Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters For Wireless Sensor Networks

KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN
FACULTEIT INGENIEURSWETENSCHAPPEN
DEPARTEMENT ELEKTROTECHNIEK ESAT
Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, B-3001 Leuven - Belgie
PIEZOELECTRIC ENERGY HARVESTERS
FOR
WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS
Jury:
Prof. Dr. Ann Haegemans, chair
Prof. Dr. Robert Mertens, promoter
Prof. Dr. Chris Van Hoof, promoter
Prof. Dr. Eric van den Bulck
Prof. Dr. Ronnie Belmans
Prof. Dr. Robert Puers
Dr. Paolo Fiorini
Prof. Dr. Jo De Boeck
Dissertation submitted in partial
fulllment of the requirements
for the degree of doctor in de
ingenieurswetenschappen
by
Michael Renaud
October 2009
in collaboration with
VZW
Interuniversitair Micro-Elektronica Centrum vzw
Kapeldreef 75
B-3001 Leuven (Belgie)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Faculteit Toegepaste Wetenschappen
Arenbergkasteel, B-3001 Heverlee (Belgie)
Alle rechten voorbehouden. Niets van deze uitgave mag worden vermenigvuldigd en/of
openbaar gemaakt door middel van druk, fotocopie, microlm, elektronisch of op welke andere
wijze ook zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by print,
photoprint, microlm, or any other means without written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 978-94-6018-130-6
Wettelijke depotnummer: D/2009/7515/113
Acknowledgments
Before the start of this text I would like to express my sincere gratitude to
everybody who helped me during my research on this PhD Thesis.
First of all, I wish to express my appreciation and thanks to my direct super-
visor Dr. P. Fiorini for his valuable guidance, support and patience throughout
my research. I would not have been able to conclude this Ph.D. without his
help. I should also specically thank him for his great eorts on reviewing my
papers.
I would then like to thank Prof. C. van Hoof and Prof. R. Mertens for
oering me the opportunity to carry on this research and helping me with
the tasks related to my Ph.D. I am grateful to the members of the reviewing
committee (Prof. R. Belmans, Prof. E. van den Bulck, Prof. R. Puers and Prof.
J. de Boeck) for their useful comments and corrections on the dissertation. I
am also thankful to Prof. A. Haegemans for chairing the defense.
I would like to thank the members of various teams I cooperated with. To
start, many thanks go to Tom Sterken for sharing his valuable insights and
for all the constructive discussions we had. I would like to thank Bert Dubois
and Chikhi Abdelhad for helping me getting accustomed to the cleanroom
environment. Thanks to Vladimir Leonov and Ziyang Wang to create a pleasant
team environment. Many thanks also go to Stanislaw Kalicinski and Vladimir
Cherman for their help on the characterization of devices. I would also like to
thank many colleagues from the Holst Centre in the Netherlands (R. Elfrink,
M. Goedbloed, T. Kamel and R. van Schaijk to name a few) for the fruitful
collaboration which is still ongoing. I am also appreciative of the work realized
by the master students that I mentored during this Ph.D. research (L. de
Vreede, V. Prins, H. Toreyin and A. Bayoumi).
I am grateful to IMEC and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U. Leu-
ven). Both provided me the necessary means to conduct my Ph.D. research in
an excellent environment and gave me the opportunity to present my results
in high level international conferences.
I would like to thank my friends Gregory, Raquel and Bert for the fun we
had when we were all together. Also, thanks to my aquatic pets which helped
i
me relaxing when the pressure was too high. Finally, many thanks to my
parents for their endless support.
Michael Renaud
Leuven, October 2009
ii
To my grandmother
iii
iv
Abstract
Recent years have seen important developments in the eld of wireless sensor
networks. Such networks have already found applications in the eld of health
monitoring and smart environment. Electrochemical batteries are usually im-
plemented for powering the sensor nodes. Depletion of batteries leads to a loss
of functionality of the sensor node which can result in critical situations if not
detected in due time. The costs of replacing batteries located in a remote or
hostile environment is also high. Furthermore, electrochemical batteries con-
tain dangerous chemicals possibly released in the environment because of the
costs of recycling. Therefore, so-called energy harvesters gained interest in the
last decade.
Energy harvesters act by converting part of the energy available in the
environment into useful electrical power. They are self replenished and do
not need replacement. Common environmental energy sources are light, heat,
vibrations, human motion or wind. This thesis is focused on harvesting energy
from vibrations and human body motion. Devices adapted to each situation are
designed, fabricated and characterized. Their active element is a piezoelectric
bender and a detailed model of such a transducer is derived.
The devices designed for harvesting energy from the human motion are
based on the impact of a rigid body on piezoelectric cantilevers. An output
power of 47 W is obtained for a device of dimensions 3.5*2*2 cm
3
weighting
60 g rotated over 180
each second. Also, a power of 600 W is measured

when the harvester is placed on the hand of a person and forcibly shaken at a
frequency of approximately 7 Hz for an amplitude of 10 cm. A large amount
of the volume occupied by the prototype of the harvester can be eliminated
and an output power density of 10 W/cm
3
or 4 W/g is estimated for an
optimized device undergoing the aforementioned rotary motion. These gures
are multiplied by a factor 12 when a 7 Hz frequency, 10 cm amplitude linear
motion is considered.
The devices designed for harvesting energy from vibrations in machinery en-
vironment are based on resonant piezoelectric beams. Both aluminum nitride
(AlN) and lead zirconate titanate (PZT) are considered as piezoelectric mate-
rials. If parasitic dissipations can be maintained below a certain threshold, it is
v
demonstrated that MEMS harvesters based on thin lm AlN or PZT compete
with ceramic PZT based devices in terms of power generation. Micromachined
piezoelectric harvesters are manufactured and characterized. An output power
in the range of 50 W for an approximated volume of 0.3 cm
3
is obtained with
AlN and PZT MEMS harvesters, which is enough to power low consumption
sensor nodes.
As a conclusion, the results presented in this PhD thesis give an important
contribution to the optimization of piezoelectric energy harvesters, both at the
experimental and theoretical level.
vi
Nederlandstalige samenvatting
De laatste jaren hebben we een enorme ontwikkeling gezien van draagbare
elektronica, zoals draadloze sensornetwerken die onder andere hun toepassing
vinden in de gezondheidszorg en in slimme omgevingen. In het algemeen wor-
den elektrochemische batterijen gebruikt als voeding voor de sensoren in zon
netwerk. Deze hebben als nadeel hun hoge kostprijs en het feit dat ze gemaakt
zijn uit schadelijke materialen die meestal tussen het restafval belanden we-
gens de hoge recyclagekost. Bovendien kan het vervangen van deze batterijen
op afgelegen en gevaarlijke plaatsen ook een groot kostenplaatje met zich mee-
brengen. Daarom is er een groeiende interesse voor de zogenaamde energie
collectoren.
Energie collectoren kunnen energie die aanwezig is in de omgeving omzetten
in bruikbaar elektrisch vermogen. Voorbeelden van omgevingsenergie zijn licht,
warmte, mechanische trillingen, menselijke beweging en wind. Het werk in
deze thesis focusseert op het verzamelen van energie komende van mechanis-
che trillingen en menselijke bewegingsenergie. Verschillende oogstprincipes zijn
nodig om een eciente energieverzameling te verwezenlijken van deze twee en-
ergiebronnen; daarom werden twee types apparaten gemodelleerd, gefabriceerd
en gekarakteriseerd. Beide types van collectoren zijn gebaseerd op het principe
van piezo-elektrische transductie.
Het apparaat ontwikkeld om energie te halen uit menselijke beweging is
gebaseerd op het fenomeen van impact op een star lichaam van piezo-elektrische
cantilevers. Een vermogen van 47 W kan behaald worden met een apparaat
met een dimensie van 3.5*2*2 cm
3
en een gewicht van 60 g en dit geplaatst
op de hand en elke seconde geroteerd over een hoek van 180
. Een groot deel

van het volume van dit prototype kan gelimineerd worden en de uitgangsver-
mogendichtheid kan geschat worden op 10 W/cm
3
of 4 W/g voor een geop-
timaliseerd systeem dat dezelfde roterende beweging ondergaat. Deze waarden
kunnen vermenigvuldigd worden met een factor 12 wanneer een lineaire be-
weging beschouwd wordt met een frequentie van 7 Hz en een amplitude van 10
cm.
Het apparaat ontwikkeld om energie te halen uit trillingen is gebaseerd op
een resonantiesysteem gemaakt uit een verpakte piezo-elektrische balk. In de
vii
veronderstelling van een enkele harmonische trilling als input, wordt aange-
toond dat de beste prestaties behaald worden bij resonantie of anti-resonantie
frequentie van de apparaten. Ook wordt aangetoond dat zowel hoog als laag
gekoppelde systemen bruikbaar zijn als de parasitaire verliezen onder een wel-
bepaalde drempelwaarde gehouden kunnen worden. MEMS piezo-elektrische
collectoren worden gefabriceerd en gekarakteriseerd. Een uitgangsvermogen
van rond de 50 W werd bereikt met een volume van ongeveer 0.3 cm3 met
AlN en PZT MEMS collectoren, wat voldoende energie is om sensor knopen te
voeden die een laag vermogen nodig hebben.
Tot slot wordt dit werk als zeer nuttig gezien met nieuwe en belangrijke re-
sultaten op het vlak van optimalisatie van piezo-elektrische energie collectoren,
zowel op experimenteel als theoretisch vlak.
viii
Symbols and Abbreviations
Symbols
A
0
Amplitude of the input acceleration (m.s
2
)
C
p
Real part of the quasi static clamped capacitance of the
piezoelectric layer in a laminated piezoelectric beam (F)
C
p0
Quasi static clamped capacitance of the piezoelectric
layer in a laminated piezoelectric beam (F)
C
pf
Clamped capacitance of an unsupported slab of piezo-
electric material (F)
C
pc
Clamped capacitance of the piezoelectric layer in a lam-
inated piezoelectric beam (F)
d
ij
Components of the piezoelectric charge constant tensor
(C.N
1
)
d
p
Eective piezoelectric charge constant (C.N
1
)
D Electrical displacement tensor (A.m
2
)
D
a
External viscous damping term for the motion of the
beam (N.s.m
1
)
D
e
Normalized electrical damping term (-)
D
em
Normalized electromechanical damping term (-)
D
m
Normalized mechanical damping term (-)
D
v
External viscous damping term for the motion of the
missile (N.s.m
1
)
D
i
Components of the electrical displacement tensor
(A.m
2
)
e Eective coecient of restitution (-)
e
p
Eective piezoelectric constant (C.m
2
)
ix
Eff Harvester eectiveness (%)
E Electrical eld tensor (V.m
1
)
E
c
Coercive electrical eld (V.m
1
)
E
i
Components of the electrical eld tensor (V.m
1
)
E
el
Energetic term for the denition of k
31
(J)
E
m
31
(J)
E
M
31
(J)
EI
eq
Equivalent of the quotient of the area moment of inertia
over the tensile compliance (multilayer beams) (N.m
2
)
F Concentrated force applied on the beam (N)
g Gravity eld (=9.81m.s
2
)
G Figure of merit (=K
2
Q
m
)
GA
eq
Equivalent of the quotient of the area of the cross section
over the shear compliance (multilayer beams) (N)
h
p
Thickness of the piezoelectric layer in the piezoelectric
beam (m)
h
s
Thickness of the elastic layer in the piezoelectric beam
(m)
H Thickness of the body attached to the cantilever (m)
I
i
Area moment of inertia (m
4
)
J
z
Shear force (N)
k Real part of the quasi static lumped stiness of the beam
(N.m
1
)
k
0
Quasi static lumped stiness of the beam (N.m
1
)
k
c
Lumped stiness of the beam (N.m
1
)
k
i
Indentation stiness (N.m
3/2
)
k
ij
Electromechanical coupling factor of the mode ij (-)
k
p
Eective transverse electromechanical coupling factor (-
)
k
31
Transverse electromechanical coupling factor (-)
K Generalized electromechanical coupling factor (-)
l Length of the piezoelectric beam (m)
L Length of the body attached to the cantilever (m)
x
m
b
Mass of the beam (kg)
m
e
Eective mass of the structure (kg)
m
t
Mass of the body attached to the cantilever (kg)
M Mass of the missile (kg)
M
y
Bending moment due to mechanical eorts (N.m)
M
v
Bending moment due to an applied voltage (N.m)
O Denominator of the Laplace transform of the voltage
across a resistively shunted bender (-)
P Distributed load applied on the beam (N.m)
P
d
Generated power (W)
P
opt
Optimum generated power (W)
P
R
opt
Optimum generated power at resonance (W)
P
A
opt
Optimum generated power at anti-resonance (W)
Q Charges developped by the piezoelectric material (C)
Q
m
Mechanical quality factor (-)
Q
e
Electrical quality factor (-)
r
i
Roots in s of O (-)
R Rayleigh quotient (-)
R
b
Radius of curvature of the beam (m)
R
L
Load resistor ()
R
M
Radius of curvature of the missile (m)
R
opt
Optimum load resistor ()
R
m
opt
Optimum load resistor in multiple impacts situation ()
s
b
Eective compliance for the beam (Pa
1
)
s
ij
Components of the compliance tensor (Pa
1
)
s
E
ij
Components of the compliance tensor under constant
electrical eld (Pa
1
)
s
D
ij
Components of the compliance tensor under constant
electrical displacement (Pa
1
)
s
M
Eective compliance for the missile (Pa
1
)
s
s
Eective compliance for the elastic material (Pa
1
)
xi
s
E
p
Eective compliance under constant electrical eld for
the piezoelectric material (Pa
1
)
s
D
p
Eective compliance under constant electrical displace-
ment for the piezoelectric material (Pa
1
)
S Strain tensor (-)
S
i
Components of the strain tensor (-)
t Time (s)
t
c
Contact time (s)
t
a
Time interval between two successive impacts (s)
T Stress tensor (Pa)
T
i
Components of the stress tensor (Pa)
T
1
Average longitudinal stress in the piezoelectric layer
(Pa)
u Longitudinal component of the displacement eld (m)
U
0
Relative velocity of impact (m.s
1
)
v
g
Velocity at the position of the center of mass of the body
attached to the cantilever (m.s
1
)
v
g
attached to the cantilever just before an impact (m.s
1
)
v
g
attached to the cantilever just after an impact (m.s
1
)
v
M
Velocity at the position of the missile just before an
impact (m.s
1
)
v
M
Velocity at the position of the center of the missile just
after an impact (m.s
1
)
V Potential dierence across the electrodes of the piezo-
electric beam (V)
w Transverse component of the displacement eld (m)
w
x
Position dependent component of the transverse dis-
placement (m)
w
t
Time dependent component of the transverse displace-
ment (m)
W Width of the piezoelectric beam (m)
X
i
Experiment label (-)
xii
Z Input displacement (m)
z
0
Position of the neutral axis (m)
Z
0
Amplitude of the input displacement (m)
Macroscopic piezoelectric constant (C)
Real part of the quasi static lumped piezoelectric trans-
formation factor (N.V
1
)
0
Quasi static lumped piezoelectric transformation factor
(N.V
1
)
c
Lumped piezoelectric transformation factor (N.V
1
)
Deection along the length of the body attached to the
cantilever (m)
i
Indentation (m)
g
Deection at the position of the center of mass of the
body attached to the cantilever (m)
M
Position of the missile (m)
R
opt
body attached to the cantilever at resonance and for the
optimum load (m)
A
opt
body attached to the cantilever at anti-resonance and
for the optimum load (m)
ij
Components of the permittivity tensor (F.m
1
)
T
ij
Components of the permittivity tensor under constant
stress (F.m
1
)
S
ij
Components of the permittivity tensor under constant
strain (F.m
1
)
T
p
Eective permittivity under constant stress (F.m
1
)
S
p
Eective permittivity under constant strain (F.m
1
)
Eciency of the energy conversion for the impact har-
vester (%)
y
Shear angle (rad)
Timoshenkos correction factor for the shear compliance
(-)
Characteristic wavelength of the bending wave (m)
Amplitude of the displacement of the mass (m)
xiii
Electromechanical coupling correction (-)
Polarization direction (-)
Density (kg.m
3
)
Average density (kg.m
3
)
Load parameter (-)
opt
Optimum load parameter (-)
R
opt
Optimum load parameter at resonance (-)
A
opt
Optimum load parameter at anti-resonance (-)
Angular frequency of the input vibration (rad.s
1
)
s
0
Short circuit resonance angular frequency of the piezo-
electric beam (rad.s
1
)
o
0
Open circuit resonance angular frequency of the piezo-
electric beam (rad.s
1
)
e
Cut o angular frequency of the RC circuit (rad.s
1
)
m
Average angular frequency of the motion undergone by
an impacted bender (rad.s
1
)
s
Angular frequency frequency of a piezoelectric beam
shunted by a resistor (rad.s
1
)
Normalized angular frequency of the input vibration (-)
c
Contact angular frequency (rad.s
1
)
s
0
Normalized short circuit resonance angular frequency of
the piezoelectric beam (-)
o
0
Normalized open circuit resonance angular frequency of
the piezoelectric beam (-)
Abbreviations
BCB Benzocyclobutene
CMOS Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
EMC Electromechanical coupling factor
GEMC Generalized electromechanical coupling factor
IC Integrated circuit
LPCVD Low pressure chemical vapor deposition
xiv
MEMS Microelectromechanical system
PSD Position Sensitive Detector
PVDF Polyvinylidene uoride
PZT Lead zirconate titanate
SEM Scanning Electron Microscopy
SPE Small piezoelectricity approximation
SOI Silicon on insulator
SSHI Synchronous switch harvesting on inductor
xv
xvi
Contents
Acknowledgments i
Abstract v
Nederlandstalige samenvatting vii
Symbols and Abbreviations ix
Contents xvii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Energy harvesting: state of the art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1 Solar energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.2 Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.3 Vibrations and motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Piezoelectric inertial vibration energy harvesters . . . . . . . . 7
1.2.1 Resonant systems: machine environment . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2.2 Non resonant systems: human environment . . . . . . . 13
1.3 Scope and organization of the thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Theory and lumped model of piezoelectric laminated beams 19
2.1 History, basic denitions and linear constitutive equations of
piezoelectricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
xvii
2.1.1 History and basic denitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.1.2 Constitutive equations of linear piezoelectricity . . . . . 24
2.1.3 Dissipative and non linear eects in piezoelectric materi-
als . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.1.4 Relevant piezoelectric materials and corresponding sim-
plications of the constitutive equations . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2 The constitutive equations of piezoelectric laminated beams . . 32
2.2.1 Elastic laminated beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.2.2 Piezoelectric laminated beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.3 Constitutive matrix and electrical network representation of piezo-
electric beams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.3.1 Geometry of the harvesters and applied mechanical eorts 48
2.3.2 Concepts of the constitutive matrix and electrical equiv-
alent network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.3.3 Constitutive matrix and equivalent electrical network of
the piezoelectric harvesters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.3.4 Generalized electromechanical coupling factor . . . . . . 58
2.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3 Manufacturing and primary characterization of MEMS piezo-
electric harvesters 61
3.1 Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.1.1 General description of the manufactured devices . . . . 62
3.1.2 Process ow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.2 Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.2.1 General concept for the determination of the network
parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.2.2 Quasi static characterization methods . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.2.3 Steady-state characterization methods . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.2.4 Transient characterization methods . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.2.5 Typical values of the network parameters and estimation
of the material properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
xviii
4 Design and analysis of the human environment vibration en-
ergy harvester 83
4.1 Modeling of the impact based harvester . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.1.1 Development of the model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.1.2 Theoretical optimization of the generated power: analyt-
ical perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.1.3 Theoretical optimization of the generated power: numer-
ical perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.2 Experimental measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.2.1 Coecient of restitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.2.2 Comparison of the model predictions with experimental
measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.2.3 Characterization of a prototype of the human environ-
ment harvester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
5 Design and analysis of the machine environment vibration en-
ergy harvester 109
5.1 Theoretical analysis of the harvesters output power . . . . . . 110
5.1.1 Resistive load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
5.1.2 Alternative loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
5.2 Experimental characterization of the harvesters . . . . . . . . . 122
5.2.1 Output power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.2.2 Non linear eects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6 General conclusions and future work 129
List of Publications 135
Bibliography 137
xix
xx
Chapter1
Introduction
Recent years have seen important developments in the eld of wireless sen-
sor networks. A rst important example of such networks are the so called
body area networks [1, 2]. It consists of an array of sensors located on the
human body (Figure 1.1). The sensors are aimed primarily at measuring rel-
evant information related to the health of a person, such as blood pressure or
oxygen level, and at transmitting the corresponding data to medical authori-
ties through existing communication networks. Three examples illustrate the
potential of this approach: continually monitoring blood pressure for patients
with hypertension can signicantly increase medication compliance [3], real-
time processing of electrocardiograph traces can be very eective at revealing
early stages of heart disease [4], closed-loop control of insulin administration
for diabetic patients would signicantly reduce the risk of hypoglycemia [5]. A
second important example of application for wireless sensor networks consists
in smart environments and automated buildings. Arrays of sensors can for ex-
ample be used to monitor human presence or environment characteristics and
trigger appropriate responses (automatic light switching, intrusion detection,
re alarm).
Power autonomy of the sensors nodes is essential for the success of wire-
less sensor networks and requires the development of low-power electronics
and long life energy sources other than electrochemical batteries. Depletion of
batteries leads to a loss of functionality of the sensor node which can result
in critical situations if not detected in due time. The costs of replacing bat-
teries located in a remote or hostile environment is also high. Furthermore,
electrochemical batteries contain dangerous chemicals possibly released in the
environment because of the costs of recycling. Therefore, clean, renewable and
portable energy sources gained attention during the last ten years and the so
called energy harvesters were investigated as an alternative to electrochemical
batteries. Energy harvesters act by converting part of the energy available in
1
2 1.1 Energy harvesting: state of the art
Figure 1.1 - The technology vision for body area networks [6].
the environment into useful electrical power. They are self replenished and do
not need replacement. Common environmental energy sources are light, heat,
vibrations, human motion or wind. This thesis is focused on harvesting energy
from vibrations and human body motion.
This chapter is organized in the following way: in a rst section, the state
of the art in the eld of energy harvesting is presented. The second subsection
is focused on energy harvesting from mechanical vibrations or motion using
a piezoelectric transduction principle. The dierent architectures that can be
implemented are rst discussed in details. Then, the basic ideas related to the
devices studied in this thesis and the motivations for their development are
presented. Finally, the plan of this thesis is given.
1.1 Energy harvesting: state of the art
This work is focused on small scale energy harvesters. By using the term
small scale, we refer to both small power ratings (<1mW) and to small sized
devices (cm
3
). Recent advances in small scale energy harvesting applications
are described in this section. Dierent sources of energy and the corresponding
harvesting devices are presented in separate parts. The description is focused on
the most common and promising sources of energy; fuel cells, microturbines and
ambient electromagnetic waves (other than light) harvesting are not treated.
1. INTRODUCTION 3
Some references related to the latter subjects are the work of Kolanowski [7],
of OHayre [8] and of Li [9].
1.1.1 Solar energy
The principle of photovoltaic cells is known since the work of Becquerel in the
19th century. The rst solar cells were manufactured by Fritts in 1883. The
modern age of photovoltaic cells started with the work of Pearson, Chapin and
Fuller in the 1950s. The eciency of their devices was however not exceeding
5% and research eorts have been realized for increasing their eciency while
decreasing the costs of manufacturing. The eciency of solar cells depends on
optical and electrical properties of the semiconductor; the optimization of their
performances required then an intensive material research and optimization. A
balance between cost and eciency is also an important issue for the widespread
use of solar cells. In the 1970s, Berman designed signicantly less expensive
solar cells by using a poorer grade of silicon and packaging the cells with cheaper
materials. GaAs appeared in the following years as a very good, but very
expensive, candidate for increasing the eciency. Photovoltaic energy still
costs more than classical power sources; dierent roads towards lowering its
costs are under investigation: research companies try to either grow the silicon
into a shape that eliminates most of the slicing requirements or to deposit
photovoltaic material onto an inexpensive but rigid support structure such as
ceramic, glass or steel. Also, thin lm technologies (related to the IC eld) and
mass production allows a lower cost of fabrication.
1.1.2 Heat
A review of recent thermoelectric generators is given by Hudak in [10]. The
short description presented here is derived from his article. Thermoelectric
power generators produce electrical power from temperature dierences be-
tween two substrates. They have been successfully developed since the be-
ginning of the 20th century for large scale power generation by using waste
heat from industrial processes [11]. The use of turbines is one of the simplest
methods to extract energy from heat but it is not the sole. Indeed, electri-
cal power can be generated from temperature gradients exploiting the Seebeck
eect: when two faces of plates made of dierent conductor materials (i.e. a
thermocouple) are set into mechanical contact, an electrical potential dierence
is observed between faces if they have dierent temperatures. Small-sized scale
thermoelectric generators based on this eect have only been investigated dur-
ing the past decade. Thermocouples for power generation are normally made
by the association of a n and p type doped elements. The most widely used
thermoelectric materials for decades have been n and p type alloys of bismuth
telluride. Wristwatches powered only by thermoelectric eects have already
been commercialized [12]. The development of MEMS manufacturing tech-
nologies led recently to the investigation of less performing while cheaper and
easier to integrate materials such as silicon germanium [13]. An interesting ap-
plication of thermopiles in the eld of energy harvesting was recently proposed
by Torfs and Leonov [14]: a commercial pulse oximeter is fully powered by the
heat dissipated by the human body. The full system is able to transmit data to
a neighboring computer. As a rough estimate, the achievable power density of
thermoelectric generator in human environment is in the range of 20 W/cm
2
.
1.1.3 Vibrations and motion
Mechanical vibrations or motions are present almost everywhere and are there-
fore attractive sources of energy for producing electrical power. The dynamo of
a bike is a well known example of motion energy harvesting. Self powered wrist-
watches based on a rotating heavy mass and on an electromagnetic principle
were also developed during the 19th and 20th century. The conversion of me-
chanical to electrical energy is achieved through electromechanical transducers:
the most common implemented transduction mechanisms are electromagnetic
[1519], electrostatic [2023] and piezoelectric [2431]. Alternative transduc-
tion methods such as magnetostriction [32, 33] were also proposed but remain
marginal. The electromagnetic transduction is based on the classical Faradays
law of induction which states that the motion of a coil in a magnetic eld
generates an electrical current in the coil. Capacitive transduction is obtained
with a movable plate capacitor with one of the electrodes connected to a source
of electrical charges. According to Gauss law, a change in the values of the ca-
pacitor results in a motion of charges so that a useful current can be produced.
Finally, the piezoelectric mechanism depends on the crystalline nature of the
material; piezoelectric materials develop electrical charges when deformed.
Motion-driven generators fall into two distinct categories: those using di-
rect application of an external force and those using inertial forces acting on
a movable proof mass. A large amount of energy can easily be extracted from
the former kind of harvesters and several applications focused on harvesting en-
ergy from human motion have already been commercialized. The best known
example is the harvesting shoe [34, 35]. An illustration of an electromagnetic
implementation of this idea is given in Figure 1.2. The power generated by
these shoes exceeds a few watts, enough to supply energy to many kinds of
applications. Several wind-up based charging systems were also recently pro-
posed with GSM or ashlight loader amongst them. One of the most promising
applications consists in the human powered laptop associated with the One
laptop per child project. The charging mechanism presented in Figure 1.2
is based on a hand crank system that has been recently abandoned due to
its poor eciency in favor of a more compact o-laptop design that uses a
pull string to spin a small generator. As a last example of direct force energy
harvesters, Keawboonchuay [26] developed piezoelectric generators that can be
incorporated into a special kind of ammunitions. Energy is generated when the
munitions impact the ground. Poulin gives some additional examples of direct
1. INTRODUCTION 5
Electromagnetic
generator
Figure 1.2 - Examples of direct force energy harvesters: hand crank GSM reloader, hand
crank powered laptop, electromagnetic shoe.
force harvesters in [36].
Most of the direct force motion energy harvesters are however bulky and do
not fulll the needs of wireless sensor networks. On the opposite, harvesters
based on inertial mechanisms can be made relatively small. As for the former
type, inertial generators are most of the time based on electromagnetic, electro-
static or piezoelectric transduction. The classical design of inertial harvesters
is based on a resonant scheme similar to the one implemented in accelerometers
and the device should oscillate along one of its fundamental modes in order to
deliver maximum power. In a rst approximation, these systems can be repre-
sented by a dashpot mass spring system coupled with some kind of electrical
damping corresponding to the energy harvesting process [37]. Such harvesters
received a lot of attention over the last years. Most of these harvesters are
manufactured by conventional technologies. However, MEMS fabrication was
recently implemented with the advantage of low cost mass production [20, 24].
Reviewing the literature on resonant inertial energy harvesters is a colossal
task due the abundance of articles. Fortunately, general reviews can be found
[3840]. This thesis is focused on piezoelectric energy based devices analyzed
in details later. In the remainder of this section, a brief overview of the charac-
teristics of environmental vibration sources and of the principles implemented
for inertial harvesters are given.
Ubiquitous vibration sources vary considerably in dominant frequency. The
resonant inertial harvesters should be tuned to this frequency. Roundy [41]
presents the capabilities for a number of vibration sources indicating that the
amplitude and frequency varies from 12 m.s
2
at 200 Hz for a car engine com-
partment to 0.2 m.s
2
at 100 Hz for the oor in an oce building with the
majority of sources measured having a fundamental frequency in the range 60-
1000 Hz. Vibrations present in most environments are not purely harmonic but
rather broadband. In their basic form, the resonant harvesters described above
produce a reasonable amount of electrical power only if they are excited at their
fundamental frequency and they are then not adapted to extract eciently the
energy from broadband input vibrations. A wider frequency response can be
obtained using higher order resonators and multiple mass spring systems. De-
signs of this type are proposed in [42]. In [43], Roundy proposed a methodology
for tuning resonant inertial harvesters by varying the spring constant or the
value of the proof mass. Challa [44] described a passively tunable device in
which the resonant frequency of a piezoelectric cantilever is shifted by the ap-
plication of magnetic forces. Arrays of piezoelectric cantilevers with dierent
resonance frequencies to broaden the response spectrum were also proposed
[45].
The resonant or broadband harvesters presented above are adapted to rel-
atively high frequency vibrations occurring in an industrial environment. In
the case of the human body, it is not possible to speak of vibrations but rather
of motion characterized by low frequencies and high amplitude. It is dicult
to design devices resonating at such low frequencies. Also, oppositely to the
industrial vibration situation, the amplitude of the external motion is larger
than the displacement of the proof mass. Miao analyzes this problematic in
[46] and proposes an alternative design based on electrostatic transduction de-
picted in Figure 1.3(a). In this system, the variable capacitor is made of a xed
and movable plate, the latter constituting also the proof mass of the system.
The proof mass sticks to the xed plate through electrostatic forces till the ex-
ternal acceleration results in an inertial force higher than the sticking one. At
this moment, the mass is released and discharging occurs through contact pads
when it has reached the other plate. A hybrid piezoelectric and electrostatic
low frequency energy harvester is proposed in [47]. It is an electrostatic oscil-
lator suspended by piezoelectric springs. Rotational rather than linear internal
motion is also adapted for low frequencies of the input motion, with wrist-
watch generators or bike dynamo as the most notable examples. Analysis of
the possible operating modes and power limits of rotating mass generators are
presented in [48] and [49]. Alternative spring designs which allow reducing the
operating frequency are also proposed by Hu [50]. Finally, several principles
of conversion of low input frequencies were presented: Kulah [51] describes
a device made of a large mass oscillating at low frequencies associated with
high frequencies oscillating cantilevers Figure 1.3(b). The mass is ferromag-
netic and small cubes of metal were attached to the high frequency cantilevers.
When the large magnetic mass oscillates, it alternatively catches and release
the cantilevers which undergo free vibrations when not attract by the mass.
Transduction is realized through electromagnetic means. A ratchet-pawl type
system following a similar approach but implementing piezoelectric transduc-
1. INTRODUCTION 7
(a)
(b)
Figure 1.3 - Examples of inertial harvesters for low frequency vibration energy harvesting
proposed by (a) Miao [46] and (b) Kulah [51].
tion was proposed in [52]. Also, as shown by several authors [5359], impact
based harvesters are adapted to low frequency input motion. This principle is
investigated into details in this thesis.
1.2 Piezoelectric inertial vibration energy har-
vesters
Dierent designs should be used to harvest energy from the vibrations present
in industrial environment and from the motion of the human body. Resonant
harvesters are adapted to the former case, while non resonant devices produce
in general more power in the latter situation. Therefore, the present section
is divided into two parts each dealing with the dierent principles. Note that
most of the points that are rapidly presented in this section are investigated in
details in further chapters.
8 1.2 Piezoelectric inertial vibration energy harvesters
Proofmass
Piezoelectriccapacitor
Elasticbeam
Inputvibration
Energy
harvesting
circuit
V
Parasitic
damping
Piezoelectric
element
(a)
Energy
harvesting
circuit
V
Effectivemass
Displacement
limit+/
Parasitic
damping
Structural
stiffness
Piezoelectric
element
(b)
Figure 1.4 - (a) Schematic of the typical structure for vibrations energy harvesting, (b)
lumped model of a resonant piezoelectric harvester.
1.2.1 Resonant systems: machine environment
Inertial resonant systems based on piezoelectric transduction are typically made
of an elastic structure attached to piezoelectric elements such as patches. As
illustrated by Figure 1.4(a), the most common implementation for frequencies
of input vibrations in the range of hundreds of Hertz consists of an elastic
cantilever supporting one or several piezoelectric layers sandwiched between
metallic electrodes. Such structures are referred to as unimorphs or bimorphs
[60]. The piezoelectric capacitors are connected to a load circuit in which en-
ergy is stored or dissipated. A proof mass is attached to the tip of the beam.
An external vibration is applied to the clamped end of the cantilever and results
in an inertial force on the proof mass. Extensive reviews of such piezoelectric
harvesters have been proposed in the literature by Sodano [61], Anton [62] and
Cook-Chennault [63]. Overall, such a system can be approximated by a dash-
pot mass spring system coupled to some kind of damping resulting from the
piezoelectric energy harvesting process. The corresponding mechanical model
is given in Figure 1.4(b). The rst investigations of such a structure for power
generation were proposed by Glynne-Jones [64] and Elvin [65]. Kasyap [66] pro-
posed a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester designed for producing energy
from acoustic sources. From this moment, the race for developing both theoret-
ical models and prototypes of resonant piezoelectric harvesters was launched.
Sodano [67] was the rst to demonstrate that this type of system was able to
1. INTRODUCTION 9
recharge commercial batteries. He also compared the eciency of PZT (Lead
Zirconate Titanium) and of piezoelectric bers for the same application in [61].
He found that PZT was a better candidate for power generation. Piezoelec-
tric materials suitable for energy harvesting were investigated in the following
years. It was understood that the electromechanical coupling factor is a crucial
parameter and should be made as high as possible. The electromechanical cou-
pling factor represents the mechanical energy transformed into electrical energy
or vice versa during a quasi static cycle dened in [68]. For a same material,
dierent values of the electromechanical coupling factor are found depending
on the direction of the deformation and of the developed electrical eld. The
electromechanical coupling factor is labeled as k
ij
. The indices i and j refer
respectively to the direction of the developed electrical eld and the direction of
the deformation (in the principal frame of reference). Ikeda [69] distinguished
13 dierent possible values of the electromechanical coupling factor but the
most commonly applied modes of deformation are the 31 (direction of defor-
mation perpendicular to the developed electrical eld) and the 33 (direction of
deformation parallel to the developed electrical eld). Detailed discussions on
the electromechanical coupling factor are developed in the next chapters.
Ceramic PZT and its variants are still the most used materials because of
their unequally attained electromechanical coupling factor and of the maturity
of their manufacturing process. However, PZT ceramics are brittle and suscep-
tible to crack propagation. Therefore, piezoelectric polymers received attention
during the last decade. A common piezoelectric polymer is polyvinylidene uo-
ride (PVDF). PVDF is extremely exible when compared to PZT. Lee [70, 71]
developed electroded PVDF lms. Mohammadi [72] developed a ber-based
piezoelectric (piezober) material consisting of PZT bers of various diameters
(15, 45, 120 and 250m) that were aligned, laminated, and molded in an epoxy.
Piezober power harvesting materials have also been investigated by Churchill
[73] who tested a composite consisting of unidirectionally aligned PZT bers of
250m diameter embedded in a resin matrix. Because of their low electrome-
chanical coupling factor, piezoelectric polymers and bers however perform
worse than PZT ceramics. They have applications requiring high exibility
such as the piezoelectric shoe described in Figure 1.2. Recently, the develop-
ment of MEMS technologies inspired the development of materials obtained by
thin lm deposition processes. PZT received again most of the attention, but
alternative materials such as AlN (Aluminum Nitride) [24, 74] were also pro-
posed because they are easier to integrate into conventional IC manufacturing
processes.
The investigation of high coupling piezoelectric materials is not the only
element required for developing high performance vibration energy harvesters.
The design of the transducer itself and the understanding of its behavior are
also crucial points. Therefore, a lot of research on the design of such devices
was done over the last decade. The simplest structure for piezoelectric vibra-
tions harvesters consists in a cantilever supporting one or several piezoelectric
capacitors. The performances of these structures are optimized by maximizing
their generalized electromechanical coupling factor. The generalized electrome-
chanical coupling factor represents an extension for composite structures of the
electromechanical coupling factor concept. This parameter is discussed in de-
tails later. Also, the parasitic dissipations have intuitively to be reduced [75].
Cho [76, 77] has shown that the generalized electromechanical coupling factor
was depending on the electrode coverage of the piezoelectric layer in the case
of rectangular membranes. In case of a cantilever, the author of this thesis
demonstrates that the optimum of the generalized electromechanical coupling
factor is obtained by choosing a particular ratio between the thicknesses of the
piezoelectric and elastic materials. It was shown by Karakaya [78] that the
residual stress can also have an inuence on the generalized electromechanical
coupling factor.
Other geometries than a simple cantilever were also studied. Mateu [79]
and Roundy [43] analyzed the possibility of using a triangular cantilever rather
than a rectangular one. They both found that a triangularly shaped piezo-
electric beam delivered more power for the same input force. Ericka [80] has
also investigated power generation from a circular membrane. Kim [81] devel-
oped a novel circular conguration for power harvesting called a piezoelectric
cymbal in which two dome-shaped metal end-caps are bonded on either side
of a piezoelectric circular plate. Using this conguration, the stress applied
to the piezoelectric material when compressed is more evenly distributed than
in a conventional structure. In this way, the eciency of the power harvester
increases. Rather than modifying the geometry of the typical rectangular can-
tilever, Mossi [82] proposed a conguration in which an initial stress is applied
to the cantilever. In this case, the cantilever has an initial curvature from which
the performances in terms of power generation depend. Baker [83] proposed
a new conguration in which a piezoelectric beam is compressed and xed at
both ends with pin connections. This so-called bistable system device gen-
erates power by switching from one stable mode to another. Experimental
results show that the bistable beam has a broader band of response than the
classical conguration. Cornwell [84] described the concept of attaching an
auxiliary structure for being able to actively modify the resonance frequency of
the harvester. Following the same principle, Roundy [43] further investigated
the idea of tuning the resonant frequency of a piezoelectric device to match the
frequency of ambient vibrations. It was however shown that an active tuning
system would never result in a net increase of the delivered power. In order to
eliminate this problem, Wu [85] proposed a passive tuning approach based on
two piezoelectric cantilevers and a micro controller. One of the piezoelectric
bender was used for tuning, while the other served as generating element.
The performances of a piezoelectric energy harvester can be improved through
development of high performances materials and on a dedicated electromechan-
ical design. A last important point for optimizing such a system consists in
the characteristics of the load circuit. Indeed, the basic load circuit typically
implemented, mainly for verication of the physical model, consists in a simple
resistor. It is however possible to improve the performances and to condi-
1. INTRODUCTION 11
tion eectively the generated power by using more elaborated load circuits. Ng
[86, 87] developed a power harvesting circuit to extract energy from a cantilever
beam piezoelectric harvester. The voltage generated by the piezoelectric mate-
rial is rst rectied by a diode and then stored into a buer capacitor. A volt-
age monitoring circuit is connected to the buer capacitor and releases energy
from the capacitor in burst mode. Han [88] developed a power harvesting cir-
cuit made of two stages consisting of a rectier followed by a DC-DC converter.
When experimentally compared to the traditional diode-resistor rectier, the
proposed conditioning circuit extracted over 400% more power. Ottman [89]
and Lesieutre [90] implemented a switching DC-DC step-down converter in the
power harvesting circuit. It was shown that the advantages of this method
depend on the frequencies of the input vibration. Ammar [91] developped an
adaptive algorithm for controlling the duty cycle of a DC-DC buck converter.
When comparing the charging time of a battery, it was demonstrated that the
proposed circuit led to faster charging than the conventional rectier. Lefeuvre
[92] proposed a method in which the extraction of the electric charge from a
piezoelectric device is synchronized with the system vibration. The circuit used
for this approach is made of a rectifying diode bridge and of a yback switching
mode DC-DC converter. A control circuit senses the voltage across the diode
rectier and activates the yback converter when that voltage reaches its max-
imum. The charges are at this moment allowed to ow in a battery. When the
electric charges on the piezoelectric element become zero, the control circuit
stops the converter and the corresponding energy transfer. Such a circuit gave
experimentally an important increase of the power when compared to a sim-
ple load resistor. In further studies, Badel [93] and Guyomar [94] investigated
another method of synchronizing the electric charge extraction with the vibra-
tions of the system. This new non linear technique was labeled as synchronous
switch harvesting on inductor (SSHI). The SSHI circuit contains an electronic
switch triggered on the maximum and minimum displacements of the piezoelec-
tric device. The switching device associated in series with an inductor is placed
in parallel or series with the piezoelectric capacitor before the rectifying diode
bridge. The SSHI method was theoretically and experimentally compared to a
standard circuit containing only a diode bridge rectier and capacitor. It was
shown that the SSHI circuit is capable of multiplying the eciency by a factor
4 over the standard circuit in the case of low generalized electromechanical
coupling factor.
All structures described above are based on the 31 deformation mode. The
coupling coecient of most piezoelectric materials is higher in 33 than in 31
modes. Therefore, harvesters based on 33 coupling coecients were developed.
The simplest example consist in a stack of piezoelectric capacitors as illustrated
by Figure 1.5(a). These structures are however very sti and their resonance
frequencies are well above those found in an industrial environment. They are
more adapted to direct force harvesters than to inertial ones. Jeon [95], Zhou
[96] and Dutoit [97] proposed an interesting alternative approach based on a
cantilever supporting a piezoelectric capacitor with interdigitated electrodes as
(a)
(b)
Figure 1.5 - Examples of structures making use of the 33 mode of deformation. (a) Piezo-
electric stack, (b) piezoelectric cantilever with interdigitated electrodes [97].
given in Figure 1.5(b). This electrodes conguration allows using the 33 mode
with a relatively compliant structure.
To conclude this section, an overview of the performances of some of the
existing piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters based on an inertial resonant
principle and on a cantilever conguration assuming a simple resistor as load
circuit is given in Table 1.1. The proposed table is adapted from the review
described by Mitcheson [38]. Most harvesters presented in Table 1.1 are based
on ceramic PZT but a few results of thin lm materials are also included. PZT
is again the material of choice in this case, but problematic from a point of
view of process integration. Therefore, AlN was also recently investigated. The
results proposed in Table 1.1 suggest that the performances of AlN in terms
of energy harvesting are much below those of PZT. This is due to the fact
that AlN devices, developed later, were not properly engineered, and it is not
related to fundamental material properties. It was demonstrated in [24] that
for a device operating at the same frequency, the output power delivered for
PZT and AlN based harvesters is similar assuming that parasitic dissipations
are not too large. However, the former material delivers more current while
the latter results in higher voltages.
Comparing the performances of the dierent devices described in Table 1.1
is not easy, as the output power depends strongly on the values of the proof
mass, the frequency of the input vibration and the volume of the device so that
it is dicult to perform a benchmarking of the existing systems. Therefore,
Mitcheson [38] dened a metric that he designated as harvester eectiveness
E. It consists in the ratio of the generated power over the maximum achievable
power when the displacement of the proof mass m
e
is equal to (Figure 1.4b).
1. INTRODUCTION 13
Table 1.1 - Comparison of the performances of existing inertial piezoelectric vibration energy
harvesters.
Generator Proof Input Input Manufacturing Raw
Reference volume mass frequency acceleration technology and power E
(cm
3
) (g) (Hz) (m.s
2
) material (W) (%)
[64] 0.53 80.1 Ceramic PZT 1.5
[28] 1 8.5 120 2.3 Ceramic PZT 80 7.3
[28] 1 7.5 85 2.3 Ceramic PZT 207 14
[28] 1 8.2 60 2.3 Ceramic PZT 365 34
[29] 4.8 52.2 40 2.3 Ceramic PZT 1700
[30] 9 50 1 Ceramic PZT 180
[87] 0.2 0.96 100 72.6 Ceramic PZT 35.5
This work 0.8 3.4 75 1 Ceramic PZT 50 12
[31] 0.0006 0.0015 609 64 Thin lm PZT 2.16
[24] 0.3 0.035 1798 23 Thin lm PZT 40 2.7
This work 0.3 0.011 1383 5 Thin lm PZT 3 16
[24] 0.3 0.035 320 0.2 Thin lm AlN 0.05 20
This work 0.3 0.011 660 1 Thin lm AlN 0.05 5
[98] 0.0002 1511 4 Thin lm AlN 0.026
E is dened by (1.1) in which A
0
and are respectively the amplitude and
frequency of the input acceleration. The values of E are reported in Ta-
ble 1.1 when the data given in the references were sucient to compute it.
The harvester eectiveness for the micromachined devices has the same order
of magnitude than the macroscopic devices. For the devices presented in [24],
it varies between 2.7% for the tested PZT element and 16% for the AlN one.
The latter harvester eciency is similar to the values obtained for macroscopic
PZT based devices and it appears therefore that AlN is a promising material
for micromachined energy harvesters.
E = 2
Measured power
m
e
A
0
(1.1)
In this section, an overview of the operating principle and designs related to res-
onant inertial piezoelectric vibration harvesters was presented. These systems
are adapted for high frequency and low amplitude vibrations found mainly in
industry. In the next section, inertial harvesters relevant for producing energy
from low frequency and high amplitude motion characteristic of the human
body are described.
1.2.2 Non resonant systems: human environment
Harvesters based on a resonant scheme are not adapted for the characteristics
of human motion and devices based on other principles have to be developed
for human powered sensor nodes. These systems are referred to as non resonant
harvesters. They did not get much attention from researchers and only a few
authors presented piezoelectric based inertial non resonant harvesters.
Umeda [53] was the rst to investigate non resonant piezoelectric harvesters
14 1.3 Scope and organization of the thesis
by analyzing the transfer of energy from a steel ball impacting a piezoelectric
membrane. The piezoelectric transducer consisted of a 19 mm diameter, 0.25
mm thick piezoelectric ceramic bonded to a bronze disc 0.25 mm thick with a
diameter of 27 mm. This work determined that the optimum eciency, assum-
ing a purely resistive load circuit, was about 10% for an optimum load of 10
k. Most of the energy was returned to the ball which bounces o the trans-
ducer after the initial impact. Later research further explored the feasibility of
storing the charges developed under impact on a capacitor or battery [53]. The
output of the generator was connected to dierent values of load capacitors
via a bridge rectier. It was shown that the performances of the generator to
charge the capacitor depended upon the value of the latter and on its initial
voltage. The generator was also attached to nickel cadmium, nickel metal hy-
dride and lithium ion batteries. The charging characteristics were found to be
unaected by the battery type. Umeda [55] proposed a commercial application
of the principle by successfully implementing a self powered door alarm system
illustrated in Figure 1.6(a). Atsushi [99] deposited a patent for rotary struc-
tures containing small steel balls attached to a central axis by straight metal
wires. When the frame of the device is rotated, the balls impact on piezoelec-
tric membranes located on the inner surface of the frame. Cavallier [58] and
Takeuchi [59] studied experimentally an equivalent device but obtained a very
low eciency because of a badly designed piezoelectric converter. Anecdotic
applications were also developed such as for example the piezoelectric ear ring
presented in Figure 1.6(b) which was used to power electroluminescent diodes
attached to the rings. Finally, the author of this thesis determined analytically
the optimum parameters of the piezoelectric transducer for shock excitation in
[56]: it was shown that the generalized electromechanical coupling factor and
the mechanical quality factor were the most important parameters for power
generation.
To our knowledge, a single other approach to non resonant harvesters based
on piezoelectric transduction has been described: Rastegar [52] investigated a
device where a low frequency vibrating mass spring system transfer its energy
to piezoelectric cantilevers through a ratchet type interaction: as illustrated in
Figure 1.7, an energy transfer teeth attached to a slow moving mass allows to
successively deect and release piezoelectric benders. While the large mass is
not in the neighborhood of the cantilevers, they are allowed to vibrate freely
along their own resonance frequency. This device was however only analyzed
in a theoretical way and no experimental measurements are available.
1.3 Scope and organization of the thesis
It was shown that inertial piezoelectric vibration harvesters are an interesting
approach for powering sensor nodes in wireless networks. Electrical energy is
provided through conversion of the ambient vibrations or motion and the need
for the replacement of electrochemical batteries is eliminated. Many dierent
1. INTRODUCTION 15
(a)
(b)
Figure 1.6 - Examples of non resonant inertial harvesters based on piezoelectric transduction.
(a) Self powered door alarm system [55], (b) piezoelectric ear rings.
Figure 1.7 - Non resonant harvester proposed by Rastegar [52].

