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Nanoscale Characterization of Energy Generation from Piezoelectric Thin Films
Author(s) -
Bhaskaran Madhu,
Sriram Sharath,
Ruffell Simon,
Mitchell Arnan
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201002663
Subject(s) - materials science , piezoelectricity , microscale chemistry , nanoscopic scale , thin film , nanogenerator , nanoindentation , characterization (materials science) , nanotechnology , energy harvesting , voltage , optoelectronics , energy (signal processing) , composite material , electrical engineering , statistics , mathematics education , mathematics , engineering
We report on the use of nanoindentation to characterize in situ the voltage and current generation of piezoelectric thin films. This work presents the controlled observation of nanoscale piezoelectric voltage and current generation, allowing accurate quantification and mapping of force function variations. We characterize both continuous thin films and lithographically patterned nanoislands with constrained interaction area. The influence of size on energy generation parameters is reported, demonstrating that nanoislands can exhibit more effective current generation than continuous films. This quantitative finding suggests that further research into the impact of nanoscale patterning of piezoelectric thin films may yield an improved materials platform for integrated microscale energy scavenging systems.