Robust miniaturized amplification unit for piezoelectric actuators: comparison of single crystal silicon and superelastic nickel titanium as membrane materials

In this work, amplification units made of robust metallic nickel titanium (NiTi) and single crystal silicon are compared and evaluated for the application in miniaturized piezoelectric actuators for flow control purposes. The amplification mechanism with a sliced membrane structure is based on a mechanical lever in order to amplify the low piezoelectrically induced deformation. Therefore, an enhanced output stroke can be provided up to high frequencies. The different membrane fabrication processes using laser ablation for the NiTi alloy and deep reactive ion etching for the silicon substrate, as well as the results of finite element simulations and experimental measurements are reported. An amplification factor of 9 has been achieved for an optimized load transmission point position. The dynamic response shows a quality factor of 25 and 494 at the first fundamental mode for NiTi and silicon membranes, respectively. Compared to silicon, NiTi shows enhanced properties against failure and facilitates the integration process.