approaches have been proposed for high frequency energy harvesting. However,
few MEMS devices have been proposed and one of the major goals of this thesis
is to manufacture and investigate such a harvester. The second goal of this
thesis is propose a device adapted to harvest energy from the low frequency
motion observed on the human body.
Both harvesters developed are based on the piezoelectric transduction eect
and more particularly on piezoelectric laminate bending structures. The princi-
ples of piezoelectricity are well understood and several models representing this
type of transducers already exist. However, energy harvesters have mainly been
investigated during the last decade and some confusions or misunderstanding
are often found in the models which represent piezoelectric energy harvesters.
Particularly, the approximations related to the classical model are generally
not well taken into account. Therefore, the second chapter is dedicated to the
description of the theory of piezoelectric laminates. The equations describing
the behavior of piezoelectric benders are rst derived; based on their solution,
lumped models in the form of impedance matrices and equivalent electrical
networks are proposed.
In the third chapter, the fabrication by MEMS technologies of piezoelec-
tric cantilevers designed for energy harvesting in a resonant conguration is
presented. Such devices are manufactured using both thin lm AlN and PZT
piezoelectric layers. The basic characterization of the produced devices consists
in determining experimentally the lumped parameters derived in Chapter 2 and
is also proposed in Chapter 3. No experimental procedure for determining these
parameters has been proposed in literature. Therefore, we developed a com-
plete plan of experiments to this aim. This characterization can be realized by
a combination of static, transient and steady state measurements and is per-
formed on the fabricated MEMS piezoelectric benders but also on commercial
ceramic PZT based structures. Finally, the material properties of the piezo-
electric materials are extracted from the measured values of the parameters of
the lumped model.
Chapter 4 is dedicated to the modeling, fabrication and characterization
of a low frequency inertial harvester designed for producing power from hu-
man motion. The developed device is based on the impact of a rigid body
on piezoelectric benders. No published work proposing a detailed model of a
piezoelectric impact harvester including the description of the impact mecha-
nism and of the resulting behavior of the piezoelectric bender exists. Therefore,
a complete model of such a vibration harvester is developed and validated by a
series of measurements performed on a macroscopic prototype. Note that this
harvester is realized by conventional precision machining and the implemented
piezoelectric transducers are bought from commercial companies. An output
power of 600 W is obtained (using a resistive load) for a device of dimensions
3.5*2*2 cm weighting 60 g placed on the hand of a person and shaken at a
frequency of approximately 10 Hz with 10 cm amplitude. Also, a power of 47
W is measured when the harvester is rotated of 180
each second.
1. INTRODUCTION 17
In Chapter 5, the model of inertial resonant piezoelectric harvesters adapted
to high frequencies corresponding to a machine environment is developed and
analyzed based on the theory of piezoelectric laminates presented in Chapter 2.
Design parameters for optimizing the performances of the device are derived.
Resonance and anti resonance behaviors are theoretically studied in details.
Ecient load circuitries are also discussed. Then, the fabricated AlN and PZT
MEMS resonant harvesters are characterized experimentally. It is found that
the developed model results in a good approximation of the measured data.
Raw output powers in the range of 40 W are measured, which is enough to
power simple electronic applications. Finally, some elements related to the
future investigations are given: particularly, non linear eects due to large
input vibrations or parasitic dissipations related to the presence of a package
around the harvesters are discussed and investigated experimentally.
Chapter 2
Theory and lumped model of
piezoelectric laminated beams
Piezoelectric laminated beams constitute the transduction element between
mechanical and electrical energy in the two types of investigated energy har-
vesters. The model of such transducers is developed in this chapter. It is
organized as follow: in the rst section, a short literature review and history
of piezoelectricity is proposed, followed by the derivation of its linear constitu-
tive equations. Common non linear eects and intrinsic dissipations occurring
in piezoelectric materials are also discussed. The section is concluded by the
presentation of the piezoelectric materials used in this thesis and of the cor-
responding simplications of the constitutive relations. The second section
describes the derivation of the equations governing the dynamics of multi lay-
ered beam structures. Finally, in a third section, analytical solutions of the
previous equations are developed for the particular situation of a cantilever
loaded by a distributed mass. These solutions are arranged in the form of
an impedance matrix and an electrical equivalent network. Some parts of the
derivations described can be found in classical textbooks. However, the eld of
piezoelectric harvesters is a recent area of research and a publication proposing
a detailed derivation of the piezoelectric multilayer beam equations in view of
such applications does not yet exist.
19
20
piezoelectricity
Si
+
Si
+
Si
+
O
Si
+
Si
+
Si
+
O
Force
Voltage
Figure 2.1 - Illustration of the piezoelectric eect as understood by Kelvin.
2.1 History, basic denitions and linear consti-
tutive equations of piezoelectricity
2.1.1 History and basic denitions
Coulomb proposed in the 18th century a conjecture which states that electric-
ity might be produced when a mechanical pressure is applied to a material.
Hauy and Becquerel performed experiments in order to prove this conjecture.
However, it was not possible in their measurements to make the dierence be-
tween the electrical charges created by friction or contact electricity and those
resulting from a possible electromechanical phenomenon. The Curies were,
in 1880, the rsts to demonstrate a relation between the symmetries in crys-
talline materials and the electrical charges appearing at the surface of some
crystals when mechanically stressed. Their experiments were performed on
Rochelle salt, tourmaline and quartz amongst others. The eect discovered by
the Curies is commonly referred to as the direct piezoelectric eect, i.e. electri-
cal charges results from mechanical eorts. The so-called converse piezoelectric
eect (mechanical stresses results from applied electrical eld) was mathemat-
ically derived from thermodynamics by Lippmann in 1881. The same year, the
Curie brothers conrmed experimentally the existence of the converse eect
and started developing a few laboratory applications. In 1893, Lord Kelvin
proposed an atomic model to explain the observed phenomena. The piezoelec-
tric eect as understood by Kelvin is illustrated in Figure 2.1 considering a
quartz unit cell. When no mechanical stress is applied to the crystal, the pos-
itive and negative electrical charges present on the dierent atoms share the
same barycenter, so that no net electric displacement or eld is observed at the
surface of the cell. The barycenter of the positive and negative charges does not
coincide when the cell of quartz is deformed, so that an electrical polarization
is developed at the surface of the crystal.
It was understood by Kelvin that piezoelectricity occurs only in non centro-
symmetric crystals. The complete denition of the crystal classes in which
piezoelectric eects occur was published by Voigt in 1910 (Lehrbuch der Kristall-
physik), on the basis of the work done by Duhem, Pockels and Neumann. As
2. THEORY AND LUMPED MODEL OF PIEZOELECTRIC LAMINATED
BEAMS 21
32crystalsymmetrygroups
11centrosymmetric
Nonpiezoelectric
21noncentrosymmetric
1nonpiezoelectric
20piezoelectric
10pyroelectric
Ferroelectric Nonferroelectric
Figure 2.2 - Piezoelectricity and crystal classes.
illustrated by Figure 2.2, he determined that from the 21 non centro-symmetric
crystal classes, 20 of them lead to piezoelectric eects. It was also shown that
10 of the piezoelectric crystal classes exhibit pyroelectric eects, i.e. they pos-
sess a spontaneous electrical polarization which depends on the temperature.
Above a certain temperature referred to as Curie temperature, a pyroelectric
crystal undergoes a phase transition and does no longer exhibit spontaneous
polarization. In the next decades, it was discovered that the spontaneous po-
larization can be reversed under the action of a strong applied electrical eld in
some of the pyroelectric crystals. By analogy with ferromagnetism, this eect
has been designated as ferroelectricity.
The work of Voigt became a standard reference for piezoelectricity and
the tensor algebra and notations introduced are today still widely in use. The
complexity of the mathematics required to design piezoelectric systems led to a
delay in the development of practical applications. The rst engineering appli-
cation of the piezoelectric eect was made by Langevin in 1917. In the World
War I context, his goal was to develop a system able to detect submarines
and his work on piezoelectric transducers led to the development of SONAR
(SOund Navigation And Ranging) and to further advances in the eld of ul-
trasonics. During the 1920-40s, most of the classic piezoelectric applications
(microphones, accelerometers, ultrasonic transducers, bender element actua-
tors, phonograph pick-ups, signal lters, etc.) were conceived and brought into
practice. Some important names associated with this period are Cady, who
developed the quartz oscillator and published reference books in the eld [100
103], Butterworth and Van Dyke, who proposed the rst electrical network
model of a piezoelectric resonator thus simplifying the design of piezoelectric
transducers [104106], Mason who extended the electromechanical represen-
tation of piezoelectric systems and developed alternative formulations of the
22
piezoelectricity
piezoelectric theory [107111].
Until the 40s, piezoelectricity had only been observed in crystals. A tech-
nologic revolution occurred when it was discovered during World War II (in
the U.S., Japan and the Soviet Union), that certain ceramic materials exhib-
ited dielectric and piezoelectric constants having the same order of magnitude
than those of common cut crystals. Piezoelectric ceramics are prepared by
heat treatment of metallic oxide powders and have a polycrystalline structure.
They require an electrical poling process in order to exhibit a piezoelectric ef-
fect. Indeed, as described in Figure 2.3(a), the material consists before poling of
misaligned domains. When the material is deformed, electrical charges appears
locally at the boundaries between the domains, but due to charge cancellation,
no net piezoelectric eect is observed at the surface of the sample. The poling
process is illustrated in Figure 2.3(b): metallic electrodes are attached at two
opposite faces of the sample and a strong electrical eld is applied on the elec-
trodes so that the dierent domains partially align their polar axis along the
electrical eld. After removing the electrical eld, the dierent domains keep
a certain alignment and a noticeable piezoelectric eect is observed. Note that
the poling process is only relevant for polycrystalline ferroelectric materials.
A piezoelectric but not ferroelectric polycrystalline material (as for example
quartz) with randomly oriented grains can not be poled; it can only exhibit
macroscopic piezoelectric properties if the growth orientation of the dierent
grains is well controlled. Independently of the required poling step, manufac-
turing technologies much cheaper than those existing for growing crystals were
developed for piezoelectric ceramics in the 40s and a renewed interest was ob-
served at the level of scientic and engineering research. In the following years,
the barium titanate and lead zirconate titanate (PZT) class of materials were
developed. During that period, the relations between the electromechanical
coupling and the perovskyte crystalline structure corresponding to PZT mate-
rial were also understood. Doping of these materials with metallic impurities
was also investigated and successfully implemented. Some of the most impor-
tant applications related to this era are powerful sonar, piezo ignition systems,
small and sensitive microphones, relays and signal lters.
From 1965 till the beginning of the 80s, most of the engineering successes
were achieved in Japan. The eld of applied piezoelectricity shifted from purely
military and academic interests to a wide variety of everyday life applications as
for example smoke and intrusion alarms or TV remote controls. The 80s have
then seen the opening of new commercial markets for piezoelectric applications
in each part of the world. Applications were found in the eld of automotive,
actuation, aeronautics and more recently of energy harvesting. A new eld of
application for piezoelectric materials has been induced recently by the industry
of MEMS. In terms of energy density, the piezoelectric eect is not aected
by miniaturization, so that it constitutes a principle of choice for designing
small scales actuators, sensors or vibration energy harvesters. Strong eorts
have been done in order to integrate piezoelectric materials in the form of
thick or thin lms into silicon wafer based batch processes. Non ferroelectric
BEAMS 23
Monocrystalwithsinglepolaraxis
Polycrystalwithrandom polaraxis
(a)
Randomdipoles
Polarization
Survivingpolarity
Electrodes
(b)
Figure 2.3 - (a) Comparison between mono and poly-crystalline material, (b) illustration of
the poling process for polycrystalline material.
and piezoelectric materials such as for example aluminum nitride (AlN) or zinc
oxide (ZnO) are fairly easy to integrate into a conventional IC process ow. On
the opposite, strong diculties are encountered for PZT type materials which
require high temperature processing. Furthermore, contamination problems
are encountered with PZT.
In modern applications, piezoelectric transducers exist in a wide variety of
shapes and are excited in a wide variety of vibrations modes. Some of these
shapes, modes of vibration, corresponding range of frequency and applications
are presented in Figure 2.4. Flexural vibrations piezoelectric transducers (can-
tilever, membranes) allow designing systems performing in a range of a few
Hz till tens of kHz. Typical applications related to this mode of vibration are
buzzer, cooler, motion actuators and vibration energy harvesters as it will be
discussed in this thesis. Length, thickness and area vibrations of piezoelectric
plates or discs are used for lters and resonators in the range of tens of kHz
till a few MHz. Filters and resonators performing from a MHz till tens of MHz
are obtained by designing thickness shear or thickness trapped vibration. Fi-
nally, in order to operate at higher frequencies (above GHz), surface acoustic
waves are implemented. The two types of vibration energy harvesters that are
analyzed in this thesis are based on exural piezoelectric elements and more
precisely on beam structures. In the remainder of this chapter, the basis of the
model of the piezoelectric benders which will be implemented later to analyze
and optimize the performances of the energy harvesters is developed.
24
piezoelectricity
Vibrationmode Frequency(Hz)
1K10K100K1M10M100M1G
Applications
Flexural
vibrations

Piezoelectricbuzzers
Lengthwise
vibrations

kHzfilters
Area
vibrations

kHzresonators
Radius
vibrations

kHzresonators
Thickness
shear
vibrations

MHzfilters
Thickness
trapped
vibrations

MHzresonators
Surface
acoustic
wave

SAWfilters
Figure 2.4 - Modes of vibrations and frequency range for modern piezoelectric applications.
2.1.2 Constitutive equations of linear piezoelectricity
The constitutive equations of linear piezoelectricity can be derived from classi-
cal mechanics and thermodynamics. The approach proposed in this subsection
is based on the classical continuum approach. Relatively large transducers are
dealt with (5 mm
2
) and there are no particular needs of describing the mi-
croscopic theory of piezoelectricity (such a theory was proposed by Born and
Huang [112]). The dierent steps required to derive the classical constitutive
equations of piezoelectricity are given. Details have been extensively given in
the literature as for example by Mason [111] or Cady [103].
By denition, piezoelectric materials exhibit elastic, dielectric and coupled
elastic-dielectric phenomena, so that it is necessary to discuss rst the elastic
and dielectric continuum. The classical elastic continuum is described by the
well-known relations between stresses and strains in a solid. For a Cartesian
element of volume, the force acting on each surface of the cube can be decom-
posed into three components directed along the dierent axis x, y and z of the
Cartesian coordinates system. Weak equilibrium considerations (i.e. the body
forces are neglected) impose that the forces applied on two opposite surfaces
cancel out so that from the 18 stress components obtained from the decompo-
sition of surface forces, only 6 are independent. Three of the stress components
(T
1
, T
2
and T
3
in engineering notation, the subscript 1, 2 and 3 referring to
respectively the x, y and z axis for the convention used here) tend to change
BEAMS 25
the elementary volume without distorting it (tensile stresses). The three other
components of the stress tensor tend to distort the elementary cube of material
without changing its volume (shear stresses). The stresses can be considered
as intensive thermodynamic variables. To each stress component corresponds
an extensive variable usually dened as the elongation or distortion per unit
length along a relevant axis, also known as strain S
i
. The relation between
the stresses and strains in the absence of piezoelectric eect, also known as
constitutive equation of elasticity, depends on the properties of the material
considered. The constitutive relation is formally established using thermody-
namics principles considering adiabatic or isothermal (dierences between the
material constants in adiabatic or isothermal situations are negligible for solids
[110]) reversible transformations. For linear elasticity, the material properties
tensor relating the stresses to the strains is denominated as the compliance
tensor (rank 2, symmetric). Its components are labeled as s
ij
with i=1..6 and
j=1..6.
The fundamental laws governing the physics of dielectrics are the quasi-
static form of Maxwells equations. These equations involve 4 thermodynamic
variables which are the electrical eld, the electrical displacement, the mag-
netic eld and the magnetic strength. In the classical theory of dielectrics, the
magnetic eld and its conjugated variable are neglected (because of the dimen-
sions of the considered system and of the relatively low involved frequencies),
so that the dielectric continuum is totally described by the electrical eld E
and displacement D. In case of linear dielectrics, the electrical eld is related
to the displacement by the so called permittivity tensor (rank 2, symmetric).
Its components are labeled as
ij
with i=1..3 and j=1..3.
Piezoelectric materials are both elastic and dielectric, so that two intensive
(E and T) and two extensive (D and S) thermodynamic variables describe the
state of the system in an adiabatic or isothermal situation. From thermody-
namics, each variable can be expressed as an explicit function of two others
in the same way as proposed for the dielectric and elastic continuum. Be-
cause of the number of variables, it is possible to derive dierent forms of the
constitutive equations. Throughout this thesis the convention and notations
proposed in the IEEE standards on piezoelectricity [68] are used. The com-
mon strain-charge form is given in (2.1) and (2.2) using the compressed matrix
notation, in which s
E
ij
represents a compliance term of the material under con-
stant electrical eld (this condition is indicated by the superscript E), d
ij
is
a charge constant relating the amount of dielectric displacement created by
a given stress and
T
ij
is the electrical permittivity of the medium under con-
stant stress (this condition is indicated by the superscript T). Equations (2.1)
and (2.2) represent respectively the converse and the direct piezoelectric eect.
Note that Einsteins summation convention is used in (2.1) and (2.2) as in the
following parts of this chapter.
S
i
= s
E
ij
T
j
+d
ij
E
j
(2.1)
D
i
= d
ij
T
j
+
T
ij
E
j
(2.2)
26
piezoelectricity
The order 3 tensor containing the electromechanical coupling terms can be
represented by a 6*3 matrix so that one can obtain the matrix expanded form
of the converse and direct linear constitutive equations of piezoelectricity.
_
_
S
1
S
2
S
3
S
4
S
5
S
6
_
_
=
_
_
s
E
11
s
E
12
s
E
13
s
E
14
s
E
15
s
E
16
s
E
12
s
E
22
s
E
23
s
E
24
s
E
25
s
E
26
s
E
13
s
E
23
s
E
33
s
E
34
s
E
35
s
E
36
s
E
14
s
E
24
s
E
34
s
E
44
s
E
45
s
E
46
s
E
15
s
E
25
s
E
35
s
E
45
s
E
55
s
E
56
s
E
16
s
E
26
s
E
36
s
E
46
s
E
56
s
E
66
_
_
_
_
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
4
T
5
T
6
_
_
+
_
_
d
11
d
21
d
31
d
12
d
22
d
32
d
13
d
23
d
33
d
14
d
24
d
34
d
15
d
25
d
35
d
16
d
26
d
36
_
_
_
_
E
1
E
2
E
3
_
_
(2.3)
_
_
D
1
D
2
D
3
_
_
=
_
_
d
11
d
12
d
13
d
14
d
15
d
16
d
21
d
22
d
23
d
24
d
25
d
26
d
31
d
32
d
33
d
34
d
35
d
36
_
_
_
_
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
4
T
5
T
6
_
_
+
_
_
T
11

