Switching time, spontaneous polarisation, rotational viscosity has been measured using field reversal technique in SmC^* phase. The spontaneous polarisation increases for NiNPs-FLC sample which may be due to the induced dipole moments around FLC molecules. Response time decreases with temperature and NiNPs dispersion. The relaxation frequency and dielectric strength of observed mode in SmC^* phase is also discussed in pure FLC and NiNPs-FLC samples. The relaxation frequency in NiNPs-FLC sample decreases than pure FLC sample and found ～120 Hz.     

A Microprocessor-Based Full Voltage Starting of Induction Motor with Switched Capacitors

ABSTRACT

Increasing concerns over the starting of induction motors with high starting torque requirements have prompted engineers to seek methods of starting with full voltage and switched capacitors. This method provides ample acceleration torque with minimum voltage disturbances on the main bus. A highly reliable microprocessor-based starter with high performance has been developed. The hardware and software architecture of this starter and its starting aspects are described. The programmable automation provided here allows a flexibility in algorithms which can be altered or expanded easily. The performance goals designed also include protection of induction motor against overload, phase loss, wrong phase sequence and severe over voltage due to self-excitation.     

Some microwave applications of BaSrTiO3 and high temperature superconductors

Abstract

The group at the University of Colorado has been working on the applications of BaSrTiO₃ and high temperature superconductors to microwave circuits and systems with support from Superconducting Core Technologies, NASA and ONR. This work has included the development of a voltage tunable oscillator, a phase shifter, and a voltage tunable phased array antenna system. An important aspect of this program is the lattice match between the high temperature superconductor and the ferroelectric materials which enables us to grow thin films of either material on each other. By choosing the appropriate barium stronium ratio we are able to obtain changes in the dielectric constant of 5 to 1 in bulk capacitors at 77 K, the liquid nitrogen boiling temperature. Phase shifts of a little less than 126° at 10 Ghz have been obtained by applying 5 volts on a one centimeter coplanar line. The proposed phased array systems should enable us to point the beam radiated from the antenna in an arbitrary direction using two control voltages of less than 50 volts. We believe this approach leads to the possibility of inexpensive electronically scannable antenna systems which could be used for mobile communications with satellites and cellular systems.     

Thin Film Piezoelectrics for MEMS

Thin film piezoelectric materials offer a number of advantages in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), due to the large motions that can be generated, often with low hysteresis, the high available energy densities, as well as high sensitivity sensors with wide dynamic ranges, and low power requirements. This paper reviews the literature in this field, with an emphasis on the factors that impact the magnitude of the available piezoelectric response. For non-ferroelectric piezoelectrics such as ZnO and AlN, the importance of film orientation is discussed. The high available electrical resistivity in AlN, its compatibility with CMOS processing, and its high frequency constant make it especially attractive in resonator applications. The higher piezoelectric response available in ferroelectric films enables lower voltage operation of actuators, as well as high sensitivity sensors. Among ferroelectric films, the majority of the MEMS sensors and actuators developed have utilized lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films as the transducer. Randomly oriented PZT films show piezoelectric e _31,f coefficients of about ?7 C/m² at the morphotropic phase boundary. In PZT films, orientation, composition, grain size, defect chemistry, and mechanical boundary conditions all impact the observed piezoelectric coefficients. The highest achievable piezoelectric responses can be observed in {001} oriented rhombohedrally-distorted perovskites. For a variety of such films, e _31,f coefficients of ?12 to ?27 C/m² have been reported.