Design, Fabrication and Experimental-Numerical Study of PZT Sensors

MEMS micropumps, based on PZT membranes have been designed and fabricated at the Microtechnology Laboratory of the University of Minnesota for use in fluid flow control, and as chemical and pressure sensors. Design, fabrication and numerical analyses of the PZT cantilever beams were presented at the MSM99, and are now extended to new MEMS devices; specifically reactive ion etched (RIE) bulk micromachined PZT membranes. Four major geometries including square, rectangular, circular and elliptic devices with different sizes have been successfully fabricated. The main advantage of the new devices is in providing more resonant points than the microcantilever beam, thus creating a larger working interval. Numerical studies have been carried out by using ANSYS Finite Element software. Numerical results compared well with the experimental findings.