T
12

T
13
T
12

T
22

T
23
T
13

T
23

T
33
_
_
_
_
E
1
E
2
E
3
_
_
(2.4)
Some common alternative forms of the constitutive equations of piezoelec-
tricity are given below. The superscripts S, T, D and E represent respectively a
constant strain, stress, electric displacement and electrical eld condition. The
dierences between the values of the material properties under these dierent
conditions are not negligible as it was the case under adiabatic and isothermal
situations. It is then important to use the superscripts describing these condi-
tions. Explicit relations between some of the material constants are given later
when dealing with the particular case of laminated piezoelectric beams.
T
i
= c
E
ij
S
j
e
ij
E
j
D
i
= e
ij
S
j
+
S
ij
E
j
(2.5)
T
i
= c
D
ij
S
j
h
ij
D
j
E
i
= h
ij
T
j
+
S
ij
D
j
(2.6)
S
i
= s
D
ij
T
j
+g
ij
D
j
E
i
= g
ij
T
j
+
T
ij
D
j
(2.7)
BEAMS 27
2.1.3 Dissipative and non linear eects in piezoelectric
materials
Dierent kinds of dissipative and non linear eects occur in piezoelectric mate-
rials. Some are common to both ferroelectric and non ferroelectric piezoelectric
materials, others are peculiar to ferroelectric materials. The losses have been
neglected until here by considering a reversible, adiabatic or isothermal situa-
tion.
Linear behaving dissipation mechanisms induce a phase shift between the
input and the response of the system. This situation is easily described from
a formal point of view. The dissipations and the resulting phase shift between
input and output are introduced in the system by setting complex valued
components in the elastic, dielectric and electromechanical tensors. The use
of complex components to represent losses at a phenomenological level can
be justied from relaxation and domain wall motion phenomena described by
microscopic theories [113115]. A detailed analysis of the implications of this
methodology on the modeling of piezoelectric materials is proposed by Mezher-
itsky [116].
A rst type of non linear eect observed in both ferroelectric and non fer-
roelectric piezoelectric materials comes from the high order terms neglected in
the derivation of the linear equations of piezoelectricity. Some of them can no
longer be neglected when relatively large signal inputs are considered. In the
particular case of ferroelectric materials, a fundamental reorganization of the
microstructure occurs under high signals and it gives rise to hysteretic eects.
As the poling process necessary to obtain piezoelectric ceramics is based on this
eect, it is important to give a concise and simple explanation of the observed
hysteretic behavior. A detailed analysis of hysteresis eects in piezoelectric ma-
terials is proposed by Damjanovic [117]. As introduced previously, ferroelectric
materials are a special case of pyroelectric materials possessing a spontaneous
polarization. In ferroelectrics, the spontaneous polarization possesses two ther-
modynamic states of equilibrium and its direction can be reversed through the
application of a strong electrical eld. Each grain in a ferroelectric polycrys-
talline material is made of several so-called Weiss domains consisting of a col-
lection of crystalline cells with aligned spontaneous polarization (Figure 2.5).
Before a poling process is carried on, the misalignment of the dierent Weiss
domain in a crystal results in a low value of the macroscopic polarization, if
any. This eect has even more inuence on ceramics, as the inuence of the
misalignment of Weiss domains is reinforced by the dierent orientations of the
grains.
The inuence of the poling process on the microstructure of a ferroelectric
ceramic is illustrated by Figure 2.6. In a virgin state, i.e. before any elec-
trical eld has been applied to the prepared material, the polarization in the
dierent Weiss domains of each grain are misaligned, so that no net electrical
charges are observed at the surface of the ceramics. This situation corresponds
28
piezoelectricity
Figure 2.5 - Weiss domains in a grain.
to the point a in Figure 2.6. As the applied electrical eld increases, the ma-
terial behaves as a dielectric (linear or non linear) in the path (ab). More and
more dierent grains and domains tend to align their polarization during this
phase until saturation occurs at point b. The maximum number of aligned do-
mains is obtained at this point and a further increase of the electrical eld does
not aect the surface charges. The inuence of the irreversibility of the rear-
rangement process is observed when one starts decreasing the applied electrical
eld: the electrical displacement does no longer follow the path (ab). Because
of the strong coupling that now exists between the microscopic polarizations
and because of the thermodynamic stability of this state, the dierent domains
oppose a strong resistance to any change in their orientations. Therefore, the
material conserves a permanent (also known as remanent) polarization when
the electrical eld is set to zero (point c): the material is now polarized. Be-
tween the point b and d, the material again behaves as a normal dielectric. In
order to reverse the orientation of the electrical dipoles, the magnitude of the
applied electrical eld should be decreased further till reaching the so called
coercive eld E
c
corresponding to point d in Figure 2.6: the system reaches
at this moment an unstable state in which the dipoles already reoriented im-
poses a cascade reversal of polarization on the remaining of the unmodied
domains and the system reaches the state described by the point e. As in the
previously discussed saturation state, a further decrease of the electrical eld
does not inuence the net charges developed. A behavior equivalent to the one
previously described occurs when the amplitude of the applied electrical eld
again increases and a new reversal of polarization is observed when the positive
value of the coercive eld is reached. Practically, several cycles are applied on
prepared ceramics in order to increase the values of the remanent polarization
and piezoelectric properties.
Some of the characteristic dissipative and non linear eects occurring in
piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials have been briey discussed in this para-
graph for sake of completeness. However, for the applications presented in this
thesis, the applied and resulting elds are small with respect to the coercive
BEAMS 29
D
E
a
b
c
d
e
E
c
E
c
D
r
D
r
Figure 2.6 - Illustration of hysteresis eects observed in ferroelectric material.
eld (E
c
is in the range of tens of kV.cm
1
for PZT [118]), so that the non linear
eects due to hysteresis and to high order terms in the constitutive equations
can be neglected. In other words, it is considered in the following of this work
that a relevant model of our devices can be developed under the assumption of
the linear constitutive equations given in (2.3) and (2.4).
2.1.4 Relevant piezoelectric materials and corresponding
simplications of the constitutive equations
The general characteristics of the piezoelectric materials implemented in the
devices developed for this thesis and the corresponding simplications of the
constitutive equations are presented in this section. Depending on the consid-
ered type of energy harvester, dierent families of piezoelectric materials are
implemented for the manufacturing of prototypes. For the human environment
energy harvester, solely commercial PZT obtained by conventional ceramics
technologies are used. For the machine environment energy harvester, two
dierent piezoelectric materials consisting of commercial thin lm PZT and
thin lm AlN grown at IMEC, Belgium (http://www2.imec.be) and the Holst
Centre, The Netherlands (http://www.holstcentre.com/) are used. The goal
of this work is to develop prototypes of energy harvesters based on relevant
phenomenological models, so that little time is devoted to the study and op-
timization of the manufacturing of the dierent materials. However, as the
presented thesis is done in parallel with the development of a deposition pro-
cess for thin lm AlN dedicated to energy harvesting situation, some words and
further analysis of the produced AlN are proposed in Chapter 3. On the other
hand, all PZT based materials used for this work are obtained from commercial
companies and no details about their processing are given.
The materials belonging to the PZT family exhibit a perovskyte type crys-
tal structure. They are solid solution of general formula PbZr
1x
Ti
x
O
3
and
30
piezoelectricity
the ratio of Ti
4+
to Zr
4+
ions determines the phase of the solution. The ratio
is generally chosen close to 50% so that the so called morphotropic bound-
ary is reached. It has been shown that the piezoelectric properties are max-
imal for this composition [119]. The underlying phenomena occurring dur-
ing this phase transition are yet not well understood. It has even be sug-
gested that a new phase exists at the morphotropic boundary [120]. Two PZT
materials are implemented: thick ceramic PZT obtained from Piezo Inc, US
(http://www.piezo.com) and thin lm PZT deposited on silicon wafers from
Inostek, Korea (http://inostek.com/). The former material is a ferroelectric
ceramic. Before poling, it is isotropic because of the randomly aligned grains.
The process of electrical poling inuences the texture of the lm and induces
elements of symmetry similar to those of hexagonal polar crystal of the symme-
try group 6mm [121]. The latter material is grown by the sol gel method and
consists in a columnar polycrystalline arrangement. The growth of the mate-
rial is controlled so that the polar axes of the grains are aligned in the same
direction and the averaged anisotropy of this type of PZT is also equivalent to
the one of crystals belonging to the 6mm group [122].
PZT thin lms exhibits high piezoelectric constants but are not easily in-
tegrated into conventional CMOS process, which have to be considered if it is
desired to integrate the conditioning electronics with the manufacturing of the
developed MEMS harvesters. These diculties result from the high required
processing temperatures and from contamination problems. For this reason,
other thin lms materials, such as zinc oxide and aluminum nitride, were in-
vestigated in the recent years. AlN is a good dielectric which has been reported
to grow for temperatures between 100 and 900
C [123]). The suitability of its

piezoelectric properties depends of the application considered: AlN is a poor
candidate for actuators, but relevant for sensing or energy harvesting devices,
as demonstrated along this thesis. Research on AlN deposition processes with
a focus on energy harvesting is ongoing at the Holst Centre and the AlN based
harvesters studied during this work are manufactured by this institute. A SEM
photography of an example of deposited AlN is given in Figure 2.7. As for PZT
thin lms, the growth direction of the grains is perpendicular to the seed plane.
Again, symmetry elements similar to the ones found in hexagonal crystals are
observed [122].
The dierent piezoelectric materials used belong to the same symmetry
group. Symmetry considerations allow reducing the number of independent
components in the material properties tensor [124] and the constitutive equa-
tions of piezoelectricity can be simplied for the materials studied to (2.8) and
(2.9).
Elastic materials are also dealt with. They are used as support for the
piezoelectric layers. It is considered that they are either isotropic (brass alloy,
stainless steel) or transverse isotropic (silicon) so that their compliance matrices
can be written in the same form as the one given in (2.8) (with s
33
=s
11
and
s
12
=s
13
for the isotropic case).
BEAMS 31
AlN
Figure 2.7 - SEM photography of an AlN thin lm layer.
_
_
S
1
S
2
S
3
S
4
S
5
S
6
_
_
=
_
_
s
E
11
s
E
12
s
E
13
0 0 0
s
E
12
s
E
11
s
E
13
0 0 0
s
E
13
s
E
13
s
E
33
0 0 0
0 0 0 s
E
44
0 0
0 0 0 0 s
E
55
0
0 0 0 0 0 s
E
66
_
_
_
_
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
4
T
5
T
6
_
_
+
_
_
0 0 d
31
0 0 d
31
0 0 d
33
0 d
15
0
d
15
0 0
0 0 0
_
_
_
_
E
1
E
2
E
3
_
_
(2.8)
_
_
D
1
D
2
D
3
_
_
=
_
_
0 0 0 0 d
15
0
0 0 0 d
15
0 0
d
31
d
31
d
33
0 0 0
_
_
_
_
T
1
T
2
T
3
T
4
T
5
T
6
_
_
+
_
_
T
11
0 0
0
T
11
0
0 0
T
33
_
_
_
_
E
1
E
2
E
3
_
_
(2.9)
32 2.2 The constitutive equations of piezoelectric laminated beams
2.2 The constitutive equations of piezoelectric
laminated beams
The equations describing the problem at the mesoscopic scale have been de-
rived. A macroscopic model is required for analyzing the performances of the
piezoelectric transducers implemented in our energy harvesters. Representa-
tions of the macroscopic behavior of simple piezoelectric vibrators was initiated
by the work of Mason [109111], Butterworth [104] and van Dyke [105, 106].
However, few relevant models were proposed for piezoelectric laminated beam
until the work of Smits [125, 126], who initiated a renewal of interest for the
theoretical analysis of such structures. In the following year, a large amount of
publications adapting and slightly rening the results of Smits were proposed
[127130].
Most of the derivations proposed in this section are based on the work
of Smits, but new theoretical elements are also included. In the following,
the equations describing the macroscopic behavior of elastic laminated beam
are rst derived. Then, the obtained equations are adapted for the case of
laminated beam containing elastic and piezoelectric layer(s).
2.2.1 Elastic laminated beams
A brief outline of the procedure implemented in this section is described here.
Hypothesis related to the geometry and to the mechanical loading conditions
of the beam allowing a reduction of the number of relevant stress and strain
components are rst dened. Second, the assumed distribution of the stress
and strains is presented. Then, the mesoscopic variable stress and strains are
related to corresponding macroscopic variables (eorts and displacements) us-
ing the stress resultants method and kinematic considerations in the framework
of a small displacement approximation. The equation governing the dynamical
behavior of an elastic beam is derived by introducing the constitutive equations
of elasticity in the obtained relations. Finally, the results are extended to in-
homogeneous beams made of layers of dierent materials. A mechanical beam,
as it is usually dened, is illustrated by Figure 2.8(a). It is rst considered to
be a 3D solid element with one dimension much smaller than the two others.
In the following, the small dimension is referred to as the thickness h
s
of the
structure belonging to the z axis of the chosen coordinates system. As h
s
is
much smaller than the two other dimensions, the thickness shear and strains
can be neglected: S
3
=T
3
=0. Second, a beam is characterized by the boundary
conditions applied on the lateral faces parallel to the yz plane: both faces are
constrained by a couple of compatible boundary conditions which can not be
both free. At the opposite side, the two faces belonging to the zx plane are
not constrained and free to deform, except in the close neighborhood of the
yz constrained surfaces. The most common example of a compatible couple of
boundary conditions corresponds to a clamped-free (cantilever) conguration.
BEAMS 33
Freeface
Constrainedface
Loading P(x)
z
x
y
W
(a)
P(x)
h
s
x
z
z
0
(b)
Figure 2.8 - (a) Schematic representing the denition of a mechanical beam, (b) simplied
2D model.
An exhaustive list of all the possible couples is given in the literature by Roark
[131]. The length l of the beam is now dened as the dimension in the direc-
tion perpendicular to the constrained faces and the width W as illustrated in
Figure 2.8(a). It is considered in beam theory that the distributed mechanical
load P is applied on the faces belonging to the xy plane. In the classical anal-
ysis of mechanical beams, it is also assumed that the cross sections along yz
planes retains the same shape and are symmetric with respect to the xz plane
at W/2. These cross sections are taken as rectangular. The applied load is
uniform along the width of the structure and is directed solely along the z axis
in the case of a force or around y in the case of an external torque.
In common beam problems, the shear stresses/strains couples occurring in
the planes dierent than the zx one are neglected (S
4
=S
6
=T
4
=T
6
=0). Finally,
it is supposed that the width is small compared to the length of the beam, so
that the faces in the xz plane are free to expand (except close to the boundary
conditions) and the stress developed along y is negligible: T
2
=0. This condition
is referred to as plain stress. In a following section, a simple renement is
proposed to adapt the problem to plain strain condition. From all previous
simplications, the problem is independent of the position on the y axis. The
beam can be described by the 2D model of Figure 2.8(b). Furthermore, the
constitutive equations of elasticity can be reduced to (2.10). The reduction
of the coordinate dependency of the dierent stress and strains is also given.
Note that the lateral strain S
2
=s
12
T
1
is not a variable of primary interest in
the analysis of beams.
_
S
1
(x, z)
S
5
(x, z)
_
=
_
s
11
0
0 s
55
_ _
T
1
(x, z)
T
5
(x, z)
_
(2.10)
The modeling work is developed assuming a small displacement approxima-
tion: the spatial frame of reference (Eulerian formulation) is supposed to re-
main equivalent to the material frame of reference (Lagrangian formulation) in
the deformed state. An important consideration resulting from this assump-
tion consists in the fact that an eort applied in a direction perpendicular to
top surface of the beam in the non deformed state is supposed to remain per-
M(x) T
1
(x)
T
1
(x+dx)
P(x)dx
T
5
(x+dx)
J(x+dx)
J(x)
P(x)dx
z
x
T
5
(x) h
s
z
0
dx dx
P(x)
h
s
x
z
z
0
z
0
Figure 2.9 - Assumed behavior of the shear and tensile stresses.

pendicular to this surface in the deformed state. The 2D beam described by
Figure 2.8(b) can conceptually be represented as a superposition of straight
longitudinal bers deformed into continuous curves under the application of
a load. The assumption of continuous displacements and of a curved shape
suggests that, depending on their position along the thickness of the beam,
the local length of some bers is increased while the length of some others is
diminished, i.e. the sign of the strain depends of the position along z. By ana-
lyzing the curvature of the collection of bers, it is possible to show rst that
the maximum and minimum longitudinal tensile strains S
1
occur in the most
outer bers of the beam, and second that a specic ber referred to as neutral
axis undergoes zero longitudinal strain. The neutral axis location is denomi-
nated as z
0
. In homogeneous beams, the neutral axis is the central ber of the
structure. The theory of Timoshenko [132134] is implemented for the next
derivations, i.e. it is assumed that the variation of the longitudinal and shear
strains S
1
and S
5
show respectively a linear and constant behavior along the
thickness of the beam, with S
1
being zero on the neutral axis. As illustrated by
Figure 2.9, the stresses T
1
and T
5
can be represented in the same way because
of the considered simplied linear constitutive equations.
To determine the equations describing the behavior of the beam, equilibrium
considerations applied on a dierential cross sectional element of volume Wh
s
dx
of the beam have rst to be elaborated. An applied mechanical load induces
stresses in the beam. A common method of establishing relations between the
stresses and the load consists in introducing the so called stress resultants: the
distribution of the stresses in the beam is statically equivalent to forces and
moments applied on the dierent cross sections. Because of the restrictions
imposed on the geometry and loading of the beam, the only non zero stress
BEAMS 35
resultants are a force directed along the z axis and a moment inducing a rota-
tion around y. These elements are referred to as shear force J
z
and bending
moment M
y
respectively. The bending moment is the static equivalent of the
distribution of the longitudinal stress T
1
, while the shear force is the one of the
distribution of the shear strain T
5
. The bending moment and shear force can
be written as (2.11) and (2.12). The origin of the z axis is taken at the lowest
ber of the beam in the given expressions. A list of explicit expressions of M
y
and J
z
for dierent types of loading P and boundary conditions are given by
Roark [131] in the small displacement approximation. In the remainder of this
thesis, the classical sign convention dened by Timoshenko [133] for the shear
force and bending moment in a beam is used: if the bers located above the
neutral axis undergo compression, M
y
is dened as positive; if the shear forces
induce a negative vertical motion of the cross section, J
z
is dened as positive.
M
y
(x) = W
h
s
_
0
zT
1
(x, z) dz (2.11)
J
z
(x) = W
h
s
_
0
T
5
(x, z) dz (2.12)
A relation between the stresses and the relevant intensive macroscopic vari-
ables is obtained. The macroscopic variables corresponding to the tensile and
shear strain S
1
and S
5
are classically dened as the displacement and distortion
elds of a segment belonging to the elastic continuum. The kinematics of a por-
tion of a beam according to Timoshenko theory is illustrated by Figure 2.10. In
this theory, it is assumed that a segment (belonging to the yz plane) of material
remains a segment after deformation. Practically, the initial segment is rather
transformed into a curve by the deformation process, but Timoshenkos theory
has been proven to give a good approximation of the behavior of beams. The
relations between displacements and strains are obtained by a geometrical anal-
ysis of the transformation undergone by the previously discussed segment. Lets
dene the segment AB with the points A and B with respective coordinates
(x,z
0
) and (x,z). The segment AB is perpendicular to the neutral axis and the
point A belongs to the neutral axis. After deformation, the points A and B are
respectively displaced to A(x+u(x,z
0
),z+w(x,z
0
)) and B(x+ u(x,z),z+w(x,z)),
in which u and w are the displacement elds respectively along the x and z axis.
Due to the nature of the structure, the lateral displacement is assumed negligi-
ble. The strain S
3
is neglected in the proposed model, so that the length of AB
is equal to the one of AB and w(x,z)=w(x,z
0
)=w(x). In the hypothesis of small
deformations,
0
can be approximated by dw/dx-
y
. Positive angles correspond
to counter clockwise rotations. A geometrical analysis of Figure 2.10 combined
with the previous assumptions leads to the so called kinematic equation of the
beam.
u(x, z) u(x, z
0
) (z z
0
)
dw(x)
dx
(2.13)
A
B
A
B
u(x,z)
w(x,z)
u(x,z
0
)
w(x,z
0
)
0
Neutralaxisbefore
andafterdeformation
Portionofabeam
beforeandafter
deformation
x
z
Figure 2.10 - Displacement elds in a portion of a beam according to Timoshenkos theory.
The longitudinal strain S
1
is dened as the elongation per unit length in the
x direction and can be written as S
1
=du/dx+(z-z
0
)d
y
/dx. Combining this
relation with (2.13) leads to
S
1
(x, z) = (z z
0
)
_
d
2
w(x)
dx
2

d
y
(x)
dx
_
(2.14)
Positive longitudinal strains correspond to elongated bers. The strain S
5
corresponds to the rotation eld
y
shown in Figure 2.10 with S
5
=
y
. w is
the main displacement of interest in the analysis of beams and not attention is
given to the longitudinal one u.
Both relations between the stresses and the bending moment/shear force
and between the strains and displacement elds are obtained. It is now pos-
sible to link the displacement to the mechanical eorts by introducing the
constitutive equations of elasticity relating stress and strain in the previous
results. Combining (2.10), (2.11), (2.12) and (2.14):
M
y
(x) =
_
d
2
w(x)
dx
2

d
y
(x)
dx
_
W
s
11
h
s
_
0
z (z z
0
)dz (2.15)
J
z
(x) =
Wh
s
s
55
y
(x) (2.16)
In (2.15), the term
h
s
_
0
z (z z
0
)dz (2.17)
BEAMS 37
is referred to as the area moment of inertia I
i
of a beam cross section. For
homogeneous rectangular beams, I
i
=Wh
s
3
/12. In order to obtain a theoretical
model predicting accurately the behavior of a beam, Timoshenko has shown
that the compliance term s
55
involved in the denition of the shear force given
in (2.16) has to be weighted by a factor depending on the cross section of
the beam. This correction is required to compensate the error induced on the
calculations by the approximation of constant shear strain along a cross section.
A commonly accepted value for a rectangular cross section is =5/6 [133].
The nal equations describing the dynamic behavior of the beam are ob-
tained by combining (2.15)and (2.16) with dynamical equilibrium considera-
tions on the elements of Figure 2.9 for the vertical and rotary motions. The
equations can be rearranged in (2.18) and (2.19), in which represents the
density (assumed uniform) of the material and A is the cross section area. An
external viscous type damping is present through an additional term D
a
dw/dt,
while the internal damping is represented through complex values of the com-
pliances involved in the equation. The right-hand side of (2.18) contains all
elements related to an eventual distributed load applied on the surface of the
beam. In the case of concentrated load, all vanish. The terms related to the
shear correction are easily identiable through the presence of the compliance
term s
55
. The larger the value of this compliance, the smaller the inuence
of the shear eects. The coupled time-space derivative term and the one in
dx
4
w/dt
4
are related to the rotary inertia of the cross sections of the beam. If a
quasi static situation without distributed load is considered, one easily obtains
the well known static beam equation I
i
/s
11
dx
4
w/dt
4
=0. According to (2.19),
if shear is considered in the static and load free situation, it becomes constant
over the length of the beam. In the considered case, it can be shown for ex-
ample by FEM simulations that the value of the shear is constant over most of
the length of the beam, but varies abruptly near the constrained boundaries.
However, the dierences in the prediction of the general behavior due to this
eect are negligible.
P (x, t)
I
i
s
11
s
55
A
2
P (x, t)
x
2
+I
i
s
55
A
2
P (x, t)
t
2
=
I
i
s
11
4
w(x, t)
x
4
I
i
_
1 +
s
55
s
11
_
4
w(x, t)
t
2
x
2
+A
2
w(x, t)
t
2
+D
a
w(x, t)
t
(2.18)
1
s
55
y
(x, t)
x
+P (x, t) =
2
w(x, t)
t
2
(2.19)
The piezoelectric bending structures considered in this thesis consist of
beams made of a superposition of piezoelectric and elastic layers. Before in-
troducing the piezoelectric eect in the problem, it is judicious to discuss the
h
1
h
2
z
0
T
5
S
5
S
1
T
1
P(x)
s
11,2
s
55,2
s
11,1
s
55,1
Figure 2.11 - Assumed behavior of the shear and tensile stresses in a multilayered beam.
behavior of beams consisting of several linear elastic layers. The analysis is
limited to a simple theory in which the phenomena occurring in the interface
are neglected and it is assumed that the dierent layers do not slip towards each
other so that the shear and longitudinal strains are continuous along the thick-
ness of the beam. The thicknesses of the interfaces are considered negligible.
In this simple theory, the shear and longitudinal stresses are discontinuous at
the interfaces, because of the dierent compliances of the materials. Further-
more, the stress gradient of T
1
and the value of T
5
(constant in Timoshenko
theory) are not equal in the dierent layers. This situation is illustrated by
Figure 2.11. The relevant compliances terms are labeled s
1,11
and s
1,55
for the
rst layer, s
2,11
and s
2,55
for the second. The determination of the position z
0
of the neutral axis is not as trivial as in the case of the monolayer. z
0
can be de-
termined by imposing the conditions that the longitudinal force resulting from
the distribution of the stress T
1
over a cross section is zero and that T
1
(z
0
)=0
from the denition of the neutral axis. Simple closed form expressions of z
0
are
proposed by Weinberg [129]. An explicit form of this parameter is given later
for the particular structures studied.
In the framework of the proposed theory, the single layer beam problem is
adapted to multilayer by reconsidering the expression of the bending moment
and shear force given in (2.15)and (2.16). These two equations can be rewritten
for the structure depicted in Figure 2.11 as
M
y
(x) = W
_
d
2
w(x)
dx
2

d
y
(x)
dx
_
_
_
1
s
1,11
h
1
_
0
z (z z
0
)dz +
1
s
2,11
h
2
_
h
1
z (z z
0
)dz
_
_
(2.20)
J
z
(x) = W
y
(x)
_
h
1
1
s
1,55
+
h
2
2
s
2,55
_
(2.21)
The example given above considers a two layers beam. In order to establish a
model relevant for an arbitrary number n of elastic layers, the denitions given
in (2.22) and (2.23) are used (h
0
=0). EI
eq
and GA
eq
represents equivalent for
multilayer beam of respectively the ratio of the moment of inertia over the
BEAMS 39
longitudinal compliance and the quotient of the cross section area over the
eective shear compliance.
EI
eq
= W
n
i=1
1
s
i,11
h
i
_
h
i1
z (z z
0
)dz (2.22)
GA
eq
= W
n
i=1
h
i
i
s
i,55
(2.23)
Following these denitions, the equations describing the dynamical equilibrium
of a homogeneous elastic beam given in (2.18) and (2.19) can nally be rewritten
for multilayered structures as
P (x, t)
EI
eq
GA
eq
2
P (x, t)
x
2
+
I
i
GA
eq
2
P (x, t)
t
2
=EI
eq
4
w(x, t)
x
4

_
I
i
+A
EI
eq
GA
eq
_
4
w(x, t)
t
2
x
2
+
2
I
i
A
GA
eq
4
w(x, t)
t
4
+ A
2
w(x, t)
t
2
+D
a
w(x, t)
t
(2.24)
GA
eq
A
y
(x, t)
x
+P (x, t) = 0 (2.25)
in which represents the average density along the thickness of the laminate.
Note that the expressions A and I
i
representing the cross section area and the
area moment of inertia now have to be written considering the total thickness
of the structure.
The equations describing the behavior of an elastic beam in terms of relevant
macroscopic variables are obtained by combining the constitutive equations of
elasticity with equilibrium and kinematics consideration. In the next subsec-
tion, an equivalent approach for deriving the representative equations of the
dynamics of a piezoelectric laminated beam is followed.
2.2.2 Piezoelectric laminated beams
In the previous subsection, the constitutive equations of elasticity are sim-
plied and an equation describing the macroscopic behavior of a multilayer
elastic beam is derived. Equivalent manipulations are performed in order to
derive the constitutive equations of beams made of a superposition of elas-
tic and piezoelectric rectangular layers. In this section, the simplications of
the constitutive equations of piezoelectricity related to the particular types
of piezoelectric laminates studied are presented. Then, the transverse elec-
tromechanical coupling factor is discussed before presenting the polarization
Piezoelectric
layer
Metallic
electrodes
x
y
z
Metallic
electrodes
Elastic
layer
x
y
z
Elastic
layer
Piezoelectric
layer
(a)
Piezoelectric
layer
Metallic
electrodes
x
y
z
Metallic
electrodes
Elastic
layer
x
y
z
Elastic
layer
Piezoelectric
layer
(b)
Figure 2.12 - (a) Common conguration of a piezoelectric laminated beam, (b) interdigitated
electrodes conguration.
and electrodes arrangement scheme related to piezoelectric unimorphs and bi-
morphs. Finally, the equations describing the macroscopic electrodynamics of
piezoelectric laminates are derived.
In this work, it is considered that the piezoelectric layer(s) is congured
as a classical capacitor, i.e. sandwiched between a pair of electrodes. This
allows imposing electrical boundaries conditions by xing the voltage or the
charge on the electrodes. The electrodes are assumed to be located on the xy
plane (Figure 2.12(a)) and the piezoelectric material is poled along the z axis
(ferroelectrics) or grown in such a way that the polar axis of most of the grains
is oriented along the z axis (non ferroelectrics). If fringing eects occurring on
the lateral sides of the element are neglected, the components of the electrical
eld and displacement vanished along y and x, so that the constitutive equation
of dielectrics is reduced to the simple form D
3
=
T
33
E
3
or D
3
=
S
33
E
3
. Although it
is not discussed further, it is interesting to present an alternative and relatively
unconsidered electrode conguration, shown in Figure 2.12(b). This design
requires depositing electrodes on a single surface of the device, which can be
advantageous in the case of micro fabrication. It also involves piezoelectric
coecients dierent than those appearing in our applications. However, the
performances in terms of energy harvesting obtained from it do not compete
for the moment with the ones resulting from the classical type of electrodes
conguration [97].
The constitutive equations of piezoelectricity for the piezoelectric laminated
beam of Figure 2.12(a) can be obtained by combining the simplied equations
of dielectrics and of elasticity. Assuming all the elements of symmetry that
were introduced in the analysis of the elastic beam, the electrical eld can be
written as E
3
(x,z) and the dielectric displacement as D
3
(x). The constitutive
equations of piezoelectricity given in (2.8) and (2.9) can be simplied to the
form given in (2.26) and (2.27). It can be seen that a single piezoelectric charge
constant is involved in the problem; the piezoelectric material is excited in the
BEAMS 41
so called d
31
mode.
_
S
1
(x, z)
S
5
(x, z)
_
=
_
s
E
11
0
0 s
E
55
_ _
T
1
(x, z)
T
5
(x, z)
_
+
_
d
31
0
_
E
3
(x, z) (2.26)
D
3
(x) = d
31
T
1
(x, z) +
T
33
E
3
(x, z) (2.27)
Before continuing the derivation of the equations of laminated piezoelectric
beams, the concept of the electromechanical coupling factor is now introduced.
As described above, several forms of the constitutive equations of piezoelec-
tricity do exist. The relations between the materials constants involved in the
dierent forms are too complex to be of practical use in the non simplied ex-
pressions, but they can now be established in the framework of the simplied
equations (2.26) and (2.27). Not all the relations between the constants are
expressed but only those which are of primary interest for the understanding of
the problem. Combining the dierent forms of the constitutive equations, one
can obtain the relation between compliance and permittivity under constant
stress (also referred to as free material properties) and constant strain (also
referred to as clamped material properties).
s
D
11
= s
E
11
_
1
d
2
31
s
E
11
T
33
_
(2.28)
S
33
=
T
33
_
1
d
2
31
s
E
11
T
33
_
(2.29)
The term k
31
2
=d
31
2
/(
T
33
s
E
11
) in (2.28) and (2.29) is referred to as transverse
electromechanical coupling factor. Its physical meaning can be understood by
considering a simple and unsupported axial piezoelectric transducer congured
for d
31
mode operation undergoing a tension or compression directed along its
axis 1. An ideal quasi-static thermodynamic cycle, as dened in the IEEE
standards on piezoelectricity [68], is applied to the transducer (Figure 2.13).
In the rst part of the cycle, the piezoelectric element is short-circuited and a
compressive or tensile stress T
1
is applied along the axis 1 so that a strain S
1
is developed along the same axis, and a mechanical energy E
M
is stored in the
transducer (slope equal to s
E
11
). In a second phase, the piezoelectric transducer
is open-circuited and free to return to a zero stress conguration (slope equal to
s
D
11
). During this phase, a quantity E
m
of mechanical energy is consumed and
a quantity E
el
of electrical energy is developed in the structure. Finally, the
cycle is completed by shunting the electrodes of the piezoelectric element to a
perfect load in which E
el
is integrally dissipated. Obviously E
M
=E
m
+E
el
. One
can easily compute the fraction E
el
/E
M
found to be equal to the piezoelectric
material transverse coupling factor k
31
2
.
The analysis is focused on specic cases of piezoelectric laminates. Both
families of structures considered are illustrated in Figure 2.14. In both situa-
tions, the thickness of the electrodes is assumed negligible. The rst structure
is referred to as a unimorph [60] and consists in an elastic layer supporting a
E
m
E
el
S
1
T
1
Shorted
Shunted
Opened
2
31
2
31
1
el
m
E k
E
k
=

