Premium
Modeling and characterization of piezoelectric beams based on an aluminum nitride thin‐film layer
Author(s) -
Herth Etienne,
Algré Emmanuelle,
Rauch JeanYves,
Gerbedoen JeanClaude,
Defrance Nicolas,
Delobelle Patrick
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.201532302
Subject(s) - materials science , piezoelectricity , residual stress , stack (abstract data type) , nitride , thin film , resonator , characterization (materials science) , composite material , nanoindentation , modulus , aluminium , aluminium nitride , crystallinity , layer (electronics) , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , computer science , programming language
This paper presents a method to determine the mechanical properties of piezoelectric thin films. The vibrational behavior of microcantilevers and clamped–clamped beams actuated by aluminum nitride (AlN) piezoelectric films were analyzed in order to investigate the suitability of these devices as characterization tools. Different geometries of resonators composed of a free‐standing structure made up of a TiPt/AlN/TiPt piezoelectric stack were tested. The out‐of‐plane motion of the resonators was assessed by laser Doppler vibrometry. An AlN Young's modulus of about 200 GPa was extracted from resonance‐frequency measurements by means of Comsol software simulations that allow taking into account AlN underetching. This value of Young's modulus was compared to the one measured by a nanoindentation technique. The quality of crystallinity was also assessed using X‐ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. We then estimated the residual stress (about 200 MPa) using an interferometry measurement.