I. Chilibon, C. Dias, P. Inacio, J. Marat-Mendes, PZT and PVDF bimorph actuators, J. Optoelectron. Adv. Mater., 9/6 (2007) 1939-1943

Title: PZT and PVDF bimorph actuators

Abstract: The paper presents the main characteristics of two types of bimorph actuators, such as: PZT and piezoelectric PVDF Two PZT thick plates about 0.3 mm thickness where fixed together and in between a metallic brass plate as positive electrode. An important result is that the PZT bimorph transducer starts vibrating at low alternative voltage about 5 V, developing more than 2 mm aperture displacement at the plates end. PVDF pre-polarized piezoelectric bimorph structure consists on two PVDF thin films, with 25 mu m thickness and 31 pC/N d(31) piezoelectric coefficient. The PVDF bimorph transducer starts vibrating at low alternative voltage, such as 10 V, developing more than 1 mm aperture displacement at its end. The mechanical resonance frequency of piezoelectric bimorph transducers depends on geometric size (length, width, and thickness of each layer), and the piezoelectric coefficients (d(31) and s(11)) of the piezoelectric material. The piezoelectric bimorph actuators can be well suited to be implemented in devices for laser system micrometry displacement, and biological sensor applications.

Key words: PZT ceramics; PVDF; bimorph actuator