2
31
el
el m
E
k
E E
=
+

Figure 2.13 - Quasi-static thermodynamic cycle illustrating the denition of k
31
2
and
k
31
2
/(1-k
31
2
).
single piezoelectric capacitor. One of the electrodes is grounded. Due to man-
ufacturing convenience it is generally the one located at the interface between
the elastic and piezoelectric layers. The other(s) are connected to a prescribed
charge or voltage. The piezoelectric laminate presented in Figure 2.14(b) is
known as bimorph and is manufactured by attaching a piezoelectric capaci-
tor on each opposite sides of the elastic layer. It is common to connect the
capacitors in order to limit inputs and outputs of the system and to improve
the performances. The bimorph is symmetric with respect to the x axis and
the same piezoelectric materials are used for the two capacitors. Depending
on their position in the beam and on the direction of their poling, the piezo-
electric layers in the bimorph can develop either positive or negative electrical
charges. In this case, appropriate schemes of polarization orientation and ca-
pacitors connection have to be implemented so that the charges developed in
the dierent piezoelectric layers do not cancel. The two basic possible schemes
are presented for the bimorph in Figure 2.14(b). Series operation imposes op-
posite directions of poling (also known as X poled) in the two piezoelectric
layers so that the developed electrical elds have the same directions. Parallel
operation requires the same direction of poling (also known as Y poled).
The sign of the longitudinal strain in a given piezoelectric layer can vary
depending on the boundary conditions and on the type of load. In this case
poling and connection scheme must be reconsidered. For example, considering
a clamped-clamped unimorph loaded by a concentrated force applied at the
center of the structure, some of the upper bers of the beam undergo tensile
strain while others undergo compressive strain. It can be shown that the total
strain along the x axis cancels, so that no net voltage or charges are developed
if the piezoelectric layer consists of a single capacitor and has constant polar-
ization. The solution consists in either dividing the layer in several capacitors
BEAMS 43
E
x
z
V

h
s
h
p
(a)
E
x
z
E
E
E
V V

h
s
h
p
h
p
(b)
Figure 2.14 - (a) Schematic of a piezoelectric unimorph, (b) schematic of a piezoelectric
bimorph.
or implementing a non constant polarization scheme. In this thesis, cantilever
beams are dealt with and they require no special adjustment of the polarization
or electrodes conguration.
The constitutive equations of piezoelectricity are now rewritten in terms of
the voltage developed across the arrangement of piezoelectric capacitors. The
following derivations are based on the case of the unimorph of Figure 2.14(a).
The derivations are similar for a bimorph. Therefore, only their results are
discussed.
The potential dierence between the electrodes is dened as dV/dz=-E
3
.
Integrating the expression of the electrical eld extracted from (2.27), (2.30)
is obtained, in which

T
1
represents the average longitudinal stress along the
thickness of the piezoelectric layer. Because T
1
is considered to vary linearly,
T
1
(x)=T
1
(x,h
s
+h
p
/2).
V =
h
p
D
3
(x)
T
33
+
h
p
d
31
T
33
T
1
(x) (2.30)
The simplied constitutive equations of piezoelectricity can be rewritten in
terms of the potential dierence as
S
1
(x, z) = s
E
11
T
1
(x, z) d
31
V
h
p
d
2
31
T
33
_
T
1
(x, z)
T
1
(x)
_
(2.31)
D
3
(x) = d
31
T
1
(x)
T
33
V
h
p
(2.32)
In the following derivation, the term in d
31
2
/(
T
33
) in (2.31) is neglected. This
simplication constitutes the so-called small piezoelectricity approximation and
is valid for material with low electromechanical coupling coecient [135]. Sim-
ple renements based on literature results are proposed later.
The relevant expressions of the mesoscopic constitutive equations in the
case of piezoelectric laminated beams are obtained. The next step consists in
deriving relations describing the macroscopic behavior of the unimorph. In the
31
1
11
=
E
p
d V
T
h
s

z
0
h
s
h
p
V
Figure 2.15 - Longitudinal stresses occurring in a piezoelectric unimorph under the sole
action of an applied voltage.
previous subsection, the macroscopic variables corresponding to the stress and
strain in the case of laminate elastic beams are introduced. For the considered
piezoelectric laminates, the macroscopic mechanical variables do not dier.
The dynamical equilibrium equations given in (2.24) and (2.25) still yields.
However, the denitions of the bending moment and shear force have to be
redened by considering the piezoelectric eect. The expression of the bending
moment due to the piezoelectric eect can be found by analyzing the stresses
occurring in a cross section of a unimorph undergoing solely an applied voltage
(Figure 2.15). According to (2.31), the longitudinal stresses in the piezoelectric
layer resulting from an applied voltage is d
31
/(s
E
11
h
p
)V. These stresses exist
solely in the piezoelectric layer and result in a bending moment applied on the
cross section of the beam. This moment exists because of the opposition that
the elastic layer exhibits against longitudinal deformations. For the materials
considered, an applied voltage does not induce shear stress: the beam undergoes
pure bending.
The bending moment M
v
developed under the action of an applied voltage
is found by integrating the product of the distance from the neutral axis of a
ber belonging to the piezoelectric layer and the stress corresponding to this
ber. Its expression is
M
v
= V (2.33)
with
= W
d
31
s
E
11
_
h
s
+
h
p
2
z
0
_
(2.34)
According to the conventions used in this thesis, a positive voltage corre-
sponds to a downward curvature.
The dynamic equation of the beam including the piezoelectric bending mo-
ment represents somewhat a macroscopic equivalent of the mesoscopic converse
equation and an equivalent for the direct equation should be elaborated. The
macroscopic variable corresponding to the electrical eld has already been de-
ned. It is the potential dierence V. The dielectric displacement can be linked
BEAMS 45
to the surface electrical charges Q accumulated on the electrodes. Q is found
by integrating the dielectric displacement given by the direct equation (2.32)
over the surface of the electrodes. To perform the integration, the expression of
T
1
(x) derived from the SPE form of (2.31) is rst introduced in (2.32). The ob-
tained equation depends on the strain S
1
replaced by its expression in terms of
the vertical displacement eld w as given in the kinematic equation (2.13). In-
tegration of the latter leads to the macroscopic direct equation of piezoelectric
beams:
Q =
__
dw(l)
dx

dw(0)
dx
_
(
y
(l)
y
(0))
_
C
pf
V (2.35)
In this equation, C
pf
=
S
33
Wl/h
p
is the clamped (motion restrained) capac-
itance of an unsupported slab of the piezoelectric layer. It is shown later that
the theoretical expression of the clamped capacitance of the same piezoelectric
layer coupled to an elastic one is dierent from C
pf
.
The fundamental equations describing the macroscopic behavior of a piezo-
electric laminated beam are derived. These equations allow a correct represen-
tation of the behavior in a large range of frequencies and for a large variety of
geometries respecting the beam denition given previously. However, analyti-
cal solutions for these equations are not easily found. The purpose is to develop
relatively simple closed form formulas allowing the understanding of the inu-
ence of the geometry and of the material properties on the performances of
the energy harvesters. Shifting right now to numerical analysis would not ful-
ll this requirement. Therefore, the analysis is focused on a simplied form
of the fundamental equations of the piezoelectric beam. The devices are ei-
ther excited by a harmonic signal in the neighborhood of their fundamental
resonance frequency (industrial environment harvesters) or undergo an impact
which, as shown in Chapter 4, excites mainly the fundamental vibration mode
of the beam (human environment harvesters). Shear and rotary inertia eects
generally occur at high frequencies, well above the fundamental mode [136],
and they can be reasonably neglected in the analysis. Also, it is assumed
that the parasitic damping could be represented by the sole use of complex
material properties (complex EI
eq
for internal dissipations and complex for
external ones). The simplied fundamental equations that are investigated in
the following considering time dependant variables are
P (x, t) = EI
eq
4
w(x, t)
x
4
+ A
2
w(x, t)
t
2
(2.36)
Q(t) =
_
dw(l, t)
dx

dw(0, t)
dx
_
C
pf
V (t) (2.37)
y
(x, t) = 0 (2.38)
Before solving the equations derived for representative cases, simple meth-
ods for relaxing the SPE and for shifting the problem from a plain stress to a
plain strain approximation are proposed. Also, expressions of EI
eq
and z
0
are
given for unimorph and bimorph.
The approximations used in the derivation of the constitutive equations to
be relaxed in this subsection are plain stress and small piezoelectricity assump-
tions. Plain stress simplication is used when deriving (2.10). This assumption
is valid for long and slender beam. However, in some cases, short and wide
beam are implemented. The problem can be represented in this case by a more
meaningful 2D assumption consisting in neglecting the lateral strain S
2
rather
than the lateral stress T
2
. This assumption is referred to as plain strain. Tad-
mor [137] has shown that the results reached for plain stress are easily adapted
to plain strain by introducing eective values of the material properties. The
eective longitudinal compliances are indicated for the elastic and piezoelectric
material respectively as s
s
and s
E
p
. The eective permittivity under constant
stress and the eective charge constant of the piezoelectric layer are labeled
respectively as
T
p
and d
p
. Their expressions in plane stress and plane strain
are
_
_
_
s
s
= s
s,11
s
E
p
= s
E
p,11
T
p
=
T
33
d
p
= d
31
Plane stress
_
_
s
s
= s
s,11
s
2
s,12
s
s,22
s
E
p
= s
E
p,11
s
E
p,12
2
s
E
p,22
T
p
=
T
33
d
2
32
s
E
p,22
d
p
= d
31
d
32
s
E
p,12
s
E
p,22
Plane strain
(2.39)
The eective transverse electromechanical coupling factor has to be com-
puted with the eective values of the material properties and is labeled as
k
p
=d
p
/(s
p
T
p
)
1/2
.
When deriving the macroscopic form of the constitutive equations, the small
piezoelectricity approximation is used by omitting the electrical eld induced
by mechanical deformation in the converse equation (2.31). This simplication
can have repercussions in modeling modern piezoelectric materials which ex-
hibit large electromechanical coupling eect. As shown by Tadmor [137], the
SPE can be relaxed by dening an eective moment of inertia for the piezo-
electric layer: the value of I
i
has simply to be replaced by I
i
(1+) in which
=(k
p
)
2
/(1-k
p
2
). This consideration has an incidence on the expression of EI
eq
and z
0
involved in the constitutive parameters of the model. Combining the
results of Tadmor with those of Weinberg [129], one can obtain the closed form
expressions of EI
eq
, GA
eq
and z
0
for the piezoelectric structures depicted in
Figure 2.14. They are given in (2.40) for the unimorph and in (2.41) for the
symmetric bimorph. The reference of the z axis is taken at the lowest ber of
BEAMS 47
the beam.
z
0
=
s
E
p
h
2
s
+s
s
h
2
p
+ 2s
s
h
p
h
s
2
_
s
E
p
h
s
+s
s
h
p
_
EI
eq
= W
_
_
_
s
E
p
_
2
h
4
s
+ (1 +) (s
s
)
2
h
4
p
+
s
E
p
s
s
h
p
h
s
_
(4 +) h
2
p
+ 4h
2
s
+ 6h
p
h
s
_
_
_
12s
E
p
s
s
_
s
E
p
h
s
+s
s
h
p
_
(2.40)
z
0
= h
p
+
h
s
2
EI
eq
= W
s
E
p
h
3
s
+ 2s
s
h
p
_
(4 +) h
2
p
+ 3h
2
s
+ 6h
p
h
s
_
12s
E
p
s
s
(2.41)
A comparison of the values of EI
eq
obtained from the basic and rened theory
is proposed in Figure 2.16. For the material properties, values representative of
strong coupling structures that will be investigated in later chapters are used
(PZT-5A and generic brass alloy). The total thickness and the width of the
beam are set to a xed value so that a comparison can easily be achieved. It
is clearly seen that for both unimorph and bimorph the plain stress and plain
strain approximations results in important dierences. The former simpli-
cation results in lower values of the predicted stiness and of the fundamen-
tal resonance frequency. In accordance with common sense, the SPE has a
noticeable inuence for structures in which the bulk of the beam consists of
piezoelectric material. Relaxing the SPE induces higher predicted values of the
stiness because of the additional stress term in (2.31). According to the con-
clusions presented in this paragraph, one should carefully analyze the geometry
and boundary conditions of a given problem and determine according to it the
correct expressions of the eective material properties.
In the next section, the simplied fundamental equations of the piezoelectric
beam are solved for the particular case of a mass loaded cantilever which is
representative of the devices manufactured during this thesis. The obtained
solutions are arranged in the form of an impedance matrix, which is particularly
useful for phenomenological analysis. Also, an alternative representation of the
impedance matrix based on electrical equivalent networks is presented.
2.3 Constitutive matrix and electrical network
representation of piezoelectric beams
In this section, closed form solutions of the equations derived previously are
elaborated for the particular structures implemented. The section is orga-
nized as follow: the geometry of the piezoelectric laminates and the type of
mechanical eorts relevant for our energy harvesting situations are described.
48
2.3 Constitutive matrix and electrical network representation of piezoelectric
beams

E
I
e
q
1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2
h
p
/(h
p
+h
s
)
(a)

E
I
e
q
1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2
2h
p
/(2h
p
+h
s
)
(b)
Figure 2.16 - Values of EI
eq
computed for (a) unimorph, (b) symmetric bimorph. Solid
and dotted lines correspond respectively to the plain stress and plain strain cases considering
the SPE, dashed and dotted dashed lines correspond to the plain stress and plain strain
cases when the SPE is relaxed. The scale of the ordinates axis is linear and arbitrary in
both graphics. The material properties are s
s,11
= s
s,22
=10 pPa
1
, s
s,12
=3 pPa
1
, s
E
p,11
=
s
E
p,22
=16.4 pPa
1
, s
E
p,12
=5.7 pPa
1
, d
31
=d
32
=175 pC/N,
T
33
/
0
=1700.
The general method of resolution of the equations developed in the previous
sections and the representation of the solutions in the form of an impedance
matrix or equivalent electrical network are then presented. Finally, the concept
of generalized electromechanical coupling factor is introduced.
2.3.1 Geometry of the harvesters and applied mechanical
eorts
The energy harvester consists, in the most general way, of a piezoelectric can-
tilever beam with a mass m
t
attached at its tip (Figure 2.17). A unimorph
is considered in the derivation of the model, but results of the analysis for bi-
morphs are also presented later. The attached mass m
t
has a large thickness H
compared to the one of the beam, so that it is assumed that no strains occur
along the length L of the mass. Therefore, the piezoelectric layer(s) covers only
the length l of the laminated beam. The deection along the top surface of the
beam and of the mass are denoted respectively as w and . The deection
w of the beam is dened by a curve, while the deection along the attached
mass follows a straight line. According to the kinematic relations introduced
previously and considering a small beam tip angle, the dierent deections are
related by (x)=w(l)+(x-l)dw(l)/dx. Finally, m
b
represents in Figure 2.17 the
total mass of the piezoelectric beam (m
b
= Wl(h
p
+h
s
)).
The mechanical eorts that are applied on the piezoelectric structures are
now dened. They are dierent in the case of the machine and human envi-
ronment harvester.
In the former situation, the clamped end of the cantilever undergoes a har-
BEAMS 49
L
h
s
H
x
z
h
p
l
m
t
w(x)
Piezoelectriclayer
Elasticlayer
Clamped
boundary
(x)
m
b
Figure 2.17 - Schematic of the piezoelectric laminate implemented in the energy harvesters.
monic motion Z(t)=Z
0
sin(t)which results in apparent z directed forces per
unit volume in the beam and in the tip mass when the computations are real-
ized in the frame of reference attached to the bender. Steady state is considered
in the analysis of this harvester. The inertial forces acting on the beam can
be represented by a uniform pressure P applied all along the length of the
beam (Figure 2.18(a)). In the following, it is supposed that the mass m
b
of the
beam is small compared to the one of the tip mass m
t
, so that the discussed
distributed pressure is ignored in the analysis of the machine environment har-
vester and P=0. In this case, the left hand side of (2.36) vanishes. The force
distributed over the volume of the mass can be represented by a resultant F
acting at the centre of gravity G.
In the case of the human environment harvester, the mechanical eorts
consist in the result of the impact of a moving object on the beam. It is shown
later that the collision can be represented within some approximations as a
concentrated pulse type force F=U(t). It is assumed that this force is applied
at middle of the mass (or at the tip of the beam if no additional mass is
attached). For both inertial and impact situations, the mass-cantilever system
can be represented by a simple cantilever of the same length, while the tip of
this equivalent beam undergoes a vertical force F and a torque FL/2, assuming
symmetry of the mass and small displacements (Figure 2.18(b)).
It is judicious to dene now characteristic dimensions of the beams ana-
lyzed. The particular types of piezoelectric cantilever congurations that are
investigated can be described by three dierent sets of characteristic dimen-
sions and values of the beam and attached masses: in the case of the machine
environment harvester, MEMS fabricated short and wide cantilevers support-
ing a long attached mass are investigated. PZT and AlN materials are used for
the piezoelectric layer. For this type of harvester, long and slender PZT based
commercial beams supporting a short attached mass are also considered. In the
human environment harvesters, the last type of described cantilever without
attached mass is used. PZT is the sole piezoelectric material implemented in
50
beams
z
G
x
z
x
F
FL/2
L/2
F=U(t)
2
2
b
m d Z
P
l dt
=

2
2
=
G
d
F M
dt

z
x
(a)
z
G
x
z
x
F
FL/2
L/2
F=U(t)
2
2
b
m d Z
P
l dt
=

2
2
G
d
P M
dt
=

z
x
(b)
Figure 2.18 - (a) Mechanical eorts applied on the energy harvesters (blue symbols refer to
the machine environment harvester, red symbols to the human motion energy harvester), (b)
simplied representation of the applied eorts for both cases.
Table 2.1 - Characteristics of the three types of piezoelectric cantilever implemented in the
vibration energy harvesters.
Case label
A B C

Illustration

Application field Machine environment Machine environment
Human environment
Human environment
Manufacturing MEMS Conventional Conventional
Material AlN, PZT PZT PZT
Representative
dimensions
W=7 mm, l=2 mm,
h
p
=1 m, h
s
=100 m
L=7 mm, T=650 m
W=5 mm, l=4 cm,
h
p
=600 m, h
s
=200 m,
L=5mm, T=1 cm
W=5 mm, l=4 cm,
h
p
=600 m, h
s
=200 m
L=5 mm, T=1 cm
Representative
beam and tip mass

m
t
=100 mg
m
b
=5 mg
m
t
=3 g
m
b
=500 mg
m
t
=0 g
m
b
=500 mg
the design of the latter harvester. There are then three particular situations
for the piezoelectric cantilevers implemented in this work. They are labeled as
case A, B and C. Representative characteristics of the 3 dierent situations are
summarized in Table 2.1.
2.3.2 Concepts of the constitutive matrix and electrical
equivalent network
In this section, the general principles of the constitutive matrix and equiva-
lent network representation are discussed rst. Then, explicit expressions of
the constitutive matrix components are elaborated. Finally, the generalized
BEAMS 51
electromechanical coupling factor of the piezoelectric beams is introduced.
It is important to dene what is meant by constitutive matrix of the piezo-
electric beam. The idea consists in relating local values of the intensive macro-
scopic variables describing the system to the local values of the corresponding
extensive variables by simple linear relationships, which can be expressed in
the form of a symmetric matrix. It can be considered that a so called lumped
model is obtained in this way. This method was initially developed by Smits
[125][126] and is adapted here for the geometry and eorts described in Fig-
ure 2.18. In this situation, the extensive variables are limited to the force F
and the voltage V, while the intensive variables are the displacements w or
and the charges Q. Q and V have already been lumped when deriving the
macroscopic fundamental equations of piezoelectric beams. The location of the
applied force has already been dened (Figure 2.18(b)) and it is only required
to dene a point of observation for the deection. It is chosen in the following
as the position
g
of the center of mass of the attached body (or tip of the
beam when L=0). Rather than using a true impedance matrix representation
as Smits, the model is developed in the form of a heterogeneous admittance
matrix described in (2.42). This particular representation allow developing a
convenient form of the equivalent electrical network approach of the problem.
In (2.42), k
c
represents the lumped mechanical stiness of the beam, C
pc
the
clamped capacitance of the piezoelectric layer (this time coupled to an elastic
layer, C
pc
=C
pf
) and
c
a macroscopic piezoelectric conversion factor, macro-
scopic equivalent of e
31
.
_
F
Q
_
=
_
k
c

c
c
C
pc
_ _

g
V
_
(2.42)
The impedance matrix of (2.42) can be represented in the form of an electrical
equivalent circuit. This type of representation has some general advantages: it
rst allows representing the problem in terms of lumped parameters belonging
to a single engineering domain. Network representation provides a single do-
main tool which requires only a basic understanding of the physical phenomena
occurring in the other domain. These models are furthermore very general, as
they can be applied to many kinds of electromechanical transducers, as shown
by Tilmans in [138][139]. Second and more important, the network represen-
tation can be easily integrated into modern simulation software which allow
building models where the transducer is coupled to complex mechanical or
electrical structures. This type of model is particularly useful in the eld of
energy harvesting, as the transducer has to be connected to power management
electronics.
Electrical network representations of piezoelectric transducers have been
initiated by the work of Butterworth and van Dyke [104][105], where a model
representing the behavior of the structure near to resonance was proposed. Ma-
son was the rst to introduce a representation taking into account wave propa-
gation phenomena [108]. Redwood [140] and Krimholtz [141] proposed rened
representations of Masons model for thickness mode piezoelectric transducers
52
beams
d
g
/dt
1/k
c
C
pc
c
:1
m
t
F
dQ/dt
V F
Figure 2.19 - Electrical network representation of a piezoelectric beam.

using transmission lines analogies. The equivalent network representation of
piezoelectric bending structure was exhaustively analyzed by Ballato in [142]
and the circuit used in the analysis is inspired from his work.
Making use of Kirschos laws for transforming the constitutive matrix and
adding the dynamic component due to the attached mass m
t
, the dynamical
equilibrium of the piezoelectric beam can be represented in the form of the
equivalent two ports electrical network shown in Figure 2.19. The left side of
the circuit corresponds to mechanical parameters, the right to electrical. The
mechanical stiness k
c
is represented in the electrical domain by a capacitor
1/k
c
and the attached mass by an inductance of value m
t
. The electromechan-
ical conversion related to the piezoelectric eect is represented by a perfect
transformer of ratio
c
. In the particular situation of vibration and motion
energy harvesters, the mechanical ports of the network are connected to a
source of mechanical energy, steady state vibrations or impulse, while the elec-
trical ports are connected to an electrical load in which energy is stored or
dissipated. Complex values of the dierent components allow representing the
parasitic losses occurring in the system.
Explicit expressions of the dierent parameters involved in the constitutive
matrix and in the equivalent electrical network should now be determined. This
process goes through the solutions of the beam and charge equations (2.36) and
(2.37) described in the next section.
2.3.3 Constitutive matrix and equivalent electrical net-
work of the piezoelectric harvesters
General methods for solving the beam equation are given for example in [136].
The charge equation is solved without diculties once a solution of the beam
equation is available. The dynamical behavior corresponding to the piezoelec-
tric benders implemented in the two types of investigated energy harvesters
are dierent in essence. In the case of the machine environment harvester, the
device operates according to a steady state principle, while for the human en-
vironment harvester, the repeated impacts of the moving body on the bender
results in free-vibrations and a transient type behavior. In both cases, it can be
BEAMS 53
assumed that the displacement is separable in space and time. For the steady
state situation, the displacement can be written as w(x,t)=w
x
(,x)w
t
(,t), in
which is the angular frequency of the input motion. The time dependant
part of the solution can be written in complex form as w
t
(,t)=Cexp(j(t+))
in which j is the complex unity, a phase angle and C a constant related to
the amplitude and frequency of the input. The solution for multi harmonic
vibrations is found through Fourier decomposition of the input and superpo-
sition principle. For the transient case, results of modal analysis [136] suggest
that w(x,t) can be expressed as w(x,t)= w
xi
(
i
,x)w
ti
(
i
,t) in which
i
is
the i
th
eigenfrequency, w
xi
(
i
,x) is the related modal shape of the beam and
w
ti
(
i
,t) is the related time component. It is possible to write w
ti
(
i
,t)=C
exp((
i
+j
i
)t) in which
i
is a dissipative factor. It is shown in Chapter 4 that
one can assume in the discussed situation that the impact on the beam excites
solely the fundamental mode at
0
(this frequency depends on the electrical
boundary applied on the electrodes in the case of a piezoelectric laminated
beam). The solutions of the steady state and transient problems have then an
equivalent form and can be elaborated by a single type of analysis described
in the following. The derivation of the impedance matrix does not require an
immediate investigation of the time dependant part of the displacement. This
analysis is performed later in the chapters dealing with the optimization of the
dierent harvesters.
For both transient and steady-state cases, the time components in the beam
equation can be eliminated yielding (2.43) with =
0
for the transient situ-
ation. represents the characteristic wavelength of the bending wave in the
beam.
d
4
w
x
(, x)
dx
4

1
4
w
x
(, x) = 0 (2.43)
=
1
EI
eq
A
(2.44)
General solutions of (2.43) can be written as
w
x
(, x) = C
1
sinh
_
x
_
+C
2
sin
_
x
_
+C
3
cos
_
x
_
+C
4
cosh
_
x
_
(2.45)
in which the C
i
are real constants. These constants depend however on the
electrical and mechanical boundary conditions of the system.
Four boundary conditions are required for obtaining expressions of the C
i
coecients. Two dierent sets of boundary conditions are required for deter-
mining the expressions of the constitutive matrix parameters. When consider-
ing that the electrodes of the piezoelectric bender are short circuited, i.e. V=0,
the matrix constitutive equation is reduced to
_
F
Q
_
=
_
k
c
c
_
g
(2.46)
54
beams
In this situation, the relevant mechanical boundary conditions are dened as
follow (in the frame of reference attached to the bender): at the clamped end, no
displacement is possible so that w
x
(,0)=0. There are also no deection angle
at the clamped end so that dw
x
(,0)/dx should also be null. At the free end of
the equivalent cantilever of Figure 2.18b, a shear force F and a moment FL/2
result from the force applied on the attached mass. The boundary conditions
for this situation are
w(0) = 0
dw(0)
dx
= 0
d
2
w(l)
dx
2
=
F
EI
eq
L
2
(2.47)
d
3
w(l)
dx
3
=
F
EI
eq
In order to simplify the expressions of the equations developed in the remainder
of this chapter, the following denitions are used.
A
c
= cos
_
l
_
A
ch
= cosh
_
l
_
A
sch
= sin
_
l
_
cosh
_
l
_
A
s
= sin
_
l
_
A
sh
= sinh
_
l
_
A
cch
= cos
_
l
_
cosh
_
l
_
A
csh
= cos
_
l
_
sinh
_
l
_
A
ssh
= sin
_
l
_
sinh
_
l
_
(2.48)
It is now possible to determine the expressions of the coecients C
i
of (2.45)
by solving the system of equations dened by the boundary conditions (2.48)
combined with (2.45):
C
1
= C
4
=

2
_
(A
c
+A
ch
) +
L
2
(A
s
A
sh
)
_
2EI
eq
(1 +A
cch
)
F (2.49)
C
2
= C
3
=

2
_
(A
s
+A
sh
) +
L
2
(A
c
+A
ch
)
_
2EI
eq
(1 +A
cch
)
F (2.50)
As expressed by (2.46), F=k
c
g
in the considered situation. As
g
=w
x
(,l)+
L/2 dw
x
(,l)/dx, it is now possible to determine the expression of k
c
:
k
c
=
4EI
eq
(1 +A
cch
)
((L
2
+ 4
2
) A
sch
+ (L
2
4
2
) A
csh
+ 4LA
ssh
)
(2.51)
From (2.46), Q=
c
g
for a short circuited bender. By inserting the expression
of w
x
obtained above in the charge equation (2.37) and by performing some
additional algebraic manipulations, one can derive
c
=
2(L(A
sch
+A
csh
) + 2A
ssh
)
(L
2
+ 4
2
) A
sch
+ (L
2
4
2
) A
csh
+ 4LA
ssh
(2.52)
BEAMS 55
Two components of the constitutive matrix have been obtained by considering
the behavior of a short circuited piezoelectric bender. The constitutive matrix
is symmetric and a single parameter is missing, being the clamped capacitance
of the piezoelectric layer. It is obtained by analyzing the behavior of a beam
undergoing an applied voltage without applied mechanical force (F=0). In this
case, the matrix constitutive equation is reduced to the form given in 2.53.
_

g
Q
_
=
_

c
/k
c
C
pc
2
c
/k
c
_
V (2.53)
The relevant mechanical boundary conditions are dened as follow: no dis-
placement neither rotation are allowed at the clamped end, i.e. w
x
(,0)=0 and
dw
x
(,0)/dx=0. As described by (2.33), a voltage applied across the electrodes
of the piezoelectric beam results in a bending moment M
v
=-V along the beam,
while no shear force exists. For this situation, the boundary conditions are
w(0) = 0
dw(0)
dx
= 0
d
2
w(l)
dx
2
=
V
EI
eq
(2.54)
d
3
w(l)
dx
3
= 0
By the same method used for the short circuited bender, the coecients C
i
are
rst derived:
C
1
= C
4
=

2
(A
sh
A
s
)
2EI
eq
(1 +A
cch
)
V (2.55)
C
2
= C
3
=

2
(A
c
+A
ch
)
2EI
eq
(1 +A
cch
)
V (2.56)
The value of the dynamic clamped capacitance C
pc
is obtained by solving the
charge equation (2.37):
C
pc
= C
pf
4
2
3
(1 +A
cch
)
EI
eq
((L
2
+ 4
2
) A
sch
+ (L
2
4
2
) A
csh
+ 4LA
ssh
)
(2.57)
It was veried that the expression of
c
found with the boundary conditions
corresponding to the clamped bender was the same than the one obtained with
short circuit condition.
The three dierent components of the constitutive matrix are now available.
The computations are done assuming mechanical wave propagation phenomena
and the so called dynamic constitutive matrix of the piezoelectric bender has
been obtained. When the length of the attached mass is null, the components
of the derived matrix correspond to those found by Smith [126]. The obtained
formulas are tedious and developed for the purpose of studying the response
of the harvester excited around high order modes of oscillation. However, in
56
beams
the present work, the devices are excited around their resonance frequency
and a quasi-static approximation (mechanical wave propagations neglected,
i.e. ) is justied. It was veried by FEM analysis that the quasi static
formulas give reasonable estimates of the constitutive parameters for the three
types of bender described in Table 2.1. The quasi static constitutive parame-
ters are denoted as k
0
,
0
and C
p0
. In order to introduce the eects of parasitic
damping in the quasi static form of the model of Figure 2.19, complex values
of the parameters are used in the analysis proposed in the next chapters. The
approach is limited to complex values of k
0
and C
p0
which can be rewritten
as k
0
=k(1+j/Q
m
) and C
p0
=C
p
(1+j/Q
e
) in which Q
m
and Q
e
are the qual-
ity factors related to respectively the mechanical and dielectric dissipations
(Q
m
>0, Q
e
<0). The real part k of the quasi static stiness, the quasi static
transformation factor and the real part C
p
of the quasi static capacitance are
k =
3EI
eq
l
3
_
1 +
3
2
L
l
+
3
4
L
2
l
2
_ (2.58)
=
3
_
1 +
L
l
_
2l
_
1 +
3
2
L
l
+
3
4
L
2
l
2
_ (2.59)
C
p
= C
pf

2
l
4EI
eq
_
1 +
3
2
L
l
+
3
4
L
2
l
2
_ (2.60)
The equivalent network describing the dynamic equilibrium of the piezoelectric
bender has to be slightly rearranged when the quasi static approximation is
considered. Indeed, in the dynamical form of the circuit, the mass of the beam
is taken into account by the component k
c
. The quasi static version of this
parameter is not related to the mass of the beam m
b
. This problem can be
solved by replacing the mass m
t
of the attached body by an eective mass
m
e
in the circuit of Figure 2.19. An expression of m
e
can be obtained by rst
elaborating a formula for the mechanical angular resonance frequency
0
of the
beam. It can be understood from the equivalent network that a piezoelectric
beam disposes of two characteristics frequency: one corresponding to a short
and the other to an open circuit arrangement. In order to avoid confusion
between the two values, the short and open circuit resonance are labeled as
s
0
and
o
0
respectively. It will be shown in later chapters that the relation between
the two values can be approximately written as
o
0
=
s
0
(1+
0
2
/(k
0
C
p0
))
1/2
.
From the circuit of Figure 2.19 (with m
t
replaced by m
e
), it is possible to write
s
0
=((k
0
/m
e
)
1/2
, so that the determination of
s
0
allow nding an expression
for the eective mass of the beam.
In this case,
s
0
is not easily found from the eigenvalues problem because
of the attached mass resulting in a highly non linear characteristic equation.
Rather, the Rayleigh quotient method is used [136]. It gives an upper bound
to the fundamental frequency. The Rayleigh quotient R can be dened as
R=W
p
/W
k
=(
s
0
)
2
, in which W
p
and W
k
represent respectively the maximum
potential and kinetic energy present in the system. For the situation described
BEAMS 57
by Figure 2.18(b) and in short circuit conguration, (
s
0
)
2
can be written as
(
s
0
)
2
=
l
_
0
EI
eq
_
d
2
w(x)
dx
2
_
2
m
b
l
l
_
0
w(x)
2
dx +
m
t
L
l+L
_
l
(x)
2
dx
(2.61)
The quasi static form of the expression of w
x
(,x) found when computing the
parameters k
c
and
c
of the impedance matrix have to be used in (2.61) in
order to determine the closed form expression of (
s
0
)
2
given below.
(
s
0
)
2
=
3EI
eq
_
1 +
3
2
L
l
+
3
4
L
2
l
2
_
_
_
_
_
33
140
m
b
l
3
_
1 +
91
66
L
l
+
21
44
L
2
l
2
_
+m
t
l
3
_
1 + 3
L
l
+
63
16
L
2
l
2
+
21
8
L
3
l
3
+
3
4
L
4
l
4
_
_
_
_
_
(2.62)
The correctness of (2.62) was investigated by performing 3D nite elements
simulation (FEM) on a simple singled layer elastic beam. We observed that
the proposed closed form expression yields very small error for the geometrical
situations studied in this work. A noticeable case where (2.62) does not predict
correctly the resonance frequency is related to structures for which a short and
extremely thick mass is attached to the cantilever (L shaped).
By computing k
0
/(
s
0
)
2
, the expression of the eective mass given below is
obtained.
m
e
=
33
140
m
b
_
1 +
91
66
L
l
+
21
44
L
2
l
2
_
_
1 +
3
2
L
l
+
3
4
L
2
l
2
_
2
+m
t
_
1 + 3
L
l
+
63
16
L
2
l
2
+
21
8
L
3
l
3
+
3
4
L
4
l
4
_
_
1 +
3
2
L
l
+
3
4
L
2
l
2
_
2
(2.63)
It can be observed that when no mass is attached to the beam (m
t
=0, L=0),
the familiar formula m
e
=33/140m
b
is obtained. At the opposite, when the
attached mass is very large compared to the one of the beam but is concentrated
(L=0), we nd m
e
=m
t
.
In this part, the constitutive parameters are derived solely for piezoelectric
unimorphs (Figure 2.14(a)). The proposed results can easily be adapted for
the symmetric bimorphs of Figure 2.14(b) by reconsidering the expression of
EI
eq
, A and I
i
taking into account the corrected dimensions of the cantilever.
Also,
0
and C
p0
have to be replaced by respectively 2
0
and 2C
p0
for the
58
beams
bimorph parallel conguration. C
p0
has to be replaced by C
p0
/2 for the bi-
morph series conguration. The bimorph parallel or series arrangement has a
strong inuence on the performances of the bimorph in terms of actuation or
sensing applications. On the opposite, it is shown later that using of a series or
parallel bimorph conguration does not have important consequences in energy
harvesting situations.
2.3.4 Generalized electromechanical coupling factor
The longitudinal electromechanical coupling factor k
31
2
and the related eec-
tive coecient k
31
2
/(1-k
31
2
) have been introduced previously. They dene the
amount of mechanical energy transformed into electrical energy for a piezo-
electric axial transducer during a quasi static thermodynamic cycle. Equiv-
alent variables exist for multilayered piezoelectric beams. The generalized
electromechanical coupling factor K which is the equivalent of k
31
2
/(1-k
31
2
)
[143]. Because of physical considerations, the generalized electromechanical
coupling factor of a bimorph or unimorph can only be smaller than the coe-
cient k
31
2
/(1-k
31
2
) characteristic of its piezoelectric layer. In these structures,
the piezoelectric layer(s) is supported by a purely elastic one, so that only a
fraction of the developed mechanical strain produces electrical charges. Also,
the structure undergoes bending deformations and not purely tensile or com-
pressive ones. K can be expressed in terms of the equivalent network parameters
as
K
2
=

