A streamlined fabrication process for high energy density piezoelectric bending actuators

Abstract Fabrication of high-performance actuators is often a bottle-neck in the creation of microrobots. In this work, we present a new approach to piezoelectric bimorph actuator fabrication that simplifies the process (in part by reducing the number of materials used) without sacrificing actuator performance. We fabricate PZT bimorph actuators with two active layers, as well as bimorphs with four active layers that are under 2 mm wide – these are more challenging to fabricate than the two-layer bimorphs and thus present a useful test case for our new process. The blocked force and free deflection of the actuators agrees well with expected performance, with energy densities of approximately 1.2 J/kg at electric fields of 1.67 V/µm. We expect this process to enable rapid fabrication of piezoelectric actuators with more layers and at smaller scales than was previously attainable.