2
kC
p
(2.64)
It is shown in the chapters dealing with the optimization of the harvesters that
the generalized electromechanical coupling factor is an important parameter
related to the output power of the devices. It has been demonstrated by the
author of this thesis in [56] that the generalized electromechanical coupling
factor depends solely on the thicknesses ratio, on the compliances ratio s
s
/s
E
p
and on the transverse electromechanical coupling factor k
31
2
. Furthermore,
K
2
is almost directly proportional to k
31
2
. The generalized electromechanical
coupling factor allows representing the performances of the beam in terms of
energy harvesting for any piezoelectric material (transverse isotropic) and inde-
pendently of the width and length of the cantilever. For each compliances ratio,
a particular value of the relative thickness leads to a maximum of K
2
. In the
case of the bimorph, a series or parallel arrangement of the piezoelectric layers
does not have any inuence on the value of the generalized electromechanical
coupling factor and then on the energy harvesting capabilities of the device.
The transverse electromechanical coupling factor k
31
is in the range of 0.4 for
modern PZT ceramics and the maximum values of K that can theoretically be
obtained are approximately 0.2 for unimorphs and 0.35 for bimorphs.
BEAMS 59
2.4 Conclusion
In this chapter, the history and the basic concepts of the piezoelectric eect
are presented. Then, the linear constitutive equations of piezoelectricity are
derived, based on the classical continuum description. Non linear phenomena
and simplications of the constitutive equations are also described. Piezoelec-
tric cantilevers constitute the electromechanical transduction element in the
vibration energy harvesters studied during this thesis. Therefore, the constitu-
tive equations of piezoelectricity are combined with Timoshenkos beam theory
in order to elaborate the fundamental equations of piezoelectric multilayered
benders. This complete derivation had not been proposed in the literature.
Both dynamic and quasi static solutions of the latter equations are derived and
arranged in the form of a constitutive matrix and of an equivalent electrical
network. A complete representation of a cantilever loaded by a distributed
mass which is the basis of many harvesters currently investigated is developed.
Finally, the generalized electromechanical coupling factor, a crucial parameter
for the performances of the piezoelectric beams in terms of energy harvesting,
is dened and a clear interpretation of the dierence between the material and
structure coupling factor is proposed.
The derived equivalent electrical circuit constitutes the base of the model
used to analyze the characteristics and performances of the energy harvesters.
Experimental methods for measuring the values of parameters involved in the
electrical circuit model are described in Chapter 3. The optimization of the
human environment energy harvester is presented in Chapter 4 and the one of
the machine environment harvester in Chapter 5.
60 2.4 Conclusion
Chapter 3
Manufacturing and primary
characterization of MEMS
piezoelectric harvesters
The fabrication by MEMS technologies and the primary characterization of
piezoelectric harvesters are presented. As described in Table 2.1, dierent
technologies were involved in the manufacturing of the piezoelectric benders
implemented in the harvesters. However, the devices obtained by conventional
processing (cases B and C) are bought from commercial companies and their
fabrication is not presented. The manufacturing process for the MEMS devices
is described in a rst part of this chapter. In a second part, static, steady
state and transient methods of characterization for piezoelectric benders are
presented. The characterization methods presented in this chapter aim at de-
termining the values of the parameters involved in the impedance matrix and
the corresponding electrical network model presented in Chapter 2. The out-
put power characteristics of the harvesters are not discussed in this part, but
in the subsequent ones.
3.1 Manufacturing
MEMS processing appears to be an interesting fabrication technique because
of the possible mass production and the corresponding cost reduction. It has
however to be understood that the output power of the proposed harvesters
strongly depends of their mass and then of their volume. The thickness of the
devices being limited by the one of the silicon wafer, a high mass and output
power corresponds to a large occupied surface per device. The author of this
61
62 3.1 Manufacturing
(a)
(b)
Figure 3.1 - (a) Top view picture of unpackaged harvesters, (b) picture of glass packaged
harvesters.
thesis is only marginally involved in the device fabrication. His contribution is
limited to the mask design and to the development of some process step. After
this initial work, the investigations are concentrated on the design and char-
acterization of the harvesters. The main part of the fabrication work on PZT
devices has been done by our colleague Andreas Schmitz in the framework of a
post doctoral research. His results have been published in literature [144]. The
AlN based harvesters are manufactured by the WATS division of IMEC at the
Holst Centre, The Netherlands (http://www.holstcentre.com). A description
of the work performed by the Holst Centre can be found in [78] and [24]. Be-
cause the manufacturing process of the devices investigated during this thesis
is already described in the literature, this section is limited to the presentation
of the most important elements in the fabrication of the harvesters. A general
description of the devices is proposed in a rst subsection which is followed by
a presentation of the dierent process steps.
3.1.1 General description of the manufactured devices
The design of the presented piezoelectric devices is similar to the classical de-
sign of bulk micromachined accelerometers and consists of a mass connected to
a thin beam and a vibrating package. The process includes a zero level package
which is obtained by protecting the wafer holding the piezoelectric generator by
a top and bottom wafer attached through benzocyclobutene (BCB) bonding.
When the package moves under the action of an external vibration, the piezo-
electric beam is deected and electrical charges are produced. These charges
are allowed to ow in a load circuit connected to the contact pads. In this
way, electrical energy is harvested from vibrations. Pictures of the fabricated
harvesters are shown in Figure 3.1.
Several designs of piezoelectric devices diering in geometry and electrical
connections are manufactured. The devices are equipped with masses of dif-
3. MANUFACTURING AND PRIMARY CHARACTERIZATION OF
MEMS PIEZOELECTRIC HARVESTERS 63
ferent lateral dimensions. Here, the thickness of the mass is limited to the one
of the device wafer. Alternative ows requiring the manual assembly of an
external heavier mass were proposed in the literature [95]. The introduction
of such a step has to be evaluated in terms of fabrication cost and generated
power. Harvesters resonating at various frequencies are realized by modifying
the length or the thickness of the bending beam. The targeted values of the
resonance frequencies are in the range of 100 Hz to 2 kHz. The devices were de-
signed either as a single piezoelectric capacitor or as a series connection of four
piezoelectric capacitors. The latter devices allow a higher output voltage at the
price of a lower output current and of higher electrical output impedance. An
overview of the geometrical parameters of the dierent fabricated harvesters is
given in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1 - Dimensions of the fabricated devices.
Device label Number of Lateral dimensions Width of the Length of the
capacitors of the mass (m*m) beam (m) beam (m)
Dev1 1 3000*3000 3000 2670
Dev2 4 3000*3000 3000 2670
Dev3 1 3000*3000 3000 3365
Dev4 4 3000*3000 3000 3365
Dev5 1 5000*5000 5000 2235
Dev6 4 5000*5000 5000 2235
Dev7 1 5000*5000 5000 2832
Dev8 4 5000*5000 5000 2832
Dev9 1 7000*7000 7000 2526
Dev10 4 7000*7000 7000 2526
Dev11 1 7000*7000 7000 1996
3.1.2 Process ow
The rst steps of the proposed process dier for PZT and AlN based harvesters
because of the dierent chemical nature, reactivity and compatibilities of the
two materials. The manufacturing methods for AlN and PZT based harvesters
merge into a single one after the patterning of the piezoelectric capacitors. In
the following, the process of the AlN and PZT devices is described separately
till this process step. Then, the last and common steps of the fabrication are
presented.
The silicon wafers used for the AlN based harvesters have a (100) surface
orientation and are coated with 500 nm thermal silicon oxide and 100 nm
LPCVD silicon nitride. In the rst step of the process, a 100 nm platinum
bottom electrode with a titanium adhesion layer is deposited by sputtering and
patterned by a lift-o technique [145] in order to dene the bottom electrodes
of the piezoelectric capacitors. In the second step, a layer of AlN (200-1000
nm) is sputtered on the wafer according to the parameters dened in [146].
The AlN coating is then shaped by a wet etching process based on an OPD262
solution. Because the AlN layer is thicker than the electrodes, it is etched in
such a way that the contact pad of the top electrode is held on top of the
piezoelectric material. In this way, the probability of step coverage related
failure is reduced. In the next step of the process, a 100 nm conductive layer
of aluminum is sputtered on the wafer and etched according to classical wet
techniques respecting the integrity of Pt and AlN, so that the top electrode
of the device is patterned without damaging the bottom electrodes and the
piezoelectric material. Finally, the top nitride, oxide and silicon are patterned
and dry etched to predene the shape of the cantilever beam. The depth of the
trench denes the thickness of the beam and it is between 20 and 100 m for
our devices. The steps described in this paragraph are illustrated in Figure 3.2.
For the PZT based harvesters, silicon wafers coated with 500 nm thermal
oxide, 100nm nitride and a 1 m PZT layer (sandwiched between metallic elec-
trodes) are bought from Inostek, Korea (http://inostek.com/). Details of the
deposition process are given on the companys website. Both electrodes on
Inosteks wafers are made of platinum. For these devices, the rst step of the
process consists in patterning and etching the top Pt layer by reactive ion etch-
ing in order to dene the top electrode and rst bond contact of the device. The
PZT layer is then etched by the successive action of a buered HF/HCl mixture
and concentrated HF [147]. The thickness of the resist used in the lithography
process and the etch time must be appropriate for this step, as hydrochloric
acid etch organic compounds. In the next step, the bottom platinum layer is
patterned and etched by the same technique as the top electrode to form the
bottom one. Finally, as in the AlN process ow, the shape of the cantilever
beam is predened by patterning and dry etching the top nitride, oxide and
silicon. The steps described in this paragraph are illustrated in Figure 3.3.
The release of the PZT and AlN based devices are then done by the same
method. The back silicon nitride and oxide are rst patterned and etched to
dene the limit of the KOH wet etching used in the next step for shaping the
beam and the attached mass. Si
3
N
4
is KOH resistant and can be used as a
hard mask for such a chemical etching. The top side of the wafer supporting
the piezoelectric capacitor is protected from KOH attack by being maintained
in a special vacuum holder. The hard mask of nitride should be carefully
designed in order to prevent the convex corners of the mass to be attacked:
for a (100) oriented silicon wafer, an anisotropic KOH attack etches only the
(100) and (110) planes, while the (111) planes are essentially untouched. As a
consequence convex corners of the substrate are completely undercut (etching
perpendicular to the (110) planes). As the etching velocities in the <100>
and <110> directions are similar, large parts of convex corners are etched
away and the volume of the mass can be reduced drastically. In order to avoid
this problem, simple corner compensation structures have to be implemented
[148][149]. The KOH etch is stopped a few micrometers before reaching the top
trenches in order to avoid damaging the piezoelectric layer and of the electrodes.
The nal release is done by dry etching of the top silicon for the PZT devices
Processstep Sideview Topview
Siliconwafercoated
withoxideandnitride
Depositionand
patterningofthe
bottomelectrode
Depositionofthe
piezoelectriclayer
Depositionand
patterningofthetop
electrode
Predefinitionofthe
cantileverbeam
Si
Si
3
N
4
SiO
2
Pt
AlN
Al
Figure 3.2 - Description of the rst steps in the manufacturing of the AlN based harvesters.
and by wet etching based on tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) for the
AlN harvesters. The beam and the mass are also slightly etched during this
last step. The process steps relative to beam shaping and release are pictured
in Figure 3.4.
The last part of the manufacturing process consists in the packaging of the
released devices. This is done by adhesive bonding of KOH preshaped wafers
to the device wafer, as illustrated in Figure 3.5. BCB (BenzoCycloButene), a
photopatternable polymer, is used as adhesive layer. The harvesters are ready
to be connected to an electrical load via the contact pads accessible through
the opening in the top capping wafer. Note that, for demonstration purposes,
glass package wafers were used in the devices of Figure 3.1(b).
The description of the manufacturing process of MEMS piezoelectric vibra-
tion energy harvesters is proposed in this section. The process is based on bulk
micromachining of the silicon wafer. Sputtered AlN and PZT grown by sol-
gel methods are used as piezoelectric materials. The devices are packaged by

Process step Side view Top view

Silicon wafer coated
with oxide, nitride
and a Pt/PZT/Pt layer

Patterning of the
bottom electrode

Patterning of the
piezoelectric layer

Patterning of the
bottom electrode

Predefinition of the
cantilever beam

Si
Si
3
N
4
SiO
2
Pt
PZT
Figure 3.3 - Description of the rst steps in the manufacturing of the PZT based harvesters.
Processstep Sideview Backview
Patterningand
etchingofbackside
nitrideandoxide
KOHetchingof
backcavities
Releaseofthe
cantilevers
Si
SiO
2
Si
3
N
4
Figure 3.4 - Release of the cantilevers.
Processstep Sideview Backview
Siliconwafer
coatedwithoxyde
andnitride
Patterningand
etchingofback
oxydeandnitride
KOHetchingof
backcavities
Topview
Patterningand
etchingoftop
oxydeandnitride
KOHetchingoftop
cavities
Packagingofthe
devicewafer
Si
SiO
2
Si
3
N
4
BCB
Figure 3.5 - Preparation of the capping wafers and packaging of the harvester.
68 3.2 Characterization
being encapsulated between capping wafers. The developed process has been
proven to be reliable and to result in functional devices. Some aws are how-
ever present and are being eliminated: the precision of the KOH attack used
to shape the mass and the bending beam is limited by the fact that this step
is time controlled. In order to avoid this problem, SOI (Silicon On Insulator)
wafers will be used in the future as the support of the piezoelectric capacitors.
In this way, the KOH etch will be slowed down when reaching the oxide layer
and the thickness of the beam will be more precisely controlled. Also, it is
shown in the next chapters that the proposed packaging approach introduces
a large amount of mechanical dissipations, due to squeeze lm damping in the
enclosure. To eliminate this problem, future devices will be packaged under
vacuum.
In the next section, experimental methods for measuring values of the equiv-
alent network parameters of the fabricated devices are described and imple-
mented on dierent samples.
3.2 Characterization
Abundant literature on the characterization of length or thickness piezoelectric
vibrators is available [68, 121, 150]. This is however not the case for piezoelec-
tric bending structures. Recently, some analyses related to this problem were
proposed in [151153]. However, the methods described by these authors were
developed for the purpose of characterizing actuators and they do not allow
obtaining all the information required. Therefore, specic methods of charac-
terization fullling the requirements of this analysis are developed. Thanks to
these methods, it is possible to determine experimental values of the parameters
of the equivalent network model of the harvesters (Chapter 2).
In this section, the general concept of the proposed characterization is rst
described. Then, static, steady-state and transient methods are presented in
three separate subsections. Finally, a summary of the characteristics values of
the measured parameters are presented for the three types of studied piezo-
electric benders (MEMS PZT and AlN devices and commercial ceramic PZT
beams).
3.2.1 General concept for the determination of the net-
work parameters
The methods of characterization proposed are based on a simple approach: in
a rst step, the particular form of the equivalent network model is ignored and
it is assumed that the behavior of the system is represented by a black box
linking the two mechanical (force F and displacement
g
) and the two electrical
variables (voltage V and charge Q) of the system. Mathematically speaking,
Table 3.2 - The dierent possible combinations of measurements.

Constrained
V=0
(Short circuit)
Q=0
(Open circuit)
F=0
(Free bender)
g
=0
(Clamped bender)
F
g
F
g
F
g
F
g
V Q V Q V Q V Q
Measured
g
F Q Q
g
F V V Q V
g

g
Q V F F
Case label X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12
the black box model corresponds to a set of two equations (assumed linear)
for four unknowns. For obtaining a determined system, it is then necessary to
constrain two of the four variables. Due to the electromechanical nature of the
system, it is in fact necessary to constrain one mechanical and one electrical
variable. For characterization purposes, one of the constrained variables is xed
(usually to 0) while the other is varied and the free variables are measured. For
example, a force can be applied on a short circuited bender (F varied, V=0) and
the force-deection and the force-charge relations can be measured. In total, 16
dierent relations can be obtained. Some of them are however reciprocal and 12
are found to be independent. The 12 possible characterization experiments are
presented in Table 3.2. Note that for the steady state and transient methods,
Q is replaced by the injected current I=dQ/dt more easily measured in these
situations. It is shown in the following that some of the experiments of Table 3.2
are dicult to implement in practice. Furthermore, it is not necessary to
perform all of them in order to obtain the full set of parameters (however,
multiplying the number of performed experiments might increase the accuracy
of the values obtained).
The dierent methods of characterization are discussed in the next sub-
sections. Results of the realized measurements are presented in details for a
commercial bender and MEMS PZT and AlN devices. The tested commercial
bender is a bimorph bought from Piezo Systems Inc. (http://www.piezo.com).
Its dimensions are given later in this chapter. A compact steel mass of 3 g
is glued to its tip and the assumption of concentrated attached mass can rea-
sonably be applied for this structure. The tested MEMS benders are Dev1
sample using PZT and AlN. While the lateral dimensions of the characterized
MEMS benders are the same, the thickness of the silicon beam are dierent
(approximately 80m and 45m for the PZT and AlN device respectively).
3.2.2 Quasi static characterization methods
The theoretical expressions corresponding to the measurements described in
Table 3.2 are given for a static situation in Table 3.3. All experiments involv-
ing the measurement of the voltage or charges are complex to perform because
of charges leaking phenomena: the charges developed in the piezoelectric layer
tend to be dissipated through the electrodes of the structure or through the
read out electronics. The decay of the charges follows an exponential behavior
Table 3.3 - Theoretical relations for the dierent experiments in the static case.
Case label
X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6

Theoretical
relation

=
g
F
k
=
F
Q
k

Q =

( )
2
1
=
+
F
k K

( )
2
2
1
=
+
K F
V
K

=
g
p
V
C
Case label
X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12

Theoretical
relation

( )
2
1
c
Q C K V = +

=
V
k

( )
2
2
1
K Q
K
=
+

=
p
Q C V

F V =
=
p
Q
F
C

governed by a time constant estimated to be 10 ms for the commercial piezo-

electric bender. For the MEMS devices, the low amplitude of the developed
charge or current in quasi static mode makes these measurements even more
dicult. In these conditions, extremely rapid and precise force and displace-
ment actuators and dedicated read out electronics (such as the one used by
Dubois [154]) are necessary to perform the experiments X2, X3, X5 and X6.
However, rapid actuators would induce transient phenomena and the expres-
sions of Table 3.3 might no longer be valid. Similar limitations are encountered
for experiment X4: indeed, the stiening of the structure due to the generalized
electromechanical coupling represented by K
2
is annihilated by the leakage of
charges. For the experiments X7 and X10, dedicated read out electronics are
required. The goal is to provide easy to implement techniques of characteriza-
tion and no eorts are devoted to the development of such elements. Finally,
a charge generator was not available, so that the practical static methods of
characterization for the piezoelectric benders are limited to experiments X1
and X8 (X11 does not bring additional information). It can be understood
that the easily achieved static measurements only allow obtaining the values of
the stiness k and of the transformation factor .
The experiments X1 and X8 are realized with a setup consisting of a capac-
itive contact force sensor (1 mN resolution) attached to a micromotor (16 nm
resolution)(Figure 3.6). Contact with the sample is done with a metallic needle
attached to the force sensor. The controller of the micromotor monitors the
displacement applied to the structure while the sensor measures the reaction
force of the sample. The chosen observation point is located near the tip of the
beam for the commercial element. For the MEMS bender, the displacement
is applied at the tip of the beam (the limits of the beam correspond to the
limits of the piezoelectric capacitor easily found by observation through a mi-
croscope). The deection at the center of the mass
g
is then estimated from
the theoretical relation established in Chapter 2.
The results of X1 and X8 are proposed respectively in Figure 3.7 and Fig-
ure 3.8. k=749N/m and =4.6*10
4
N/V is obtained for the ceramic PZT
Micromotor
Forcesensor
Sample
Needle
Figure 3.6 - Illustration of the experimental setup used for performing the quasi static
experiments X1 and X8.
500
400
300
200
100
0
D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
400 300 200 100 0
Force (mN)
(a)
150
100
50
0

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
30 25 20 15 10 5
Force(mN)
(b)
Figure 3.7 - Results of X1 in static mode for (a) the PZT commercial bender, (b) the AlN
MEMS bender.
15
10
5
0

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
25 20 15 10 5 0
Voltage (V)
(a)
6
5
4
3
2
1

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
)
50 40 30 20 10
Voltage (V)
(b)
Figure 3.8 - Results of X8 in static mode for (a) the PZT commercial bender, (b) the AlN
MEMS bender.
bender, while k=190N/m and =2.2*10
5
N/V is found for the thin lm AlN
bender. is directly related to the performances of the device in actuation
mode; because of the low thickness of the piezoelectric material compared to
the one of the substrate in the MEMS devices, this type of piezoelectric ben-
der is much less adapted to actuation than the commercial ones. However,
the situation is dierent for energy harvesting as demonstrated in the next
chapters.
It has been shown in this section that static methods of characterization are
in practice limited for piezoelectric benders, principally due to the phenomena
of charge leakage. The only parameters of the network model easily measured
are the stiness k and the conversion factor . In spite of the limitations of
the static methods of characterization, the static experiment X1 is extremely
important as it allows determining the stiness k, which can not be directly
obtained from the steady state and transient methods.
3.2.3 Steady-state characterization methods
The concept of the proposed steady state methods of characterization is simi-
lar to the static methods: one electrical and one mechanical variable are con-
strained and the others measured. The measurements are realized by using
sinusoidal signals (voltage or mechanical vibrations) with a frequency near to
the fundamental resonance frequency. The obtained relations are then tted
with the theoretical expressions obtained by analyzing the network model. Fit-
ting is realized here by a characteristic point approach, i.e. the theoretical and
experimental relations are only tted at frequencies corresponding to some re-
markable points (maxima and minima) and not over a continuous range of
frequency (except for the measurements which are not frequency dependant).
Due to the steady state nature of the problem, one should determine for each
specic experiment the frequency dependence of the amplitude and phase of the
measured variable. Amongst others, it is also possible to use a real and imagi-
nary part representation rather than an amplitude-phase one. The choice of the
most relevant representation depends on the considered experiment. Indeed,
depending on the situation, the simplicity of the expressions corresponding to
the remarkable points of the measured curves depends on the chosen repre-
sentation. Also, for some of the experiments of Table 3.2, it is advantageous
to normalize or multiply the measurements to the frequency of oscillation in
order to compute the parameters of the network model. This information is
presented when necessary in the tables.
The number of remarkable points depends on the considered measurement.
For the experiments X3, X6, X10, X11 and X12 of Table 3.2, no frequency
dependence is observed and theoretical expressions very similar to the ones
obtained for the static case are found. They are given in Table 3.4 taking into
account the dielectric and mechanical parasitic dissipations by the intermediary
of the electrical and mechanical quality factors Q
e
and Q
m
. These experiments
are interesting as they allow almost direct measurements of , Q
e
and Q
m
.
However, several practical limitations are again encountered: the experiments
X11 and X12 require a dynamic force sensor with a high resolution (<100 N for
precise measurements) and which does not perturb the dynamics of the tested
sample. For the MEMS piezoelectric benders, which have a small eective
mass (<100 mg), such high end sensors might exist but are absolutely not
standard measurement equipment and these experiments are skipped. They
are furthermore not crucial, as and Q
e
can easily be determined by other
means. X3 can be done using as input a controlled mechanical vibration source
(a loudspeaker is a cheap example) connected to the tip of the bender while
the other end of the test sample is attached to a mechanical ground. X6 can be
done using the same experimental arrangement. However, the devices are small
and relatively fragile and the handling required for performing experiments X3
and X6 often led to the failure of the devices, so that they are avoided. Finally,
the experiment X10 is the sole measurement which is easily done for both types
of piezoelectric benders. It can be performed by using an impedance analyzer
(a HP4294 was used in our case) and, for example, plain silicon wafers as top
and bottom clamps. X10 allows obtaining the value of the clamped capacitance
and the electrical quality factor.
The results of X10 are given for the MEMS AlN and commercial bender
in Figure 3.9. It can be seen that the value of the measured parameter is
approximately constant over frequency, even if a slight shift is observed for the
real part. For the ceramic PZT bender C
p
=2.6 nF and Q
e
=-30 are determined.
For the MEMS structure, C
p
=640 pF and Q
e
=-110 are obtained. A part of
the dielectric losses can be attributed to the electrical connections between the
tested devices and the impedance analyzer but not all. Indeed, it can be seen
that the dielectric quality factor of the MEMS harvesters is higher than the one
of the commercial samples while the same electrical connections were used. It is
then clear that dielectric dissipations intrinsic to the harvesters exist. It can be
supposed that these losses are larger for the commercial structures because they
were made of a larger volume of piezoelectric material, so that the probability
of defect in the material is increased.
Until now, only the experiments leading to non frequency dependant rela-
tions have been described. In the case of the experiments X1, X2, X4, X5,
X7, X8 and X9, the theoretical relations between the applied and measured
variables follow a dierent behavior, typical of resonant systems, described by
mathematical functions disposing of maxima and minima. For X4, X5 and
X9, the theoretical relations are extremely tedious when both dielectric and
mechanical dissipations are considered and we disregard them as the precise
extraction of the parameters is made dicult by the complexity of the rela-
tions. Therefore, the analysis is limited to X1, X7 and X8. For these three
experiments, the theoretical relations corresponding to the maximum of the
amplitude and to the maximum and minimum of the real part are derived. For
these three remarkable points, the theoretical expressions of the elements listed
below are summarized in Table 3.5 and Table 3.6.
Table 3.4 - Theoretical relations for the experiments exhibiting no frequency dependence in
steady state mode.

X3
Measured value: I
X6
Measured value: V*
X10
Measured value: I/

Amplitude
v
2
1
e
p e
Q
v
C Q
+

2
1
p e
e
C Q
V
Q
+

Phase

0

( ) 1/
e
ArcTan Q

( ) 1/
e
ArcTan Q

Real part

v

( )
2
2
1
e
p e
Q
v
C Q
+

p
e
C
V
Q

Imaginary part

0
( )
2
1
e
p e
Q
v
C Q
+

p
C V

X11
Measured value: F

X12
Measured value: F*

Amplitude

V
2
1
e
p e
Q
I
C Q
+

Phase

0

( )
e
ArcTan Q

Real part

V

( )
2
1
e
p e
Q
I
C Q
+

Imaginary part

0
( )
2
2
1
e
p e
Q
I
C Q
4
6
10
-11
2
4
6
10
-10
2
4
6
10
-9

I

/

(
A
.
s
)
500 480 460
(rad/s)
(a)
10
-13
2
4
10
-12
2
4
10
-11
2
4
10
-10
I

/

(
A
.
s
)
4400 4200 4000
(rad/s)
(b)
Figure 3.9 - Results of X10 in steady state mode for (a) the PZT commercial bender, (b)
the AlN MEMS bender. V=0.1 V in both cases. The solid line corresponds to the real part,
the dashed line to the imaginary part.
At the maximum of the amplitude:
Frequency
Value of the amplitude
Corresponding value of the phase
At the maximum of the real part:
Frequency
Value of the maximum real part
Corresponding value of the imaginary part
At the maximum and minimum of the imaginary part:
Frequency
Value of the maximum and minimum of the imaginary part
Corresponding value of the real part
The experiments X1 require a dynamic force as input. In order to simulate
it, a known mechanical vibration is applied to the clamped end of the device.
By means of inertia, an apparent force is developed along the length of the
beam and of the attached mass. However, as explained in Chapter 2, the
inertial force on the beam itself can be neglected for the tested samples and
it is relevant to only consider the resulting force on the attached mass. The
applied force can be expressed as F=m
e
A
0
in which m
e
and A
0
are the values of
respectively the eective mass and the amplitude of the acceleration of the input
vibration. For experiment X1, the deection of the beam was monitored using
an optical setup consisting of a laser beam and of a position sensitive detector
(PSD). The results of X1 are given in Figure 3.10. The values of the resonance
frequencies
s
0
are found to be equal to 4153rad.
1
for the MEMS bender and
to 469rad.s
1
for the commercial one. It is now possible to determine the
eective mass of the structure reminding that
s
0
=(k/m
e
)
1/2
. For the AlN
MEMS device, k was previously found equal to 190 N/m, so that we can derive
m
e
= 11 mg. The eective mass is in this case equivalent to the large mass
attached at the tip of the cantilever. For the PZT commercial element, we
obtained m
e
=3.4 g. According to the equations derived in Chapter 2, m
e
=
33/140m
b
+m
t
when a concentrated attached mass m
t
is assumed. The latter
was equal to 3 g for the tested bender, so that we can estimate m
b
to 1.7 g,
which corresponds roughly to the values obtained from the dimensions and
material properties of the piezoelectric beam. It is also possible to determine
the mechanical quality factor from the maximum of the amplitude: Q
m
=640 is
found for the MEMS harvester and Q
m
=48 for the commercial structure. The
frequencies of maximum and minimum of the imaginary part corroborated these
values.
Table 3.5 - Theoretical relations for experiments X1 and X2 in steady state mode.

X1
Measured value:
g

X2
Measured value: I/
Maximum of the amplitude

Frequency
0
s

0
s

Value
( )
2
0
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
m
s
e
Q
F
m

Corresponding phase

0

0
Maximum real part
Frequency
0
s

0
s

Value
( )
2
0
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
m
s
e
Q
F
m

Corresponding value
of the imaginary part

0

0
Imaginary part
Maximum Minimum Maximum Minimum

Frequency

0
1
1
s
m
Q

0
1
1+
s
m
Q

0
1
1
s
m
Q

0
1
1+
s
m
Q

Value

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m

Value of the real part
( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
F
m
2.0x10
-4
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

o
f

g

(
m
)
500 480 460 440
(rad/s)
-80
-40
0
40
80

P
h
a
s
e

(
)
(a)
3.5x10
-4
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

o
f

g

(
m
)
4180 4160 4140 4120
(rad/s)
-80
-40
0
40
80

P
h
a
s
e

(
)
(b)
Figure 3.10 - Results of X1 in steady state mode for (a) the PZT commercial bender (A
0
=1
m.s
2
), (b) the AlN MEMS bender(A
0
=9.8 m.s
2
). The solid line corresponds to the am-
plitude of the deection, the dashed line to its phase.
Table 3.6 - Theoretical relations for experiments X7 and X8 in steady state mode.
X7
Measured value: I/
X8
Measured value:
g

Maximum of the amplitude

Frequency

0
s

Value

( )
2
0
m
s
e
Q
V
m

Corresponding phase

0
Maximum real part
Frequency
0
s

0
s

Value
2
1
p m
e
C K Q V
Q

( )
2
0
m
s
e
Q
V
m

Corresponding value
of the imaginary part

p
C V

0

Imaginary part Imaginary part
Maximum Minimum Minimum Minimum

Frequency

0
1
1
s
m
Q

0
1
1
s
m
Q
+

0
1
1
s
m
Q

0
1
1+
s
m
Q

Value
2
1
2

+

m
p
K Q
C V
2
1
2
m
p
K Q
C V

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
V
m
-
( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
V
m

Value of the real part

2
1
2
m
p
e
K Q
C V
Q

2
1
2
m
p
e
K Q
C V
Q

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
V
m

( )
2
0
2
m
s
e
Q
V
m
X7 is easily performed with a classical impedance analyzer as for the clamped

electrical impedance measurement corresponding to experiment X10. The ob-
tained measurements are illustrated in Figure 3.11. The real-imaginary parts
representation allows determining Q
m
=670 and Q
m
=58 for respectively the
MEMS and commercial bender. Also, from the values of the clamped capaci-
tance and of the electrical quality factor derived previously, one can determine
K
2
=2.9*10
3
for the MEMS structure and K
2
=1.2*10
1
for the commercial
one. Assuming the values of k and C
p
found in the previous experiments,
=1.9*10
5
N/V for the MEMS harvester and =4.8*10
4
N/V for the com-
mercial element. These values are in agreement with those measured with static
experiments.
The last performed steady state measurement, X8, is done with the same
PSD setup used for X1. The obtained results are depicted in Figure 3.12. The
extracted values of the dierent parameters were Q
m
=660, =2.5*10
5
N/V
for the MEMS sample and Q
m
=64, =5.5*10
4
N/V for the commercial one.
The value of the mechanical quality factor is similar to those found from X1,
X2 and X7. For , the obtained results corroborate those found from the static
1.5x10
-9
1.0
0.5
0.0
-0.5

I

/

(
A
.
s
)
490 480 470 460 450 440
(rad/s)
(a)
100x10
-12
80
60
40
20
0

I

/

(
A
.
s
)
4180 4160 4140 4120
(rad/s)
(b)
Figure 3.11 - Results of X7 in steady state mode for (a) the PZT commercial bender (V=0.1
V), (b) the AlN MEMS bender(V=0.1 V). The solid line corresponds to the real part, the
dashed line to the imaginary.
2.4x10
-4
2.0
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

o
f

g

(
m
)
490 480 470 460 450 440
(rad/s)
-80
-40
0
40
80
P
h
a
s
e

(
)
(a)
4.0x10
-4
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

o
f

g

(
m
)
4180 4160 4140 4120
(rad/s)
-80
-40
0
40
80
P
h
a
s
e

(
)
(b)
Figure 3.12 - Results of X8 in steady state mode for (a) the PZT commercial bender (V=5
V), (b) the AlN MEMS bender(V=5 V). The solid line corresponds to the amplitude of the
deection, the dashed line to its phase.
implementation of X8 and from the steady state implementation of X7.
It has been shown in this section that the steady state methods of charac-
terization allow determining most of the parameters of the equivalent network
representation of the piezoelectric benders. The dierent experiments lead to
some variation of the measured parameters, because of the deviations from the
model and because of experimental errors. However, the spread of the measure-
ments was reasonable and their averages can be considered as a representative
value. The steady state characterization approach proposed in this section is
very simple and can be rened by, for example, considering more characteristic
points and also their derivatives. The obtained values might be processed by
an algorithm performing statistical analysis. At the moment, such an algo-
rithm has been written solely for the clamped and free impedance analysis. In
the future, it will be combined with other routines analyzing the results of the
other measurements.
3.2.4 Transient characterization methods
For piezoelectric benders, transient methods of characterization are limited due
to the complexity of the analytical treatment of the transient response of the
devices. As shown in Chapter 4, it is not possible to obtain a simple closed
form of the transient behaviour in a general case. It is not relevant to moni-
tor the open circuit voltage or short circuit current resulting from a shock, as
the possible presence of dielectric losses makes the behavior of these two vari-
ables relatively complex. For the same reason, it is dicult to realize a precise
analysis of the waveform of the deection resulting from an initial voltage or
current. Therefore, the sole parameters that can be easily obtained from tran-
sient techniques are the fundamental resonance frequency and the mechanical
quality factor. These parameters can be obtained by applying an impulse force
or by setting initial velocity or displacement conditions to the short-circuited
structure and by monitoring the time dependence of the deection after the
impulse: the so called free oscillation behavior of the deection is measured.
This measurement is done with the PSD setup described previously.
The mechanical behavior of a piezoelectric bender in short circuit condi-
tions is equivalent to the one of a purely elastic beam. In this case, the free
oscillations follow a pseudo sinusoidal behavior described by
g
(t) = e
s
0
/2Q
m
t
_
Acos
_
s
0
1
1
4Q
2
m
t
_
+Bsin
_
s
0
1
1
4Q
2
m
t
__
(3.1)
in which A and B are real constants. Classical methods such as the logarith-
mic decrement [151] or a simple t with an exponential function are used to
determine the ratio
s
0
/2Q
m
. From this ratio and from the free oscillation
frequency
s
0
(1-1/4Q
m
)
1/2
the values of
s
0
and Q
m
are obtained.
s
0
=4150
rad.s
1
and Q
m
=710 for the MEMS device, while
s
0
=468 rad.s
1
and Q
m
=62
for the ceramic PZT bender.
In the next section, typical values of the network parameters for the dif-
ferent fabricated MEMS devices and commercial samples are summarized and
compared. Also, the material properties of the elastic and piezoelectric layers
implemented in the piezoelectric benders are estimated from the performed
measurements.
3.2.5 Typical values of the network parameters and esti-
mation of the material properties
The dierent characterization experiments done on the AlN based Dev1 sample
have been repeated for a large number of samples (PZT and AlN based MEMS
harvesters and ceramic PZT commercial devices). The obtained results were
relatively homogeneous and corresponded to the expected values for most of
the samples. In order to perform a comparison of the values of the parameters,
Table 3.7 shows measured values of the equivalent network parameters for the
AlN Dev1 sample and the commercial bimorph characterized in the previous
sections. Also, the parameters for a PZT Dev1 sample are given in the same
table.
It is dicult to draw a direct conclusion from the values of the parameters,
as the dimensions of the three devices are quite dierent. However, it can easily
be said from the values of that the PZT devices, both thin lm and ceramic,
are more adapted to force actuation application than the AlN devices. The
displacement actuation performances are controlled by the ratio /k similar
for the three devices, but with a small advantage for the ceramic PZT bender.
The sensing performances are governed by the ratio /C
p
and the AlN MEMS
device performs in this case better than the PZT MEMS structure, but not as
well as the commercial bender.
The mechanical dissipations are mainly due to air damping and increase
with the size of the devices. It is then observed that the mechanical quality
factor of the commercial device is much smaller than for the MEMS. The
MEMS devices tested in this chapter are unpackaged. The packaged devices
have a lower mechanical quality factor, similar to the one of the commercial
structures. It is planned to package the MEMS devices under vacuum in order
to avoid this problem. The values of the electrical quality factor are in the
same range, but slightly smaller for the PZT devices. Also, it can be seen that
the value of K
2
is much larger for the commercial device than for the MEMS.
This result is mainly due to the low thickness of the piezoelectric material
compared to the one of the substrate in the MEMS devices. Indeed, as shown
in Chapter 2, the generalized electromechanical coupling factor depends solely
on the thicknesses and compliances ratio and on the piezoelectric constant k
31
.
K
2
is an important parameter for power generation and one could argue that the
MEMS devices should have been designed for optimum K
2
. However, technical
problems limit the thickness of the deposited piezoelectric layer and the beam
should not be too thin in order to avoid fracture phenomena. Furthermore,
it is shown in Chapter 5 that, for the machine environment harvester, it is
not necessary to optimize the generalized electromechanical coupling factor if
parasitic dissipations can be maintained below a certain threshold.
Combining the measured values of the dierent parameters with their the-
oretical expressions in terms of dimensions and material properties developed
in Chapter 2 ((2.58), (2.59), (2.60), (2.40)and (2.41)), the eective compliance
of the substrate s
s
, the eective permittivity
T
p
and the eective piezoelectric
constant e
p
=d
p
/s
E
p
of the piezoelectric material can be estimated. In order to
choose the correct equations, it is important to remind that the MEMS devices
are unimorphs while the ceramic PZT beam are symmetric bimorphs. Also,
the thickness of the piezoelectric material was neglected for the MEMS devices
and =0 in (2.40) is assumed for both thin lm and ceramic structures.
For the AlN MEMS harvesters, the values obtained are quite similar to those
found in the literature [78]. For the PZT MEMS harvesters, the compliance
of the silicon diers slightly from the one found from the analysis of the AlN
device, probably because the etching of the beam is imperfect and results in
thickness unhomogeneities. Inostek (http://inostek.com/), the supplier of the
PZT covered wafers, do not provide the material properties of their PZT so
that it was not possible to compare the obtained values with existing data. For
the PZT commercial structure, the thickness of the piezoelectric material is
not negligible as it is the case for the MEMS ones. Therefore, the values of the
piezoelectric material compliance given on the manufacturer website (s
p
=17
pPa
1
) are used to estimate s
s
. The measured value of the permittivity and
of e
p
corresponds approximately to the manufacturers data. Unfortunately, it
is not possible to estimate the values of the electromechanical coupling factor
k
31
in the case of the MEMS harvesters as the compliance of the piezoelectric
material is unknown. For the PZT commercial structure, k
31
=0.33.
Table 3.7 - Values of the network parameters and estimated material properties for the
dierent types of tested samples. The standard deviation of the measurements is indicated
when possible.
AlN MEMS PZT MEMS Ceramic PZT
k
0
(N.m
1
) 190 830 749
m
e
(mg) 11.20.4 11.40.2 3390100
(N.V
1
) 223 17024 49647
Measured C
p0
(nF) 0.640.01 711.6 2.580.03
parameters Q
m
(-) 65615 120023 578
Q
e
(-) -11013 -639 -306
K
2
(-) 0.00360.0006 0.000570.00003 0.1140.008
s
0
(rad.s
1
) 412074 869189 4707
W (mm) 3 3 3.2
l (mm) 2.37 2.37 31.8
Dimensions L (mm) 3 3 7
h
s
(m) 45 80 340
h
p
(m) 0.8 1 270
Estimated s
s
(pPa
1
) 6.6 8.5 14.7
material e
p
(C.m
2
) 0.90.1 4.10.5 11.91.1
properties
T
p
/
0
(-) 8.50.2 113025 185021
3.3 Conclusion
In this chapter, the manufacturing by MEMS technologies of piezoelectric har-
vesters and the experimental determination of their corresponding equivalent
network parameters is presented. A robust process ow is developed. It re-
sults in functional devices but still needs some improvements at the level of
etch homogeneity and packaging. Particularly, the proposed ambient atmo-
sphere packaging approach results in low mechanical quality factors and will
82 3.3 Conclusion
be improved in the future by implementing a vacuum packaging method.
Static, transient and steady state experimental methods for determining the
equivalent network parameters are then described and implemented on MEMS
PZT and AlN based harvesters and on a commercial ceramic PZT structures.
No complete procedure for the characterization of the network parameters of
piezoelectric beams existed before this work and methods are developed to this
aim. From a theoretical point of view, a large amount of experiments can be
realized. However, from a practical point of view, some of them are dicult to
be done and only experiments that can be realized with commonly available
laboratory equipments are presented. It is shown that the static methods allow
measuring the stiness k and the transformation factor . All the parameters
but k can be determined from steady state measurement, which are for most
of them easily implemented. Finally, simple transient methods allow only ex-
tracting the resonance frequency
s
0
and the quality factor Q
m
. Characteristic
values of the network parameters are presented for the three types of structures
studied. The material properties of the piezoelectric materials are estimated
from these measurements. It is shown that PZT is more adapted to actuation
situation than AlN, but, at the opposite, that the latter material has better
performances in terms of sensing applications. It is now important to analyze
the capabilities of the piezoelectric benders when energy harvesting is consid-
ered. This is done in the next two chapters, rst for the human environment
device and then for the machine environment.
Chapter 4
Design and analysis of the human
environment vibration energy
harvester
In this chapter, the design and the characterization of the impact type harvester
described in the introductory chapter of this thesis is presented. For sake of
clarity, the general principles of the presented device are repeated. Classical
resonant systems are not easily adapted to the human environment because of
the low frequency of the vibrations occurring in this case. Therefore, the
energy harvester presented is based on a dierent principle which allows ob-
taining a reasonable amount of generated electrical power for low frequency
excitation. A conceptual representation of the human environment generator
is depicted in Figure 4.1. It consists basically of a frame containing a channel
which guides a free sliding mass (referred to as the missile in the following)
and of two piezoelectric benders located at the extremity of the frame. The
benders are cantilevers in our case. When the frame is shaken, the mass oc-
casionally impinges on the piezoelectric structures and a part of the kinetic
energy accumulated by the moving object is transformed into electrical energy
through the impact on the piezoelectric structures. The output voltages of
the benders are processed by an electronic block which can also contain the
powered application. This type of harvester has been already discussed by a
few authors: Umeda [5355] pioneered the analysis of the energy generated by
the impact of a steel ball on a piezoelectric membrane. Keawboonchuay stud-
ied high power impact piezoelectric generator that can be incorporated into
ammunitions [26]. The author of this thesis presented some analysis related
to the impact harvester for human applications in [56, 57, 155]. Cavallier [58]
and Takeuchi [59] described an experimental analysis of an equivalent device.
83
84 4.1 Modeling of the impact based harvester
Processingelectronics
&poweredapplication
Freemovingobject
Guidingchannel
Piezoelectricbenders
Figure 4.1 - Conceptual representation of the human environment vibration energy harvester.
From our knowledge, no other authors have proposed results on the subject.
Furthermore, none of the existing publications proposes a detailed model of the
device including the description of the impact mechanism and of the resulting
behavior of the piezoelectric bender. Therefore, a simple but complete model
of such a harvester is developed in a rst part of this chapter. The model
is based on the equivalent network representation of the piezoelectric benders
described in Chapter 2. The experimental validation of the model and the
characterization of a prototype are presented in a second part.
4.1 Modeling of the impact based harvester
In order to develop the equivalent network model of the piezoelectric benders,
it was introduced in chapter 2 that, in the framework of some approximations,
the behavior of an elastic beam after having been impacted by a moving object
can be represented by fundamental free oscillations. The details of these ap-
proximations and relevant derived information are described in a rst part of
this subsection. The equations describing the dynamics of the full system are
also derived. In a second part, particular types of load circuitry are introduced
in the problem and the output power of the harvester is theoretically optimized
for some simple input vibrations types and load circuitry situations.
4.1.1 Development of the model
Modeling the impact between two solid objects is a complex subject which can
not be easily treated without considering specic applications. Low velocity
impacts are relevant in this thesis. They do not result in extreme recong-
urations of the considered system and they can be classied along the four
categories described by Stronge [156]. The simplest representation of impact
phenomena is achieved by the so called stereo-mechanical model: in this case,
4. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
VIBRATION ENERGY HARVESTER 85
the dynamics of two perfectly rigid and smooth spherical particles is predicted
by applying the momentum conservation principle established by Newton. For
bodies with a nite stiness, one should consider the local deformations that
occur in the neighborhood of the impact surface, assumed to remain small.
The Hertz theory is used to describe this situation. A third category consists
in the transverse impact of a rigid body on a exible element. This case is the
most relevant in the analysis of the harvester. A fourth category of impacts
described by Stronge consists in axial impact on exible bodies and is not of
interest here.
The proposed analysis is limited to one dimensional collision on a exible
beam. It is assumed that the velocities of the objects and the eorts resulting
from the collision are directed perpendicularly to the large faces the beam.
The contact surfaces are supposed to be perfectly smooth so that the friction
mechanisms are neglected.
The dierent phases of the impact phenomena are described in Figure 4.2:
rst, in (a), the moving object approaches the beam with a velocity directed
along the normal to surface of the bender. In this application, this velocity
depends on the particular excitation applied to the frame of the device of
Figure 4.1. The impact process itself is described by Figure 4.2(b) and consists
of two separate phases: in the rst, the two objects tend to interpenetrate each
other and a local compression referred to as indentation
i
is observed in the
area surrounding the contact surfaces. The contact area becomes larger as the
magnitude of the indentation increases. The compression phase ends when the
amplitude of the restoring elastic force F(t) is large enough to induce a local
expansion of the two bodies tending to repulse each other at this moment.
During the contact time, a radial wave due to the indentation starts propagating
away from the impact location. It is assumed in this work that the contact area
and the magnitude of the indentation are small so that the corresponding radial
wave does not have an important inuence on the macroscopic behavior of the
two bodies and it is ignored. Another wave consisting in a vertical displacement
is initiated in the beam during the impact process. It is referred to as bending
wave and results from the exchange of momentum between the two objects. The
impact of the missile on the beam might excite a large number of oscillation
modes. However, for the conguration studied in this chapter, it is shown
later that most of the energy transferred to the beam during the impact is
conned to the fundamental mode of vibration, so that only the fundamental
bending wave is considered. After the expansion phase (Figure 4.2(c)), the two
objects separate with velocities directed along opposite direction. The missile
also oscillates along its own eigenmodes after the separation. As the moving
object is assumed to be very sti, these oscillations do not have inuence on the
general dynamics. In the beam, the bending wave propagates further away from
the impacted vertical segment. The behavior of the bender prior to a second
impact consists in free oscillations. It is assumed that the time necessary for
a standing wave to be established is negligible compared to the fundamental
period of the beam so that the displacement induced at the impact location is
Bendingwave
Indentationwave
Compression
F(t)
F(t)
F(t)
F(t)
Expansion
(a) (b)(c)
Figure 4.2 - The dierent phases of the impact of a sti body on a exible beam.
considered in the analysis to propagate instantaneously to the other points of
the beam. This last simplication might not be correct in case of an extremely
exible or long bender. Also, the contact time t
c
is considered to be so short
that the deection undergone by the beam during the contact is neglected.
A closed form expression of the contact force F(t) can be found using Hertz
model [157]. In this approximated theory, it is assumed that the dynamics of
two curved contact surfaces during an elastic impact can be represented by a
single degree of freedom model consisting of two lumped masses connected by a
non linear spring k
i
creating a contact force equal to k
i
i
3/2
. In a rst approx-
imation, the lumped mass associated with the impacted segment of the beam
corresponds to its eective mass m
e
. For the impacting missile, it corresponds
to its full mass M. The expression of the indentation stiness k
i
obtained by
this method is given by (4.1), in which R
b
and R
M
represent the curvature
of respectively the beam and missile impact surfaces at the initial contact (in
the limit case of a at impact surface on the beam, R
b
), while s
b,13
, s
b,33
,
s
M,13
and s
M,33
correspond to the relevant components of the compliance ten-
sors of the two objects (the subscript b refers to the bender, M to the missile),
according to the direction convention given in Chapter 2.
k
i
=
4
3
_
_
R
1
b
+R
1
M
_
1
__
1
_
s
b,13
s
b,33
_
2
_
s
b,33
+
_
1
_
s
M,13
s
M,33
_
2
_
s
M,33
_ (4.1)
An approximated closed form expression of the contact force during the compression-
expansion phase can be obtained by the method of Lee [158]. Assuming that
the impulse can be approximated during the contact period by half a sinu-
soid of angular frequency
c
, the contact time can be written as t
c
=/t
c
, i.e.
F(t)=F
c
sin(
c
t) for t
i
<t< t
i
+t
c
in which F
c
is the maximum amplitude of the
impact force and t
i
is the time at which the objects collide. The expressions of
F
c
and
c
found by Lees method are
F
c
= 1.437k
i
_
_
0.5MU
2
0
k
i
_
1 +
M
m
e
_
_
_
3/5
(4.2)
c
=
_
k
2
i
U
0
1.306M
2
_
1 +
M
m
e
_
2
_
1/5
(4.3)
U
0
represents the relative velocity of the two bodies just before impact (U
0
=
v
g
-v
M
).
In order to assess the relevance of the dierent approximations related to
the description of the impact, numerical values of the dierent characteristic
parameters are computed by using the material properties and geometries of
the problem. Representative dimensions of the piezoelectric cantilevers imple-
mented in the human environment harvester are given in Table 2.1. For the
numerical application, the radius of curvature of the impacting missile at the
contact surface is R
M
=5 mm while R
b
tends to innity (at surface). M=4
g and m
e
=0.4 g corresponding to the case C of Table 2.1. U
0
=1 m.s
1
and
the fundamental resonance frequency of the beam
s
0
=1700 rad.s
1
. For the
indentation related compliances, the relevant values of steel for the moving
mass and of PZT for the beam are used (s
b,33
=18.8 pPa
1
, s
b,13
= -7.22 pPa
1
,
s
M,33
=5 pPa
1
,s
M,13
= -1.5 pPa
1
). In this case, it is found that k
i
=4.6*10
9
N/m
3/2
,
c
=1.64*10
5
rad.s
1
and F
c
=60 N. The contact time t
c
and the maxi-
mum indentation are equal to 20 s and 5.5 m respectively. The assumptions
of negligible duration of the contact and of negligible indentation magnitude
are then justied. The numerical application is carried out considering the
geometries of a C type bender, but the same conclusions can be reached with
type B.
The rst assumption used in Chapter 2 when developing the equivalent net-
work of the piezoelectric bender is proven; i.e. the duration of the contact is
much smaller than the fundamental period of the beam. The impact force of
a moving object on the beam can then be represented by a pulse type load. It
is also assumed in the derivations of Chapter 2 that the impact process excites
solely the fundamental mode of vibration of the beam. The validity of this
assumption is veried by performing 2D plane stress FEM simulations of the
beam C of Table 2.1. A triangular mesh and quadratic elements are used. The
analysis is purely mechanical and piezoelectric eects are not considered. A
transient solver is used. Elastic behavior and small deformations are assumed.
The rst boundary condition of the model corresponds to the clamped end of
the cantilever and no displacements or rotations are allowed on this segment.
The second boundary condition consists of the pulse force F(t), as expressed in
(4.2), applied on the free end point. Because of the 2D plane stress approxima-
tion, it is implicitly assumed that this force is applied on the full width of the
cantilever, rather than being concentrated on a single point. This considera-
tion does not change the conclusions related to the single mode approximation.

P
o
s
i
t
i
o
n

o
f

t
h
e

t
i
p

o
f

t
h
e

b
e
a
m

(
m
)
5x10
-3
4 3 2 1 0
Time(s)
Figure 4.3 - Position of the tip of the beam C obtained from FEM (solid line) and by the
lumped model (dashed line) in the case of a pulse force applied at the tip.
In Figure 4.3, the tip deection as predicted by the FEM model is compared
to the one found by a single degree of freedom representation (mechanical
part of the equivalent circuit developed in Chapter 2). It is observed that the
high order frequency components of the response have a small eect on the
rst periods of oscillation of the beam, but they do not have any inuence
afterwards. The single mode approximation can then be implemented without
yielding noticeable errors in the general dynamics of the system. The results
of the analysis are only presented for a C type beam, but they are also true for
a B type one.
As the contact time is so short, it is also assumed that the impact process
and the corresponding pulse results in a quasi instantaneous redenition of the
velocity of the impacted segment in the beam and of the bulk of the moving
object. In this model, the dynamic behavior of the system is then discontin-
uous at the moment of the collision. The velocity of the objects before (v
g
and v
M
) and after (v
g
and v
M
) impact can be obtained by considering that

the variation of momentum occurring during the compression-expansion phase
should equate the time integral of the pulse F(t):
m
e
_
v
g
v
g
_
= M
_
v
M
v
M
_
=
t
i
+t
c
_
t
i
F (t) dt (4.4)
The momentum conservation principle is sucient to determine an expression
of the velocities before and after impact thanks to the expression of F(t) (4.2).
However, this expression is only valid for perfectly elastic impact in which no
energy dissipations occur during the compression-expansion phase. In practice,
complex dissipation mechanisms result from the collision. The elastic energy
can for example be transformed into heat by viscoelastic or internal friction
phenomena or induce local plastic deformations. In this case, the value of the
time integral of the impulse decreases. The study of these loss mechanisms is a
complex subject which is beyond the scope of this thesis. However, it is possible
to establish a simple phenomenological representation of the dissipations by
dening the energetic coecient of restitution e: for each body, it corresponds
to the square root of the ratio of the work W
c
done by F(t) on the contact
surfaces during the compression over the work W
e
done by the contact surfaces
in the expansion phase [156]. It is possible to write e
b
=(W
e,b
/W
c,b
)
1/2
for the
beam and e
M
=(W
e,M
/W
c,M
)
1/2
for the missile. e
b
and e
M
correspond to the
energy dissipated in each body during the compression-expansion. From these
denitions, it is also possible to dene an eective coecient of restitution
e relating the energy present in the system before (W
c,b
+W
c,M
) and after
(W
e,b
+W
e,M
) impact as
e
2
=
e
2
b
W
c,b
+e
2
M
W
c,M
W
c,b
+W
c,M
(4.5)
This representation is particularly useful here as the duration of the impact
process is very small. e depends on the eective masses, on the curvatures and
areas of the contact surfaces, on the material properties and on the relative
collision velocity ( e decreases if U
0
increases [159, 160]). No eorts are devoted
for nding an explicit expression of the coecient of restitution. Instead, the
values of e are determined experimentally.
Considering the fact that W
c,b
+W
c,M
is equal to the initial quantity of
energy before impact, the energy W
d
dissipated during the impact is
W
d
=
1
2
m
e
M
m
e
+M
_
1 e
2
_
U
2
0
(4.6)
From the energy conservation principle and from the rst equality of (4.4), it
is possible to express the velocities of the bodies after impact in terms of their
velocities before impact as
v
g
=
m
e
v
g
+Mv
M
eM (v
g
v
M
)
M +m
e
(4.7)
v
M
=
m
e
v
g
+Mv
M
+ em
e
(v
g
v
M
)
M +m
e
(4.8)
The results of the developed model are very similar to those coming from the
simple approach of Newton for two impacting spheres [161].
All the elements necessary to establish the simplied system of equations
describing the dynamics of the human environment harvester are now avail-
able. If a simple representation of the losses which occur during the sliding
of the free mass is assumed, the dynamics of the missile are described in the
referential of the devices frame by the simple ordinary dierential equation
Md
2
M
/dt
2
+D
v
d
M
/dt=F
ext
in which D
v
is a viscous damping factor,
M
rep-
resents the position of the mass respectively to one of the piezoelectric benders

1/k
0
C
p
m
e
V
2
F
ext
M
D
v
M
=
g2
?
M
=
g1
?
V
1
1
Q
2
Q
M
:1
Figure 4.4 - Equivalent electrical network representation of the human environment vibration
energy harvester.
(
M
is assumed one dimensional in our model) and F
ext
is the apparent force
resulting from the motion of the frame (the model is developed in the referential
attached to the devices frame). The dynamics of the bender are represented
by the quasi static solutions of the beam equation developed in Chapter 2 (it
is assumed that the low frequency motion undergone by the frame do not af-
fect noticeably the behavior of the beams). The behavior of the full system
is obtained by coupling the two previous equations with the developed impact
representation which consists in redening the bodies velocities at the moment
of collision. By similarities with the considerations expressed in Chapter 2, it
is possible to develop the electrical network model of the impact energy har-
vester depicted in Figure 4.4 in which the indices 1 and 2 correspond to the two
benders. The electrical equivalent of the piezoelectric beams has already been
discussed previously. Dielectric and piezoelectric dissipations are neglected in
this case so that and C
p
are real valued, while the stiness k
0
=k(1+j/Q
m
)
has a complex component representing the mechanical parasitic losses. In case
of the missile, its dynamics are represented by the series association of an
inductance M and a resistor D
v
. The impact coupling between missile and
benders is represented through sensing/actuating type elements (indicated by
the encircled symbol e) which determine if the moving mass enters into contact
with one of the benders. In this case, the velocities of the missile and of the
impacted bender are reinitialized according to (4.7) and (4.8).
The base of the model that used for the analysis of the human motion energy
harvester has been developed in this section. In the next, specic types of load
circuitry and of input forces are introduced so that the power delivered to the
load can be analyzed and optimized from a theoretical point of view. The
remainder of the modeling part is divided in two sections: in a rst one, eorts
are devoted in order to establish analytical elements which allow obtaining
1/k
0
C
p0
:1
m
e
F
'
(0)
=
g g
v
R
L
Figure 4.5 - Simplied situation considered for the analytical analysis of the harvester.
useful insights on the behavior of the device. However, an analytical approach
of the problem is limited to some very simple situations in which repeated
impacts are not considered. Therefore, numerical analyses based on the circuit
of Figure 4.4 are carried out for more complex and representative cases in a
second part.
4.1.2 Theoretical optimization of the generated power:
analytical perspectives
It is impossible to develop an analytical model representing the complete be-
havior of the human environment harvesters for a simple reason: the equations
of motion are transcendental. Indeed, sinusoidal components constitute the
motion of the beam while the motion of the missile contains (at least) one
linear component v
M
after an impact. No closed form solutions are known

for transcendental relations, so that it is impossible to determine an analytical
expression of the collision times (except for the rst one).
The simplied situation considered in this part is illustrated in electrical
network form by Figure 4.5. It consists of a single impact approximation in
which the missile hits one of the benders and does not interact with it after-
wards. In this case, the piezoelectric beam undergoes after impact unperturbed
free oscillations resulting from the induced velocity v
g
(the bender is assumed

at rest before collision). Also, a purely resistive load R
L
is assumed in this
analytical approach. It can be understood that the bender behaves after an
input impulse as if an initial quantity of mechanical energy E
0
=1/2m
e
(v
g
)
2
is injected. In an ideal case, the average output power of the system per im-
pulse can then be dened as P
d
=E
0
/t
a
, in which t
a
represents the time interval
between two consecutive impacts or shocks. The bender should be designed
in such a way that its output power is the closest possible to this theoretical
limit. The optimization process goes through the solution of the free oscillation
problem described above.
The detailed computations of the proposed analysis are given in [56] and
only the most important steps of the derivation are presented. Applying Kirch-
hos laws to the circuit of Figure 4.5 and a Laplace transformation to the
obtained equations leads to the expressions of the deection
g
and voltage V
given below.
L(
g
) =
m
e
v
g
(1 +C
p
R
L
s)
_
_
_
k + (
k
Q
m
s
0
+kC
p
R
L
+
2
R
L
)s
+
_
m
e
+C
p
R
L
k
Q
m
s
0
_
s
2
+m
e
C
p
R
L
s
3
_
_
_
(4.9)
L(V ) =
m
e
v
g
R
L
s
_
_
_
k + (
k
Q
m
s
0
+kC
p
R
L
+
2
R
L
)s+
_
m
e
+C
p
R
L
k
Q
m
s
0
_
s
2
+m
e
C
p
R
L
s
3
_
_
_
(4.10)
s represents the Laplace variable and the L function indicates the Laplace
transform of the corresponding variable. All the parameters present in (4.9)
and (4.10) have been dened in Chapter 2.
The work is now focused on the expression of the voltage across the load,
which is more relevant for the purpose of studying the power dissipated into the
load. In order to reduce the number of variables involved in the denominator
of (4.10), the dimensionless parameters dened in Table 4.1 can be used and
the Laplace transform of the voltage can be rewritten as
L(V ) =
v
s
0
R
L
s
0
_
_
_
1 +
_
(1 +K
2
) +
1
Q
m
_
s
s
0
+
(1 +

Q
m
)
_
s
s
0
_
2
+
_
s
s
0
_
3
_
_
_
(4.11)
represents the ratio of the fundamental resonance frequency
s
0
to the cut-o
angular frequency
e
of the electrical RC circuit, Q
m
is the mechanical quality
factor of the system and K is the GEMC of the piezoelectric unimorph (dened
in Chapter 2). In order to approach the optimum output power per impulse
dened in the previous section, it should be insured that most of the initial
amount of energy present in the bender after an impact is transferred to the
load and not dissipated by parasitic mechanisms. Because the parasitic dis-
sipations and the energy harvesting process compete in time for transforming
the initial amount of mechanical energy, it can be assumed from the denition
of the mechanical quality factor and of the GEMC that optimum harvesting
performance is achieved when K and Q
m
are maximized. Secondly, an electri-
cal load appropriately matched to the system should be dened, so that the
electrical damping is optimum. It is possible to obtain an analytical expression
of the power dissipated into the load by applying an inverse Laplace transform
to (4.11) in order to obtain the expression in the time-domain of the voltage
V. The average power P
d
dissipated into the load resistor can then be written
as
P
d
=
1
R
L
t
a
_
t
a
0
V (t)
2
dt (4.12)
Table 4.1 - Dimensionless parameters used in the representation of the voltage across the
load.

Short circuit mechanical angular frequency
0
=
s
e
k
m

Cut-off angular frequency of the RC circuit e
1
=
L p
R C

Ratio of the mechanical and electrical angular frequency
0
e
=
s

Generalized electromechanical coupling factor (GEMC)
2
2
p
= K
kC

in which t
a
represents the time interval between two consecutive impacts or
shocks.
The value of the optimum load resistor is found by determining the max-
imum of (4.12) in terms of R
L
. The exposed procedure is relatively complex
from the mathematical point of view and it is preferred to follow a dierent
approach, based on reasonable approximations and giving better insights in the
physics of the problem. It has been stated previously that the damping eects
(parasitic and energy harvesting process) compete in time, so that the rate
at which energy is extracted from the harvesting process (or in other words,
the instantaneous harvested power) has to be maximized, independently of the
amplitude of the parasitic dissipations. Furthermore, it can be seen from the
denominator of (4.11) that the parasitic damping and the energy harvesting
process act independently, as the coecients of s/
s
0
and of s
3
s
0
3
do not con-
tains cross terms of Q
m
and . Then, the optimization of the system can be
performed by analyzing the parasitic damping free behavior of the system and
by nding the parameters which lead to the shortest possible time required
for dissipating integrally the initial quantity of energy E
0
. From (4.12), the
shortest possible time to transform the initial amount of energy corresponds to
the shortest possible settling time for the voltage. The parasitic free expression
of the voltage is obtained by assuming Q
m
in (4.11):
L(V ) =
v
s
0
R
L
s
0
1 + [(1 +K
2
)]
s
s
0
+
s
2
s
0
2
+
s
3
s
0
3
(4.13)
In order to proceed, it is necessary to determine the time domain form of
the voltage V(t). To this aim, the nature of the roots of the denominator of
(4.13), which will be subsequently referred to as O(s), are analyzed. In the case
of second-order systems, O(s) would be a quadratic polynomial in s and the
inuence of the nature of its roots on the transient characteristics of a system is
well-known: a couple of complex conjugates roots means that the system has a
Table 4.2 - The dierent possible forms of the time domain expression of the voltage.
Sign of the
discriminant
of O(s)

Nature of the roots

Form of the time-domain expression

<0

1 real r
1

2 complex r
2
, r
2
*

( ) ( )
1 2
( )
1 2 2 3 2
( ) ( ) + +

r t Re r t
C e e C cos Im r t C sin Im r t

>0

3 single real r
1
, r
2
, r
3

3 1 2
1 2 3
r t r t r t
C e C e C e + +

=0

1 double real r
1

1 single real r
2

1 2
1 2 3
( )
r t r t
C t C e C e + +

=0

1 triple real r
1

1
2
1 2 3
( ) + +
r t
C t C t C e

pseudo-oscillatory behavior, a double real root that it is critically damped and

two real and dierent roots that the system is overdamped. In free oscillations
cases, the critically damped state is the one for which the system comes the
most rapidly at rest, without oscillating. In the following it is shown that
it is also theoretically possible to reach the equivalent of a critically damped
behavior in the investigated system, which is a third order one.
The dierent forms of the time domain expression of (4.13) are given in
Table 4.2 considering the possible values of the discriminant of O(s). In this
table, the symbols Re and Im indicate respectively the real and imaginary part
of the corresponding variable. The coecients C
i
are real numbers.
It has been shown in the literature that the shortest settling-time of third-
order systems is obtained when the system parameters are such that the roots
of O(s) are near the triple real root [162]. This state corresponds to the last
line of Table 4.2. The values of K and corresponding to a triple real root
r
1
for O(s) can be obtained by comparing the coecients of O(s) with those
of the polynomial (Cs-r
1
)
3
, in which C is a real constant. They are K
2
=8 and
=(3
3)
1
. As stated previously and as it is shown more clearly in the next
section, such high values of the generalized electromechanical coupling factor
can not be obtained, so that this behavior, although theoretically possible, can
not be reached in a practical application. Overdamped type behaviours (2
nd
and 3
rd
lines of Table 4.2) requires higher values of K than for the critically
damped one and it is then also practically impossible to reach it. Therefore, the
time domain expression V(t) of (4.13) has necessarily in practical applications
the form given in the rst line of Table 4.2, equivalent of the pseudo-oscillatory
behaviour of second order systems. It consists in the sum of an exponentially
decaying term and of a pseudo-oscillatory one. The roots of the characteristic
equation of the system consist in a real one r
1
, and in two complexes conjugated
ones r
2
and r
2
. The real parts of the dierent roots can only be negative, as

they represent the inverse of the time constants of a system which has no
physical possibilities to diverge. V(t) can then be written as
V (t) = C
1
e
r
1
t
+e
Re(r
2
)t
{C
2
Cos [Im(r
2
)t] +C
3
Sin[Im(r
2
)t]} (4.14)
Now that the form of the time domain expression of the voltage across the load
is known, eorts should be done to nd an explicit expression of the dierent
parameters involved in it, in order to dene their inuence on the settling time
of the structure. A method proposed in [161] is adapted to the problem. This
method allows obtaining analytical expressions of the value of the load resistor
leading to the minimum settling time of (4.14) and of the dierent parameters
involved for this electrical loading condition. This method is based on the
assumption that the minimum settling time is obtained when one or both of
the time constant involved in (4.14) (1/R
e
(r
2
) and 1/R
e
(r
1
)) is minimized.
This hypothesis has been checked numerically and is valid for values of K
2
smaller than unity, which is representative of all practical applications. By this
method, it is found that, in the given conditions, the expression of the optimum
load R
opt
is
R
opt
=
1
s
0
C
p
_
1 +
K
2
2
_ (4.15)
The corresponding angular frequency
s
of the shunted piezoelectric bender is
s
=
s
0
1 +
K
2
2
(1
K
2
8
) (4.16)
It is nally possible to derive the explicit expression of V(t):
V (t) =
v
g
2C
p
s
0
_
_
exp (
s
0
t)
+exp
_
K
2
s
0
4
t
_
_
cos(
s
t) +
_
1
K
2
2
_
sin(
s
t)
_
_
_
(4.17)
The correctness of the analytical expression given in (4.15), (4.16) and (4.17)
has been checked by performing numerical simulations with the software Math-
ematica. V(t) is rst computed by performing a numerical inverse Laplace
transform on (4.13) considering various values of the parameters , R
L
, K
2
,
s
0
and and it is veried that (4.13) leads to a correct approximation of the
voltage when parasitic dissipations are ignored. It is observed that the ex-
pression of the shunted resonance frequency is correct within a few %. The
energy dissipated into the resistive load (P
d
*t
a
) is then computed using (4.12)
for t
a
(the expression of the voltage taking into account parasitic dissi-
pations was used in this case). It is rst observed that, even in the presence
of parasitic dissipations, the value of the optimum load resistor R
opt
obtained
from numerical simulations is in close agreement with the one given by (4.15)
if K
2
is smaller than 1. Finally, it is seen that, independently of the values of
the other parameters, the energy harvested increases monotonically with K
2
and Q
m
.
Several observations can then be done on (4.17). It is rst seen that the
time constant of the exponential term is just equal to the inverse of the short
circuit and parasitic free natural frequency of the structure
s
0
. Second, the
time constant of the pseudo-oscillatory term depends on both the generalized
electromechanical coupling factor and natural frequency. Finally, the three co-
ecients related to the exponential term, to the exponentially decaying sinus
term and to the exponentially decaying cosines one are in practice almost equal.
In this case, minimizing the settling time of the structure means minimizing
both the time constants of the exponential term and of the pseudo oscillatory
ones. This can be done by maximizing the generalized electromechanical cou-
pling factor and the natural frequency
s
0
. However, this conclusion is not
absolute for
s
0
, because the model is valid when the duration of the input
impulse is much shorter than the oscillation period of the bender. With high
natural pulsation of the structure, it might be practically dicult to nd ap-
plications in which our model is relevant. Also, the addition of an extra mass
at the tip of the bender (see Table 2.1) leads to a reduction of the natural
frequency, but also to an increase of the initial energy stored in the structure,
so that a compromise has to be found.
It is shown in this part that the performances of the piezoelectric benders
in terms of impact energy harvesting are optimized by maximizing the general-
ized electromechanical coupling factor, by limiting the parasitic losses and by
appropriately tuning the value of the load. This analysis is carried out in the
framework of an over simplied situation. However, the conclusions that are
reached gives useful insights for the more representative situations investigated
by numerical means in the next section.
4.1.3 Theoretical optimization of the generated power:
numerical perspectives
The goal of the presented numerical analysis consists in determining general
rules for optimizing the output power of the harvester. The behavior of the
device is very complex (it might even become chaotic [163]) and involves an
important number of independent variables. It is not relevant to analyze in-
dividually the inuence of each of the constituent on the behavior. In the
previous section, it is shown that the performances of the system are optimized
when the generalized electromechanical coupling factor and the quality factor
of the piezoelectric bender are maximum. This conclusion has been obtained in
the framework of a simplied situation but it appears intuitively that it should
still yield for multiple impact case. Therefore, the parameters dening the gen-
eralized electromechanical coupling factor and the quality factor are set in the
following to xed values representative of the benders that are implemented
in the experiments. k, , C
p
and Q
m
are set to respectively 1000 N/m, 0.5
mN/V, 2.6 nF and 50 (and then K
2
=0.12). The dissipations which oppose the
motion of the missile (D
v
) are not taken into account in the present computa-
tions as it is clear that they have a negative inuence on the output power of
the system and they have to be minimized. The assumed input motion of the
frame in the numerical analysis consists of quasi instantaneous 180
rotations
occurring every second. Between these rotations, the frame is supposed to be
oriented in such a way that the sliding channel is aligned with the gravity eld
g, so that the missile undergoes a gravitational force F
ext
=-M*g which makes
it moving from one of the benders to the other (the action of gravity on the
beams is neglected). The considered input motion is representative of a move-
ment that can easily be achieved when a device is placed on a human wrist.
Other situations are studied in the experimental part of this chapter.
For the missile travelling distance , it is found by varying the values of this
parameter in the numerical simulations, that the performances of the harvester
in terms of conversion eciency decrease slightly as increases. This eect can
be explained in the following way: if the travel distance becomes too large,
the missile might not have reached its rest position on the second bender when
the second rotation occurs. In this case, a part of the potential energy of the
mass has not been transferred to the piezoelectric bender and the eciency of
the energy conversion is reduced. It does not necessarily mean a lower output
power but in any case a lower output power per unit volume. However, for
values of ranging from 10 mm till 50 mm, the dierences in the prediction
of the model in terms of electromechanical conversion eciency are noticeable
but no exceeding a few %, so that the analysis is limited to the constant value
=15 mm.
From all the previously expressed considerations, the variables that are left
for a parametric analysis of the harvester consists of the masses M and m
e
,
the coecient of restitution e and the characteristics of the load circuitry. It is
determined numerically that when the natural period of oscillation of the beam
is much smaller than the period of the rotations of the frame, the inuence of
the masses is coupled and can be studied through the reduced parameter M/m
e
.
Indeed, for a xed coecient of restitution and electrical load, one obtains the
same performances for constant M/m
e
independently of the particular values
chosen for the dierent masses. Concerning the electrical load, a simple type of
circuit consisting in a pure resistor is considered. The situation is complicated
by the two sided nature of the system. If the piezoelectric benders are shunted
by the same load circuit, they have to be connected in a parallel or series
arrangement. In this case, when one of the benders is impacted, a part of
the electrical energy it develops ows towards the second bender rather than
towards the load. This eect reduces inevitably the eciency of the conversion.
This problem might easily be eliminated by designing for example electrical
switches which close and open in a relevant way. For matter of simplicity, it
is considered that each bender is connected to its own load. Furthermore, the
missile is assumed at rest on one of the bender before each rotation. It is
possible to estimate the power generated by the harvester by studying solely
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

B
e
a
m

a
n
d

m
i
s
s
i
l
e

d
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05
Time (s)
(a)
-4x10
1
-2
0
2

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05
Time (s)
(b)
Figure 4.6 - (a) Illustration of the motion of the beam and of the missile after a rotation of
the frame, (b) corresponding output voltage on the piezoelectric capacitor (open circuited).
the behavior of the system between two successive rotations. As the period of
the considered rotations is 1 s, the average output power corresponds to the
energy dissipated or stored into the load during that time.
Before presenting the results related to the output power, some observations
on the general behavior of the system are proposed. The motion of the missile
and bender after a rotation of the frame is illustrated in Figure 4.6(a). It can
be seen in the inset of the gure that each genuine impact is followed by
a multitude of short time related collisions until the missile is ejected from
the neighborhood of the bender. At this moment, the beam oscillates freely
till a second genuine impact occurs. Depending on the values of the dierent
parameters, the missile might apparently stick to the bender during a short
duration. In a perfectly inelastic case ( e=0), the missile and the beam merge
into a single oscillator just after impact. They separate when the acceleration
of the beam becomes null. For other values of the coecient of restitution,
the sticking parts of the behavior are dicult to predict in a general way and
depend on all dierent characteristic parameters. However, when the eective
mass of the bender is negligible compared to the missile, the behavior is very
similar to the inelastic one independently of the value of the coecient of
restitution. The voltage developed on the electrical ports (open circuited) of
the piezoelectric beam is reported in Figure 4.6(b). Each genuine impact results
in a sharp peak of the voltage followed by decaying sinusoidal oscillations. The
secondary collisions tend to distort the initial peak and they can have a strong
inuence on this part of the waveform of the voltage.
For sake of clarity, the simplied circuit representation of the harvester cor-
responding to the situation that is investigated in this part is given in Figure
4.7. Multiple impacts are here taken in consideration (not being the case in
the previous section). The parametric analysis that is performed consists in
determining the inuence of M/m
e
and R
L
on the eciency of the energy con-
version. The initial energy E
0
present in the system at the beginning of a cycle
g

1/k
0
C
p
m
e
Mg
M
=
g
?
V
M
:1
R
L
( )
( )
0 0
0
=
=
g
M

( )
( )
0 0
0 0
=
=
g
M
Figure 4.7 - Circuit representation of the gravity drop of the missile on a piezoelectric bender
shunted by a resistive load.
can be approximated by the potential energy of the missile Mg with g=9.8
m.s
2
and =15 mm. The energy E
L
dissipated in the load resistor during a
period of the motion is obtained by integrating V(t)
2
/R
L
. The eciency is
dened as E
L
/E
0
and the average output power P
d
is equal to E
0
/t
a
(t
a
=1 s).
An analytical expression of the optimum load resistor has previously been
found for a single impact approximation in (4.15) and it is rst checked if this
formula is valid in multiple impact situations. To this aim, the eciency
is computed for a large variety of values of the coecient of restitution and
of the masses ratio, while considering a constant range of values for the load
resistor. The chosen range was centered on the value resulting from the ex-
pression of R
opt
given in (4.15). A few of the obtained results are presented
in Figure 4.8. The abscissa of the presented graphics corresponds to the load
resistor normalized to the optimum value (4.15). It can be seen in Figure 4.8
that the coecient of restitution does not have a strong inuence on the value
of the optimum load, but on the other hand, that M/m
e
plays an important
role in this matter. When this parameter increases, the optimum load resistor
in multiple impact situations R
m
opt
shifts towards higher values. This eect can
be explained in the following way: it is assumed in the analytical derivations
of the previous section that the missile is impacting the beam a single time
and that the objects do not have any interactions afterwards. In this case,
the beam oscillates solely along its fundamental frequency and the transfer of
energy to the load resistor is optimized for the value of R
opt
(4.15). In the mul-
tiple impacts situation, the mechanical behavior of the bender can be divided
into three characteristic periods. In the rst, the missile is not in the vicinity
of the beam and the situation corresponds to the one just described. In the
second, the beam is in the neighborhood of the beam and several short time
related collisions occur (inset of Figure 4.6(a)). For the third type ones, the
missile apparently sticks to the bender and the system oscillates at a frequency
30
20
10
0
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
6
0.1
2 4 6
1
2 4 6
10
2 4
R
L
/R
opt
30
20
10
0
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
6
0.1
2 4 6
1
2 4 6
10
2 4
R
L
/R
opt
40
30
20
10
0
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
6
0.1
2 4 6
1
2 4 6
10
2 4
R
L
/R
opt
40
30
20
10
0
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
6
0.1
2 4 6
1
2 4 6
10
2 4
R
L
/R
opt
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 4.8 - Eciency of the energy conversion versus R
L
/R
opt
, (a) e=0.7, (b) e=0.5, (c)
e=0.2, (d) e=0. In each graph, the black solid line corresponds to M/m=0.2, the black dotted
line to M/m=1, the black dashed line to M/m=2, the black dashed dotted line to M/m=5,
the grey solid line to M/m=10 and the grey dotted line to M/m=20.
s
(1+M/m
e
)
1/2
. The occurrence of these periods depends on most of the dier-
ent parameters of the model. However, periods of the second type are observed
in situations involving high coecient of restitution and M/m
e
1, while the
third type occur for high M/m
e
and low coecient of restitution. The third
type characteristic periods of the motion introduce low frequency components
into the frequency spectrum of the bender displacement. The expression of
the optimum load resistor given in (4.15) is found considering only the periods
of the rst type. In order to adapt it to the multiple impacts situation and
to the corresponding additional low frequency components, one can assume a
representative or average frequency of the motion. This average frequency
m
is inevitably smaller than the shunted resonance frequency
s
of the free
bender when M/m
e
1. As R
opt
is inversely proportional to the frequency of
the oscillation undergone by the bender, the optimum load in multiple impacts
cases R
m
opt
=R
opt
s
/
m
shifts towards higher values. This eect can clearly
be observed in Figure 4.8 for large M/m
e
independently of the value of the
coecient of restitution.
40
30
20
10

E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

a
t

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

l
o
a
d

(
%
)
0.1 1 10
M/m
e
A
B
(a)

P
o
s
i
t
i
o
n

(
m
)
Time (s)

P
o
s
i
t
i
o
n

(
m
)
Time (s)
A
B
(b)
Figure 4.9 - (a) Eciency of the energy conversion at the optimum load resistor, solid line:
e=0.7, dotted line: e=0.5, dashed line: e=0.2, (b) position of the beam and of the missile
for points A and B.
From the obtained results, it is possible to estimate the maximum eciency
of the system to be approximately 40-50%. It is however not straightforward
to establish a clear inuence of the coecient of restitution and of the masses
ratio from the curves of Figure 4.8. It is observed that for a xed value of
e, the eciency does not vary monotonically with M/m
e
and does not follow
an equivalent behavior for dierent values of e. Also, it can be seen that
higher values of the eciency can be obtained with low values of the coecient
of restitution, which is somewhat surprising. In order to clarify this point,
the eciency at the optimum load resistor versus the masses ratio and for
dierent coecients of restitution is plotted in Figure 4.9(a). In the low M/m
e
range, several local maxima and minima are observed when large coecients
of restitution are considered. The presence of these peaks is explained by
the complex dynamics of the system and by the repeated exchanges of energy
between beam and missile. The dynamic situations corresponding to the points
A and B in Figure 4.9(a) are illustrated in Figure 4.9(b). It can be seen that for
the maxima of point A, the missile is ejected after the rst impact in such a way
that his position is just slightly above the one of the beam when it has reached
its maximum amplitude. In this way, the quantity of energy transferred to the
beam during the rst impact remains in the bender and can be dissipated during
the free oscillations. At the opposite, for the point B, the conguration is such
that, after the rst collision, the beam hits the missile when it has reached its
maximum velocity and it transfer back a large part of its initial energy to the
moving object. The quantity of energy left in the beam for harvesting is then
much smaller for the point B than for the point A. Equivalent reasoning can be
developed for the other maxima and minima. These peaks do not appear for low
102 4.2 Experimental measurements
or large mass of the missile, as in this case the complex multi impact behavior
does not exist and is reduced to a sticking situation. It is also observed
from Figure 4.9(a) that when M/m
e
becomes very large, the eciency for the
dierent values of the coecient of restitution merges. Finally, for middle range
values of the masses ratio, it is advantageous (counter intuitively) to design a
system with a low coecient of restitution in order to optimize the eciency.
It is shown in this part that the eciency of the human environment en-
ergy harvester is optimized by maximizing the generalized electromechanical
coupling factor, limiting the parasitic losses, choosing an appropriate load and
implementing an appropriate masses ratio. In the best conditions and neglect-
ing parasitic losses, an optimum eciency in the range of 40-50% is predicted.
In the next section, the conclusions obtained from the model are veried ex-
perimentally and a prototype of the impact harvester is tested on the human
body.
4.2 Experimental measurements
Most of the parameters of the network model of the impact harvester can be
found through the characterization methods proposed in chapter 3. However,
the coecient of restitution is a parameter requiring specic measurements.
Therefore, a simple method of measuring e is proposed for the materials and
structures implemented in this thesis. Then, the predictions of the model are
compared to experimental measurements in the simple rotary motion described
previously. Finally, a prototype of the impact harvester is mounted on the
human body and its performances are measured.
4.2.1 Coecient of restitution
The value of the coecient of restitution e is obtained using a simple method
in which the velocity of a steel missile was measured before and after impact
by means of laser detection. The impacted piezoelectric beam is clamped so
that there is no need to measure the velocity of the bender. The principle of
the method is illustrated by Figure 4.10(a). The missile is dropped from an
arbitrary height (the chosen values is 15 mm for most of the experiments) on
the surface of the clamped piezoelectric bender. A laser beam coupled to a light
detector allows detecting the successive times t
1
and t
2
at which the moving
object crosses and exits the beam, so that from the basic law of motion, its
velocity v
2
at the time t
2
can be written as (2gL
M
+v
1
2
)
1/2
with v
1
=L
M
/(t
2
-
t
1
)-g(t
2
-t
1
)/2. The impact time t
3
is determined thanks to the surface wave
created at the moment of the collision and which results in a voltage developed
across the open circuit piezoelectric laminate. The distance between the laser
beam and the piezoelectric bender L
L
is chosen so that it is just a bit larger
than L
M
. In this way, the dissipations due to air damping can be neglected in
L
M
L
L
t
1
t
3
t
4
t
2
Laser
PSD
Clamped
piezoelectric
beam
Impact
(a)

V
o
l
t
a
g
e
(
V
)
30x10
-3
20 10 0 -10
Time(s)
t
1
t
2
t
3
t
4
(b)
Figure 4.10 - (a) Illustration of the method for determining the coecient of restitution, (b)
measurement plot for the coecient of restitution. The black and red curves correspond re-
spectively to the voltage across the light detector and across the electrodes of the piezoelectric
beam.
this portion of the motion of the missile and its velocity just before impact v
3
can reasonably be approximated by (2g(L
L
-L
m
)+v
2
2
)
1/2
. In the same way, the
velocity just after impact v
3
can be estimated from the time interval between
the impact and t
4
so that v
3
=(L
L
-L
M
)/(t
4
-t
3
)+g(t
4
-t
3
)/2. If one considers
now the expression involving the coecient of restitution given in (4.8), it is
seen that in case of the impact of a missile on a clamped beam (v
g
=v
g
=0
and m
e
M), it is possible to write e= -v
3
/v
3
, i.e. the energetic coecient of
restitution is equivalent to the kinematic one [156]. A typical measurement plot
obtained from this method is given in Figure 4.10(b). The voltage across the
light detector becomes null when the missile passes in front of the beam. As
indicated on the graphic, the dierent times related to the instants illustrated
in Figure 4.10(a) are easily obtained from the described measurement. In
this experiment, the angle of drop of the missile is not perfectly controlled so
that small variations are observed on the measured values of e. The standard
deviation of the measurements was approximately equal to 5%, so that it is
reasonable to consider the average of the distribution as a representative value
for the next comparisons. The average value of e was found to be equal to 0.55.
4.2.2 Comparison of the model predictions with experi-
mental measurements
The prediction of the model concerning the voltage developed across the elec-
trodes of the piezoelectric beam and the power dissipated in the load resistor are
compared with experimental measurements using the arrangement described in
Figure 4.11(a). The equivalent network parameters of the piezoelectric beam
used in these experiments were k=749 N/m, m
e
=400 mg, M=4 g, Q
m
=59,
=0.5 mN/V, C
p
=2.6 nF (they are those of the ceramic PZT bender charac-
terized in Chapter 3, without attached mass) and e=0.55 is assumed. In a rst
series of experiments, the eciency of the energy conversion versus the value
of the load resistor is measured for a drop distances of 15 mm. The results
are reported in Figure 4.11(b). It is observed that the theoretical and ex-
perimental optimum values of the load coincide well. R
m
opt
=400k2/(
0
C
p
),
corresponding approximately to the value found in Figure 4.8(b) for e=0.5 and
M/m
e
=10), but the predicted eciency is approximately 50% higher than the
measured one. This result is explained because of the losses occurring during
the motion of the missile that are neglected in the numerical computations.
They play an important role on the general behavior of the device. These par-
asitic losses are however dicult to estimate and to represent in a proper way,
as they are mainly due to the imperfectly controlled direction of impact and
of bounce. Indeed, it can be easily understood from Figure 4.11(a) that, in
the measurement setup used, the missile after a bounce might not move in a
direction perfectly perpendicular to the beam and it can hit the sides of the
guiding channel. Friction phenomena resulting from this eect decrease dra-
matically the eciency of the system. This assumption is veried by performing
a second series of experiments in which the theoretical and experimental time
dependence of the voltage across the piezoelectric beam and of the energy dis-
sipated in the optimum load are compared (Figure 4.12). The model gives a
very good estimation of the voltage and eciency for the rst impact. How-
ever, the second impact occurs after a shorter time than the predicted one and
the corresponding eciency step is smaller than expected. This eect becomes
more pronounced for the following collisions. It appears that at each bounce,
an important part of the kinetic energy of the missile is dissipated because of
the parasitic phenomena described above. In spite of the presence of this par-
asitic damping mechanism, the conclusions related to the optimum bimorphs
parameters remains valid.
The experiments performed in this section are meant to establish a compar-
ison between the predictions of the model and the measurements in a simple
experimental situation. In the next part, a similar characterization is performed
on a prototype of the impact harvester.
4.2.3 Characterization of a prototype of the human envi-
ronment harvester
A conceptual representation and a picture of the manufactured prototype of
the impact energy harvester are given in Figure 4.13. The housing of the de-
vice is made of Teon while aluminum is used for the clamps and the closing
caps. The missile is made of steel (M=4 g) and has an oblong shape, so that
it occupies approximately half of the length of the guiding channel equal to 30
Loadand
measurement
electronics
PSD
Laser
Piezoelectric
bender
Releasepad
Guiding
channel
Vertical
stage
Missile
(a)
30
20
10
0

C
o
n
v
e
r
s
i
o
n

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
10
4
2 4 6 8
10
5
2 4 6 8
10
6
Load resistor ()
(b)
Figure 4.11 - (a) Description of the experimental setup, (b) theoretical (solid line) and
experimental (markers) eciency of the energy conversion.
60
40
20
0
-20
-40
-60
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
(
V
)
0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0
Time(s)
(a)
30
20
10
0

C
o
n
v
e
r
s
i
o
n

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0
Time(s)
(b)
Figure 4.12 - Voltage (a) and eciency (b) waveforms for a gravity drop. For all the
dierent graphics, the black lines correspond to the theoretical expectations while the red
ones correspond to experimental measurements.
mm. A part of the housing of the prototype might be eliminated or replaced by
the powered application and conditioning electronics, so that the output power
per unit volume or mass can be improved. The piezoelectric cantilevers imple-
mented in the prototype are not optimized for energy harvesting because of a
lack of materials. The characteristics corresponding to the network model were
k=6000 N/m, m
e
=600 mg, Q
m
=40, =1 mN/V and C
p
=9.6 nF. The corre-
sponding value of the generalized electromechanical coupling factor is 1.7*10
2
.
As shown in the following, this relatively low value of K
2
reduces the eciency
of the energy conversion. For the coecient of restitution, the same value of
0.55 that was considered in the previous experiments (the same piezoelectric
materials are implemented). Reliability problems are observed in the testing
of the prototype because of the large deection and dynamical stress resulting
from the impact. In order to limit this problem, small magnets are attached
on each cantilever and on the closing cap in such a way that they repulse
(a)
(b)
Figure 4.13 - (a) Conceptual representation of the harvester prototype, (b) photography of
the actual prototype.
each other. This simple method allows implementing a non linear spring which
smoothes the motion of the cantilever when it approaches the closing cap. In
normal mode of operation, the magnets remain relatively far from each other
and they do not have a strong inuence on the general dynamics and eciency
of the system.
The harvester prototype was rst tested according to the simple rotary mo-
tion described previously. In this case and for the proposed conguration, the
kinetic energy of the mass when hitting one of the cantilevers is Mg=593 W.
The theoretical and experimental values of the conversion eciency are plotted
in Figure 4.14. Because of the low value of the generalized electromechanical
coupling factored, the maximum theoretical value of the eciency is reduced
to 13% instead of 40% in Figure 4.14(a). The discrepancy between the predic-
tion of the model and the measurements is slightly lower than for the situation
studied in the previous subsection and the maximum experimental value of
the eciency is found to be around 8%. As before, this discrepancy is due
to the friction of the missile when sliding in the guiding channel and to the
angle of bounce of the moving object after impact. A single rotation of the
device is performed in these measurements but one can estimate that during
the repeated rotary motion at 1 Hz, the total power dissipated in the resistive
loads would be approximately 95 W.
The device is also tested when it is attached to the hand of a person and
forcibly shaken. The frequency of the applied motion is estimated to 7 Hz
while the amplitude is approximately 10 cm. This extreme situation is ob-
tained by simulating a strong scratching motion. Such vibrations might also
be observed in some sportive situations (o road motor biking) and profes-
12
10
8
6
4
2

C
o
n
v
e
r
s
i
o
n

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
10
3
2 4 6 8
10
4
2 4 6 8
10
5
Load resistor ()
(a)
600
500
400
300
O
u
t
p
u
t

p
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
10
3
2 4 6 8
10
4
2 4 6 8
10
5
Load resistor ()
(b)
Figure 4.14 - (a) Eciency of the energy conversion when the prototype is rotated over 180
each second, (b) generated power when the device is forcibly shaken.
sional activities (jackhammer). Also, the developed device might be useful for
particular industrial applications such as weaving machines. The output power
of the device under these conditions and versus the load resistor is presented
in Figure 4.14(b). A maximum of 600 W was measured. In such erratic
conditions of excitation, the behavior of the power does not follow a smooth
curve. However, it is observed that for resistor ranging from 3 k till 60 k,
values above 400 W are obtained. This amount of power is sucient to supply
energy to low consumption applications.
4.3 Conclusion
In this chapter, the design and characterization of a prototype of harvester able
to produce energy from the motion of human limbs is presented. The proposed
harvester is based on the impact of a moving object on piezoelectric bending
structures. An output power of 600 W is obtained for a device of dimensions
3.5*2*2 cm
3
weighting 60 g placed on the hand of a person and shaken at
a frequency of approximately 7 Hz for a 10cm amplitude. Also, a power of
47 W is measured when the harvester is rotated over 180
each second. A
large amount of the volume occupied by the prototype of the harvester can
be eliminated and one can estimate an output power density of 10 W/cm
3
or 4 W/g for an optimized device undergoing the previously described rotary
motion. These gures can be multiplied by a factor 12 when a 7 Hz frequency,
10 cm amplitude linear motion is considered. It is shown that in order to
realize an ecient impact energy harvester, one should apply the following
design guidelines:
In order to maximize the eciency of the energy conversion, the general-
ized electromechanical coupling factor and the mechanical quality factor
of the piezoelectric transducer have to be made as high as possible by
108 4.3 Conclusion
choosing appropriate materials and dimensions. Also, the parasitic dissi-
pations in the motion of the missile have intuitively to be minimized.
The resonance frequency of the bender should be high enough so that the
amount of energy transferred by the moving object during an impact can
be dissipated prior to a second impact.
The missile should be made as sti as possible in order to avoid stor-
ing energy into vibrations of the missile rather than in vibrations of the
piezoelectric transducer.
In order to limit reliability problems due to high stresses and deections
resulting from high amplitude excitations, a damping system has to be
implemented in the neighborhood of the piezoelectric elements (repulsing
magnets are used here).
Chapter 5
Design and analysis of the
machine environment vibration
energy harvester
The output power characteristics of the harvesters designed for generating elec-
trical power from high frequency and low amplitude vibrations (machine envi-
ronment) are presented. As explained in Chapter 1, the developed harvesters
are resonant devices which have to be excited in the neighborhood of their fun-
damental resonance frequency for optimizing the production of electrical power.
In this thesis, the investigations are limited to single harmonic mechanical ex-
citations. In real life applications, broadband spectrum of input vibrations
should be considered. In the framework of a rst tentative of optimization,
it is however assumed that the spectrum of most ubiquitous vibrations con-
tains a dominant frequency which can be roughly approximated by a single
frequency. The basic principles of energy extraction from harmonic vibrations
by piezoelectric elements have been developed in the seventies for purposes
dierent than producing useful electrical power: piezoelectric elements were
primarily used for attenuating parasitic and undesired vibrations in mechani-
cal machinery. The goals of the vibration damping and energy harvesting elds
are dierent by essence but most of the principles developed for the former do-
main are applicable in the latter, particularly when the design of an eective
load circuitry is considered.
The energy harvesting eld received little attention till the beginning of
the second millennium. The amount of publications related to the subject
however increased exponentially in the following years. Roundy [28, 164] was
the rst to propose an analytical approach to the optimization of the generated
power. The expressions that he developed are often taken as a reference for
109
110 5.1 Theoretical analysis of the harvesters output power
elaborating simple estimation but it is shown in this chapter that they are only
valid in particular and restrictive conditions. Approaches equivalent to the one
of Roundy and renements of the obtained results were proposed by numerous
authors such as Richards [75], DuToit [97], Mitcheson [165, 166] or the author
of this thesis [24]. Advanced but purely numerical methods were also recently
proposed by Liao in [167].
The approach proposed here is based on the analysis of the equivalent net-
work circuit developed in Chapter 1. It is organized as follow: in a rst part, a
theoretical analysis of the expected performances of the harvesters is presented.
The analysis is concentrated on purely resistive load circuits. Alternative lin-
ear and non linear signal conditioning methods are only briey discussed. In a
second part, the output power of the devices is measured experimentally. Both
the MEMS fabricated and commercial benders based harvesters (Chapter 3)
are characterized.
5.1 Theoretical analysis of the harvesters out-
put power
The elements proposed here are based on the steady state behavior of the piezo-
electric benders and classical methods of harmonic analysis are implemented.
Rather than utilizing the Laplace transform which is particularly adapted for
transient situations (see Chapter 4), the complex transform is used. The quasi-
static version of the equivalent circuit proposed in Chapter 2 is taken as a basis
for performing the proposed analysis and is repeated in Figure 5.1 for sake of
clarity. The force F acting on the mechanical side of the device has been re-
placed by the inertial force m
e
sin(t) due to the input vibration applied to the
clamped end of the piezoelectric cantilevers. Z
L
represents the electrical load
circuitry connected to the harvester and in which energy is stored or dissipated.
When dealing with loads made of linear components, Z
L
also correspond to the
impedance of the load circuit. Dielectric and parasitic dissipations are taken
into account and k
0
=k(1+jQ
m
) and C
p0
=C
p
(1+jQ
e
). In the following, the
analysis of the power dissipated by the harvesters through a perfect resistor
is rst presented in details. In a second part, alternative power conditioning
methods are briey discussed.
5.1.1 Resistive load
The resistive load is the simplest to be imagined and in this case Z
L
=R
L
.
When the bender oscillates under the action of the external vibration, the
charges developed in the piezoelectric layer are allowed to ow through R
L
. The
corresponding energy dissipated per cycle is equivalent to the output power of
the harvester. Roundy [41] was the rst to analyze this problem for the scope
of energy harvesting, even if the same principle was understood since long in
5. DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF THE MACHINE ENVIRONMENT
1/k
0
C
p0
:1
m
e
F
( )
0
sin
e
m A t
R
L
Figure 5.1 - Equivalent circuit model of a piezoelectric bending structure excited by a

sinusoidal vibration.
the eld of vibration absorption [143]. Assuming steady state behavior, the
average power P
d
dissipated in the resistor can be written as
P
d
=

2
2/
_
0
V (t)
2
R
L
=
|V ()|
2
2R
L
(5.1)
in which the upper score indicated the complex transform of the corresponding
variable.
It is then necessary to determine rst an expression of the voltage drop
across the load resistor before obtaining the one of the output power. Applying
Kirschos laws in the frequency domain to the circuit of Figure 5.1 leads to
m
e
A
0
=
_
m
e
2
+k
0
_
t
+ V (5.2)
V
R
L
= j
t
jC
p0
V (5.3)
This system can be solved for the complex voltage and deection.
V =
m
e
A
0
R
L
s
_
_
k
_
1 +
j
Q
m
_
+
_
C
p
_
1 +
j
Q
e
_
k
_
1 +
j
Q
m
_
R
L
+
2
R
L
_
s
+m
e
s
2
+m
e
C
p
_
1 +
j
Q
e
_
R
L
s
3
_
_
(5.4)
g
=
m
e
A
0
_
1 +C
p
_
1 +
j
Q
e
_
R
L
s
_
_
_
k
_
1 +
j
Q
m
_
+
_
C
p
_
1 +
j
Q
e
_
k
_
1 +
j
Q
m
_
R
L
+
2
R
L
_
s
+m
e
s
2
+m
e
C
p
_
1 +
j
Q
e
_
R
L
s
3
_
_
(5.5)
In order to simplify the expressions, the non dimensional parameters introduced
in Table 4.1 are also used in this chapter. According to the denitions of
Table 4.1, represents the ratio of the mechanical resonance frequency
s
0
to
the cut-o angular frequency
e
of the electrical RC circuit corresponding to the
load resistor coupled with the piezoelectric capacitor and K is the generalized
electromechanical coupling factor of the piezoelectric unimorph. The symbol
=/
s
0
is also used in the following. The amplitude of the voltage and of
the deection can now be written as
|V | =
A
0
C
p
(
s
0
)
2
2
(
2
1)
2
+
2
2
(
2
1 K
2
)
2
+D
m
+D
e
+D
em
(5.6)
|
g
| =
A
0
(
s
0
)
2
_
1
2
Q
e
+

2
2
_
1 +Q
2
e
_
Q
2
e
(
2
1)
2
+
2
2
(
2
1 K
2
)
2
+D
m
+D
e
+D
em
(5.7)
with
D
m
=
1
Q
m
_
1
Q
m
+ 2
_
K
2
+

2Q
m
__
(5.8)
D
e
=
2
_
2
1
_
2
Q
e
_
1

2Q
e
_
(5.9)
D
em
=
2
Q
e
Q
m
_
1
Q
m
_
1
2Q
e
Q
m
K
2
__
(5.10)
The terms dened in (5.8), (5.9) and (5.10) are related to the parasitic
dissipations. D
m
is solely linked to the parasitic mechanical dissipations, while
D
e
depends only on the dielectric losses. D
em
is a coupled term and is dierent
from zero only if both mechanical and dielectric dissipations are considered. It
can also be seen that at the short circuit resonance (=1), the pure dielectric
term D
e
vanishes while the coupled term D
em
does not.
All the elements necessary for computing the output power P
d
of the har-
vester have been established. By combining (5.1) and (5.6), one can elaborate
the expression of P
d
given below.
P
d
=
m
e
A
2
0
2
s
0
2
K
2
(
2
1)
2
+
2
2
(
2
1 K
2
)
2
+D
m
+D
e
+D
em
(5.11)
In the absence of parasitic losses, two resonance frequencies expressed by
the terms
2
-1 and
2
-1-K
2
are clearly identiable. In short-circuit congura-
tion, R
L
=0 and is then also null in (5.11), so that the term
2
2
(
2
-1-K
2
)
vanishes from the denominator. (
2
-1) corresponds to the normalized short-
circuit fundamental normalized frequency
s
0
=1. In a situation close to an
open-circuit one, is very large and
2
2
(
2
-1-K
2
) dominates the denom-
inator of (5.11). It corresponds to the normalized open-circuit fundamental
frequency
o
0
=(1+K
2
)
(
1/2)=1 of the bender.
s
0
and
o
0
can also be approxi-
mately dened as the frequencies at which the impedance seen from the elec-
trical ports of Figure 5.1 are respectively minimum and maximum. The shift
between the short and open circuit characteristic frequencies is pronounced if
the generalized electromechanical coupling factor is large. Without parasitic
dissipations, a non physical result is obtained from (5.11) when the bender is
short circuited and excited at
s
0
or when the bender is open circuited and
excited at
o
0
, i.e. P
d
. This non-physical result is explained by the fact
that the deection of the bender is also mathematically innite in these cases,
so that in a practical situation, even if the parasitic dissipations are extremely
small, the output power is limited by physical constraints such as for example
the yield limit of the structure or the limited space available in a package.
It has however been shown in Chapter 3 that parasitic dissipations exist in
the devices and have to be incorporated in the model. It is interesting to get
some insights on the behavior of the dierent losses terms D
m
, D
e
and D
em
as they have a direct negative inuence on the amplitude of the output power.
In Figure 5.2, the amplitude of these terms is plotted versus the normalized
frequency considering the values of K
2
, Q
m
and Q
e
measured in Chapter
3 for the MEMS AlN sample and for the commercial PZT one (Table 3.7).
For any value of (and of the load resistor), it can be observed that out of
resonance, the dielectric term D
e
dominates the losses for both devices, even
if the dierence is more pronounced for the MEMS devices. However, near
the short circuit resonance, the values of D
e
decrease sharply till becoming
null at =
s
0
=1. The eect of the dielectric dissipations is reduced as the the
impedance of the piezoelectric vibrator reaches a minimum at the resonance
frequency. In this case, the mechanical losses term D
m
dominates. In any
situation, the electromechanical variable D
em
is at least 10 times smaller than
D
m
and can be neglected. It would also be tempting to neglect D
e
as the devices
should intuitively be excited around their resonance to generate a large output.
However, it is shown later that the frequency corresponding to the maximum
output power does not correspond exactly to
s
0
and vary in the interval [
s
0
,
o
0
]. In some theoretical cases, two frequencies of maximum power can even be
observed so that neglecting D
e
might lead to noticeable errors.
Assuming the simplication proposed in the previous paragraph, it is now
possible to determine the frequency(ies) and the characteristics of the load
leading to the optimum output power. The mathematical manipulations are
easier by determining rst the optimum value of the load resistor (or of ). It is
obtained by computing the derivative of (5.11) with respect to , equating the
corresponding expression to 0 and solving the obtained equation with respect
to . The determined expression of the optimum of is given in (5.12). If
=1 and if a small generalized electromechanical coupling factor is assumed,
the familiar expression R
opt
=(
s
0
C
p
)
1
is obtained.
opt
=
1
_
1
Q
2
m
+ (
2
1)
2
1
Q
2
m
+ (
2
1 K
2
)
2
+
(
2
1)
2
Q
2
e
(5.12)
10
-8
10
-6
10
-4
10
-2

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

o
f

t
h
e

d
a
m
p
i
n
g

t
e
r
m
s
1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6
(a)
10
-7
10
-5
10
-3
10
-1

A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e

o
f

t
h
e

d
a
m
p
i
n
g

t
e
r
m
s
1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6
(b)
Figure 5.2 - Amplitude of the damping terms D
m
(dashed line), D
e
(solid line) and D
em
(dotted line) versus the normalized frequency . The blue lines refer to =0.1, the black
lines to =1 and the red lines to =10. (a) corresponds to a Dev1 MEMS AlN bender,
while (b) corresponds to a ceramic PZT structure.
The output power corresponding to =
opt
is obtained by combining (5.11)
and (5.12). Numerical analysis of this formula shows two distinct behaviors
depending on the values of the quality factor and of the generalized electrome-
chanical coupling factor. They are illustrated in Figure 5.3 and Figure 5.4: for
structures with high Q
m
and high K
2
(K
2
>0.01 for Q
m
=10000, K
2
>0.05 for
Q
m
=1000, K
2
>0.1 for Q
m
=100, K
2
>0.5 for Q
m
=10), two maximums of the
output power are observed. As noted by DuToit [97], the presence of two power
peaks (which also correspond approximately to displacement peaks) is related
to the fundamental resonant and anti resonant characteristics of piezoelectric
materials and transducers. The rst maximum corresponds approximately to
the minimum impedance (seen from the electrical side) frequency (
s
0
) and
the optimum load related to this situation has also a minimum value because of
power transfer matching considerations. At the opposite, the optimum load cor-
responding to the second maximum (
o
0
) has a relatively large impedance.
Therefore, the dielectric losses have a stronger inuence on the anti resonance
power peak than on the resonance one. It can be seen that for |Q
e
|>100, the
dielectric dissipations do not have an inuence on the characteristics, but that
for |Q
e
|<100, they tend to diminish the amplitude of the anti resonance power
peak. At extremely low values of the electrical quality factor, the latter peak
can even vanish. A second type of behavior is observed for low Q
m
or low
K
2
structures: a single maxima of power is observed and the anti resonance
peak does not exist (Figure 5.4(a)). This can be explained either because the
amplitude of the resonance power peak is strongly reduced by the mechan-
ical dissipations (low Q
m
) or because the frequency shift between resonance
and anti resonance is so small that the power peaks merge together (low K
2
).
Also, the values of
opt
(Figure 5.4(b)) follows an almost perfect hyperbole
opt
=
1
(1+K
2
)
1/2
, except close to =1 where a down scaled version of the
behavior observed in Figure 5.3(b) can be observed. From the results obtained
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2
3
4
5
6

O
p
t
i
m
u
m

o
u
t
p
u
t

p
o
w
e
r
1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0
s
0
(a)
0.1
1
10

O
p
t
i
m
u
m

l
o
a
d

p
a
r
a
m
e
t
e
r

1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0
(b)
Figure 5.3 - Behaviour of the output power at optimum load (a) and of the optimum load
(b) for high Q
m
-high K
2
structures. The solid lines refers to Q
e
, the dashed lines to
Q
e
=-100, the dotted lines to Q
e
=-10.
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
10

O
p
t
i
m
u
m

o
u
t
p
u
t

p
o
w
e
r
1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0
(a)
8
9
1

O
p
t
i
m
u
m

l
o
a
d

p
a
r
a
m
e
t
e
r

1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0
(b)
Figure 5.4 - Behavior of the output power at optimum load (a) and of the optimum load
(b) for low Q
m
or low K
2
. The curves are not presented for dierent values of Q
e
, as in this
case, it does not have any inuence on the behavior.
in Chapter 3, it is possible to determine the type of behavior that should cor-
respond to the dierent types of piezoelectric bender described in Table 2.1.
From the values of the generalized electromechanical coupling factor and qual-
ity factor given in Table 3.7, it can be concluded that the MEMS devices (AlN
or PZT based) should follow the second type of behavior described above. The
situation is less clear for commercial ceramic PZT benders. The values of K
2
and Q
m
are just high enough to observe the anti resonance peak. However,
dielectric dissipations are also relatively important for the type B bender and
it is shown that the available samples do not allow a clear visualization of two
distinct peaks.
The expression obtained for the output power at optimum load is relatively
tedious and some simplications are introduced. The remainder of the analysis
is focused on the resonance and anti resonance power peaks and it is assumed
that the former is obtained at
s
0
and the latter at
o
0
. As the impedance of
the piezoelectric vibrator is minimum at
s
0
, the dielectric dissipations have
a negligible inuence on the resonance power peak for both high Q
m
-high K
2
and low Q
m
or low K
2
situations, so that Q
e
is assumed for the optimum
power P
R
opt
at
s
0
. The dielectric dissipations can however not be neglected
when considering the anti resonance power peak P
A
opt
which corresponds to a
maximum of the impedance of the piezoelectric vibrator (only relevant for high
Q
m
-high K
2
structures). The expressions of P
R
opt
and P
A
opt
considering these
simplications and those of the corresponding optimum load parameter are
given below.
P
R
opt
=
m
e
A
2
0
Q
m
4
s
0
1
1 +
_
1 +
1
K
4
Q
2
m
(5.13)
R
opt
=
1
_
1 +K
4
Q
2
m
(5.14)
P
A
opt
=
m
e
A
2
0
Q
m
4
s
0
K
2
Q
m
Q
e
_
1 +K
2
_
K
2
Q
m
Q
e
+K
4
Q
2
m
+
_
(1 +K
4
Q
2
m
) (Q
2
e
+K
4
Q
2
m
)
_ (5.15)
A
opt
=
_
1 +K
4
Q
2
m
_
1 +
K
4
Q
2
m
Q
2
e
_
_
1 +K
2
_
(5.16)
The expression found for P
R
opt
corresponds to the one obtained by Roundy
[28] except for the fact that, in the given reference, the material coupling factor
k
31
2
is erroneously used instead of the generalized electromechanical coupling
factor K
2
. This confusion has a strong impact on the estimations of the device
performances. Indeed, it is shown in Chapter 2 that the generalized electrome-
chanical coupling factor is only a fraction of k
31
2
, because the piezoelectric
material is coupled with elastic material in a piezoelectric composite structure
and because it undergoes bending and not purely tensile deformations. Both
expressions of the optimum power depend primarily on the eective mass of
the structure and on the frequency and amplitude of the input vibrations. This
dependence is expressed by the term m
e
A
0
2
/(4
s
0
). This term does not repre-
sent an upper limit for the power as the additional multiplicative terms present
in the expressions of P
R
opt
and P
A
opt
are not necessarily lower than 1 (for the
resonance, the limit is approximately Q
m
). However, m
e
, A
0
and
s
0
are the
rst parameters to be taken into consideration when designing the harvesters.
For analyzing the inuence of the other parameters on the performances
of the device, numerical evaluations of (5.13) till (5.16) are performed. In
Figure 5.5, the graphics describing the values of the optimum load parame-
ter
opt
are presented. The curves corresponding to the resonance behavior
are represented by red solid lines. The curves corresponding to the anti reso-
nance behavior are represented by solid (Q
e
), dashed (Q
e
=-100) and dot-
ted (Q
e
=-10) black lines. According to (5.14), for a given Q
m
, the optimum
load parameter decreases as the generalized electromechanical coupling factor
increases in the resonance case. This is due to the fact that the minimum of
the impedance of the piezoelectric vibrator observed at the resonance frequency
decreases when the generalized electromechanical coupling factor is increased.
R
opt
is very close to 1 for small values of K
2
while the optimum resonance power
is obtained for very low load impedances when K
2
is large. At the opposite of
the characteristics observed at resonance, the optimum anti resonance load pa-
rameter
A
opt
increases continously with K
2
when the dielectric dissipations are
neglected. An increase of K
2
results in larger absolute values of the impedance
of the system at the anti resonance, so that the optimum load resistor has also
larger values. However, when dielectric dissipations are included, the optimum
load parameter increases till reaching a maximum and decreases afterwards.
This eect can be explained as follow: the presence of dielectric dissipations
is represented in our model by a complex valued capacitor C
p0
=C
p
(1+jQ
e
)
in the network model of Figure 5.1. As a possible alternative schematization,
one could represent C
p0
by the parallel combination of a real valued capacitor
C
p
and of a real valued resistor R
el
=-Q
e
/(
o
0
C
p
). As K
2
becomes larger, the
impedance of the piezoelectric vibrator at anti resonance increases while R
el
decreases (because
o
0
=
s
0
(1+K
2
)
1/2
). When the impedance of the piezoelec-
tric element becomes too large, the load resistor R
L
only see R
el
as input
impedance and the optimum load is at this moment equal to R
el
.
In Figure 5.6, the values of P
R
opt
and P
A
opt
normalized to m
e
A
0
2
Q
m
/(4
s
0
)
are presented. In terms of output power at resonance, it is always worth to
design a low mechanical loss structure. Independently of the values of the
generalized electromechanical coupling factor, the output power of the device
increases monotonically with Q
m
. When mechanical dissipations are large, it is
important to make the generalized electromechanical coupling factor as high as
possible so that the process of energy extraction can compete with the parasitic
dissipations. On the other hand, in low parasitic losses situation, the output
power is constant over a large range of the generalized electromechanical cou-
pling factor and it is only necessary in this case to design of the harvester so
as to exceed the lower boundary limit of K
2
. It was shown in Chapter 2 that
the value of K
2
depends as well on the relative dimensions and on the material
properties, particularly on the piezoelectric constant d
31
. As the output power
does not depend on the generalized electromechanical coupling factor above a
certain range, it is then possible to adjust the other parameters (particularly
to match the frequency of the input vibrations) while not perturbing the per-
formances. This observation is extremely important, as it suggest that low K
2
structure (MEMS devices) can compete with high coupling structure (ceramic
PZT bender) in terms of power generation when similar mass and resonance
frequency are considered.
For the anti resonance, it has been stated previously that the corresponding
power peak was only observed for high Q
m
-high K
2
characteristics. Therefore,
the curves corresponding to the anti resonance variables merge together with
the resonance curves when the generalized electromechanical coupling factor

10
-1
10
0

o
p
t
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
10
1

o
p
t
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2

o
p
t
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2

o
p
t
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5.5 - Optimum load parameter opt. (a) corresponds to Q
m
=10, (b) to Q
m
=100,
(c) to Q
m
=500 and (d) to Q
m
=1000. The black solid, dashed and dotted lines represent the
anti resonance characteristics for respectively Q
e
, Q
e
=-100 and Q
e
=-10. The red lines
represent the resonance characteristics.
is small. For high values of K
2
, the behaviors are however totally dierent.
Independently of the amplitude of Q
m
, P
A
opt
increases monotonically with the
generalized electromechanical coupling factor when the dielectric dissipations
are neglected and there is no saturation of the normalized power. When dielec-
tric dissipations are included, a maximum of P
A
opt
is found. For the same reasons
that were expressed when discussing the optimum load parameter, above a cer-
tain value of K
2
, the largest amount of the electrical energy produced by the
piezoelectric element is shared between the dielectric loss resistor R
el
and the
load resistor R
L
rather than being shared between the capacitor C
p
and R
L
.
It is also interesting to investigate the output power per unit displacement of
the system. Indeed, the power density of the harvester has to be maximized for
miniature electronic applications. The graphics of the power density normal-
ized to m
e
A
0
s
0
and assuming the expressions of the optimum load that have
been proposed previously are given in Figure 5.7. At resonance, the power
density increases with K
2
till saturating for high values of K
2
as it was the
case for the power. The situation is dierent for the anti resonance: the power
density possesses an inexion point but increases monotonically with the gener-

10
-2
10
-1
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-2
10
-1
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-2
10
-1
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-2
10
-1
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r
10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5.6 - Output power at optimum load normalized to m
e
A
0
2
Q
m
/(4
s
0
). (a) corre-
sponds to Q
m
=10, (b) to Q
m
=100, (c) to Q
m
=500 and (d) to Q
m
=1000. The black solid,
dashed and dotted lines represent the anti resonance characteristics for respectively Q
e
,
Q
e
=-100 and Q
e
=-10. The red lines represent the resonance characteristics.
alized electromechanical coupling factor. Also, it can be seen that the dielectric
dissipations have a negligible inuence on the behavior of this parameter.
It is now important to determine what the best option for power generation
is between resonance and anti resonance operating frequency. The anti reso-
nance peak does not exist for low values of the generalized electromechanical
coupling factor so that this discussion does not make sense in this situation.
For large enough K
2
, it can be seen from Figure 5.6 that it is always advan-
tageous to work at anti resonance when the dielectric dissipations are ignored.
However, it was shown in Figure 5.3a that the dielectric losses had a strong in-
uence on P
A
opt
but did not have noticeable eects on P
R
opt
, so that the previous
conclusion does not hold when Q
e
is not taken as innite. Indeed, in high di-
electric dissipation and low mechanical losses situations, P
R
opt
has larger values
than P
A
opt
. The optimum load parameter
opt
for the anti resonance is always
much larger than for the resonance. In the former case, extremely large load
impedance is required for optimum power generation so that the current deliv-
ered to the load element is very small. At the opposite, low shunt impedance
is needed at resonance so that the generated voltage is relatively small in this

10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r

d
e
n
s
i
t
y

10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-2
10
-1
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r

d
e
n
s
i
t
y

10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-1
2
3
4
5
6
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r

d
e
n
s
i
t
y

10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
10
-1
2
3
4
5
6
10
0

N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d

o
p
t
i
m
u
m

p
o
w
e
r

d
e
n
s
i
t
y

10
-3
2 4 6
10
-2
2 4 6
10
-1
2 4 6
10
0
K
2
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 5.7 - Power par unit displacement at optimum load normalized to m
e
A
0
s
0
. (a)
correspond to Q
m
=10, (b) to Q
m
=100, (c) to Q
m
=500 and (d) to Q
m
=1000. The black
solid, dashed and dotted lines represent the anti resonance characteristics for respectively
Q
e
, Q
e
=-100 and Q
e
=-10. The red lines represent the resonance characteristics.
case. The relative amplitude of the deection in the two discussed situations
depends on the value of Q
e
. Finally, in terms of power density and for high K
2
structures, it is always largely advantageous to operate at anti resonance.
5.1.2 Alternative loads
The purely resistive load analyzed in the previous section is the simplest that
can be imagined and is useful for demonstrating experimentally the relevance
of the developed circuit model. However, the impedance of the piezoelectric
harvester can not match fully the impedance of the load circuit as the former
contains imaginary components so that the transfer of energy is not optimized.
One can then imagine that a complex load consisting in a parallel or se-
ries association of linear components such as inductors, capacitors or resistors
should lead to better performances. The imaginary part of the impedance of
the piezoelectric harvester seen from the electrical side is positive so that the
imaginary part of the impedance of the load circuit should be negative in order
to reach the matching condition. Then, it is only possible to use inductors in
a series or parallel association with a dissipative load resistor. Hagood [143]
has shown in the eld of vibration absorption that it was indeed possible to
largely increase the performances of the harvester with the use of an impedance
matching circuit. However, the values required for the inductors, for both se-
ries and parallel scheme, are so large (>1000H for our MEMS devices) that it
is practically impossible to implement it. For real applications, the situation
is then limited to the purely resistive load case described above when linear
conditioning electronics is assumed.
In the situation described above, the delivered power is pure AC and the
portable electronics applications that can be powered with it are limited. For
this reason, eorts have been done in the literature for proposing more eective
interfaces based on non linear conditioning. Lefeuvre [92] proposed an inter-
esting analysis of 4 dierent conditioning circuitries. The rst one consists in
a standard rectifying approach and includes a diode rectier bridge and a lter
capacitor. The piezoelectric element is open circuited when the rectier bridge
is blocking, i.e. when the absolute value of the voltage across the electrodes of
the piezoelectric element is lower than the rectied DC voltage V
DC
. In steady
state operation, the average current through the lter capacitor C
r
is null, so
that the absolute value of the electric charge outgoing from the piezoelectric
element during a period T is equal to the average current owing through the
load R
L
. The maximum power that can be obtained from this method is equal
to m
e
A
0
2
K
2
/(2
s
0
). The delivered power is then in any cases smaller than
the one obtained with a pure resistive load, but consists in a DC voltage which
is more adapted to practical applications. The second approach has been de-
nominated as synchronous charge extraction principle and consists in removing
periodically the electric charge accumulated on the piezoelectric capacitor C
p
,
and then to transfer the corresponding amount of electrical energy to the load
or to the energy storage element. The piezoelectric element is let most of the
time in open circuit conguration and the charge extraction phases occur when
the electronic switch S is closed: the electrical energy stored in the piezoelectric
capacitor is then transferred into the inductor L. When the electric charges in
the piezoelectric bender vanish, the switch is re-opened and the energy stored
into the inductor L is transferred to the smoothing capacitor C
r
through the
diode D. The inductor L is chosen to get duration of the charge extraction phase
much shorter than the vibration period. The output power corresponding to
this interface is equal to more than 5 times the one obtained by the basic recti-
cation circuit. Based on the work of Guyomar [94], Lefeuvre also studied the
so called SSHI (Synchronized Switch Harvesting on Inductor) interface which
can be implemented in a series or parallel arrangement. The Series-SSHI inter-
face leads to low matching load impedances, while the Parallel-SSHI interface
leads to higher matching load impedances. The SSHI interface is composed of
a non-linear processing circuit connected with the piezoelectric electrodes and
the input of the rectier bridge. The non-linear processing circuit is composed
of an inductor L in series with an electronic switch S. The electronic switch
122 5.2 Experimental characterization of the harvesters
is briey turned on when the mechanical displacement reaches a maximum or
a minimum. At these triggering times, an oscillating electrical circuit L-C
p
is
established. The period of these oscillations is chosen much smaller than the
mechanical vibration period. The switch is turned o after half an electrical
period, resulting in a quasi-instantaneous inversion of the voltage V. Theoret-
ical and experimental investigations have shown that this method allows in
some cases to multiply the delivered power by a factor 15 and is then a very
promising conditioning circuit. Shu [168] proposed a rened analysis of this
method and demonstrated that the SSHI interface is particularly relevant for
low coupling structures. The MEMS harvesters that are studied during this
thesis belong to this category of devices and the SSHI interface appear partic-
ularly adapted for these harvesters, even if its practical implementation is not
straightforward.
Some eorts have also been done in order to realize conditioning electron-
ics based on IC manufacturing technologies. These approaches are particularly
useful in the case of the MEMS harvesters, as the processing circuit and the har-
vesters could be fabricated in the same clean room environment (in the future,
monolithic integration may also become a relevant option). A few examples of
the results published in the literature are the work of Dallago, who proposed a
high eciency integrated AC-DC converter [169], based on CMOS technology
and described in [170]. Han [88] proposed an interface based on charge pumping
realized through switches, MOSFETS and capacitors. Ottman [171] described
an integrated step down converter which allows increasing the rate of charging
of a battery by three times compared to a standard interface. Finally, DHulst
proposed in [172] a buck-boost topology, working in discontinuous conduction
mode. The circuit performs an AC-DC conversion as well as presenting the
correct electrical impedance to maximize the power output of the harvester.
This design has been implemented in a 80 V CMOS technology and proved to
have a conversion eciency of more than 60%.
Alternative load to a purely resistive one have been described in this subsec-
tion. It was shown that is possible in this way to increase or adapt in a better
way the power produced by the harvester to a real life application. The experi-
mental validation of the theoretical predictions is however limited in this thesis
to the case of a purely resistive load and of the model described in the previous
subsection. This experimental analysis is presented in the next section.
5.2 Experimental characterization of the har-
vesters
5.2.1 Output power
It is demonstrated in the previous section that the power delivered by the vi-
bration harvesters to a resistive load is optimized when the frequency of the
input vibration matches the short circuit resonance frequency in the case of
the presented harvesters, so that the experimental analysis is limited to this
particular frequency of excitation. In the following, the theoretical predictions
concerning the voltage and the output power of the devices are rst compared
with experimental measurements. In a second subsection, some non linear ef-
fects that are not included into the model, particularly the eect of the package
on the MEMS devices, are discussed.
The output voltage and corresponding power is measured at resonance for
the three tested devices while varying the value of the resistive load (and then
of ). The results are reported for the AlN MEMS, for the PZT MEMS and for
the commercial PZT harvester respectively in Figure 5.8, Figure 5.9 and Fig-
ure 5.10. As the power is computed according to (5.1), the deviation between
theory and experiments is inevitably larger for the power than for the voltage.
The t between the model and the measurements is very good in the case of the
AlN devices, both for the amplitude of the expected signals and for the value of
the optimum load parameter
opt
. The amplitude of the input acceleration is
equal to 1 m.s
2
and a maximum power of approximately 200 nW is measured
for a load resistor of 110 k (
opt
=0.28). The t is less convincing for the
two PZT based devices and a relatively important deviation from the model
is observed in terms of amplitude. It can be seen from Figure 5.9 and Fig-
ure 5.10 that the values of the optimum load resistor coincides approximately
with the expected ones, but that the amplitudes of the output voltage and of
the power are lower than those predicted by the model. This deviation has
also been reported by most of the authors who have investigated PZT based
harvesters such as for example Gao [173] and Kasyap [66]. There might be
multiple possible reasons for the observed deviation but the fact that it occurs
only for both thick and thin PZT suggests that it is linked to the material
itself. At the opposite of AlN, PZT is ferroelectric and one can imagine that
important phenomena occurring at the microstructural level are not taken into
account in our analysis. Also, linear constitutive equations of piezoelectricity
are assumed. It is shown in the next subsection that non linear eects exist
for large amplitudes of the input acceleration. Finally, it is also possible that
some dissipation mechanisms neglected in our approach (such as for example
the piezoelectric dissipations described by Mezheritsky [116]) do exist and do
have a non negligible inuence on the output power and voltages.
Despite the deviation between the theoretical predictions and the experi-
mental measurements observed for the PZT based devices, the developed model
still results in a reasonable estimation of the performances of the harvesters,
assuming small amplitude of the input vibrations. The level of the input accel-
erations used in the presented experiments is quite low and resulted in output
power below the W for the AlN MEMS harvesters. For higher amplitude of
the exciting vibrations, output power in the range of 50 W are obtained for
both PZT and AlN MEMS devices, which is enough to power low consumption
sensor nodes [24].
124 5.2 Experimental characterization of the harvesters
4.0x10
-1
3.0
2.0
1.0

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
10
-2
2 4 6 8
10
-1
2 4 6 8
10
0
2

2.0x10
-7
1.6
1.2
0.8
0.4

P
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
10
-2
2 4 6 8
10
-1
2 4 6 8
10
0
2

(a) (b)
Figure 5.8 - Output voltage (a) and power (b) at resonance for the Dev1 AlN MEMS har-
vester with an input acceleration A
0
=1 m.s
2
. The solid lines correspond to the theoretical
predictions while the markers indicate the experimental measurements.
1.6x10
-1
1.2
0.8
0.4

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
6 8
10
-1
2 4 6 8
10
0
2 4

3.0x10
-6
2.0
1.0
0.0

P
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
5 6
10
-1
2 3 4 5 6
10
0
2

(a) (b)
Figure 5.9 - Output voltage (a) and power (b) at resonance for the Dev1 PZT MEMS har-
0
=5 m.s
2
6
4
2

V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
2 4 6 8
10
-1
2 4 6 8
10
0

5.0x10
-5
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0

P
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
10
-2
2 4 6 8
10
-1
2 4 6 8
10
0

(a) (b)
Figure 5.10 - Output voltage (a) and power (b) at resonance for the PZT commercial har-
0
=1 m.s
2
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
10
1
A
0
(m.s
-2
)
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
10
1
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
V
)
2 4 6
10
0
2 4 6
10
1
2 4 6
10
2
2
A
0
(m.s
-2
)
(a) (b)
Figure 5.11 - Amplitude of the open circuit voltage at resonance vs. input acceleration for
a) the commercial PZT bender, b) the AlN MEMS bender. The solid lines correspond to a
linear approximation and the markers represent the experimental measurements.
5.2.2 Non linear eects
As stated previously, large amplitude of the input vibration might results in a
non linear behavior. This eect was investigated by measuring the amplitude
of the open circuit voltage of the harvesters at resonance for dierent values
of the input acceleration. The results of this experiment are reported in Fig-
ure 5.11(a) for the ceramic PZT device and in Figure 5.11(b) for the AlN MEMS
harvester. In the proposed graphics, the solid line represents the theoretical
linear variation of the voltage versus the input acceleration. Experiments and
theory t well for low levels of the input but a discrepancy is observed at large
values of A
0
: the open circuit voltage is lower than expected from the linear
model. The deviation from the model is higher for the PZT commercial device
than for the AlN MEMS one. Furthermore, the non linear deviation occurs
for lower amplitudes of the input. This phenomena results from the dimen-
sions of the commercial bender. This piezoelectric bender was made of a long
beam whose behavior deviates quite rapidly from the small deformations Euler
Bernoulli beam theory on which the developed model is based.
It was introduced in Chapter 3 that the MEMS fabricated piezoelectric
harvesters are meant to be packaged in order to limit the potential threats from
the environment and to include a constraint to limit the maximum deection
of the beam. The package consists in a top and bottom wafer containing
a cavity. The air contained in the cavity is not allowed to ow smoothly
around the piezoelectric beam in the case of a packaged device and additional
squeeze damping exists in the system. In order to estimate the inuence of
the latter damping, the output power at optimum load of the same harvester is
measured in the three dierent following conditions (the characterized device is
an AlN MEMS device having dimensions dierent from the sample investigated
previously):
Unpackaged device under atmospheric pressure
126 5.3 Conclusion
8x10
-6
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
P
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
1.02 1.01 1.00 0.99 0.98

Figure 5.12 - Output power of the same AlN MEMS harvester for the optimum resonance
resistive load versus the normalized frequency of the input vibration and for dierent environ-
mental conditions. The solid line corresponds to a packaged device under vacuum conditions,
the dashed line to an unpackaged device under atmospheric conditions, the dotted line to a
packaged device under atmospheric conditions.
Packaged device under atmospheric pressure.
Packaged device under vacuum (1mbar).
The results of this experiment are given in Figure 5.12. By comparing the
measurements corresponding to the packaged and unpackaged device under
atmospheric pressure, it can be seen that the additional damping due to the
package reduces the output power of more than 50% and in the same way, the
quality factor of the device is reduced to half its original value. The vacuum
experiment was realized by placing a packaged device into a vacuum chamber,
but it is planned in the future to realize vacuum packaged devices. However, the
manufacturing process of the harvesters is not advanced to this level at this mo-
ment, but it is believed that the experiments done in the vacuum chamber are
representative of the performances that will be obtained with vacuum packaged
devices. The output power of the devices should be multiplied by a factor 4 in
these conditions. The parasitic dissipations are reduced in vacuum condition
and the output power for a same input acceleration is intuitively larger than for
the two others situations. Also, it can be seen that the frequency of maximum
power shifts towards lower values when the amplitude of the parasitic dissipa-
tions increases (the reference =1 was taken for the vacuum experiment). This
result is in accordance with the fact that parasitic mechanical dissipations tend
to decrease the value of the resonance frequency.
5.3 Conclusion
In this chapter, the behavior of the output power of the piezoelectric vibration
energy harvesters is analyzed, based on the equivalent network model developed
in the previous chapters. When assuming a single harmonic input vibration,
it is shown that the best performances are obtained at the resonance or anti
resonance frequency of the devices. However, the anti resonance performances
depend strongly on the generalized electromechanical coupling factor and on
the dielectric dissipations. It is not possible to study experimentally the anti
resonance behavior for the available samples, either because of too low gen-
eralized electromechanical coupling factor in the case of the MEMS devices
or because of too large dielectric dissipations in the case of the ceramic PZT
piezoelectric bender. Therefore, the analysis is focused on the resonance char-
acteristics. The output power delivered to a purely resistive load at resonance
depends primarily on the eective mass of the bender, the frequency and the
amplitude of the input vibrations, but also on the generalized electromechan-
ical coupling and the mechanical quality factor, which have not necessarily to
be maximized, but only to be set above a certain value. This conclusion is im-
portant as it means that low coupling structures (such as AlN or PZT MEMS
harvesters) can achieve the same performances than high coupling structures
(such as ceramic PZT harvesters). Ecient load circuitries are also discussed.
In some cases, specially designed shunt circuit, such as for example the SSHI
interface, allows strongly improving the performances of the harvesters. MEMS
devices based on thin lm PZT and AlN materials and commercial piezoelectric
bender made of ceramic PZT are experimentally characterized. It is demon-
strated that the developed model gives a good estimation of the measured data,
but that some discrepancies are observed, particularly at high level of input
acceleration for which non linear eects are observed. Finally, it is shown
that the packaging of MEMS AlN harvesters creates additional parasitic dissi-
pation mechanisms which reduce drastically the output power of the devices.
Therefore, it is planned to package the devices under vacuum in the future.
Preliminary experiments suggest that the output power can be increased by a
factor 4 in this case. At the present moment, output power in the range of 50
W are obtained with AlN MEMS harvesters, which is enough to power low
consumption sensor nodes.
128 5.3 Conclusion
Chapter 6
General conclusions and future
work
In Chapter 1, it is demonstrated that energy harvesters are a promising re-
newable source of electrical energy for portable electronics applications such
as wireless sensor networks. They act by converting the energy available in
the environment into useful electrical power. Common environmental energy
sources are light, heat, vibrations, human motion or wind. The work realized
during this thesis is focused on harvesting energy from vibrations and human
body motion. The energy produced by these sources can be transformed follow-
ing a directly applied force or an inertial scheme. The latter type of devices
is investigated, as they oer more freedom in terms of possible applications.
Piezoelectric transduction is the principle chosen for the electromechanical en-
ergy conversion, because of its relative simplicity of implementation compared
to electromagnetic or electrostatic transduction. It is also determined that dif-
ferent designs of the harvesters are required for extracting eciently energy
from vibrations and from the motion of the human body. The former type
of input is made of relatively high frequency and low amplitude components,
while low frequency and high amplitude motion is characteristic of the latter.
Resonant devices are adapted to vibration energy harvesting. They are based
on a classical mass/spring/dashpot system which must be excited in the neigh-
borhood of its resonance frequency to deliver maximum power. Such devices
are manufactured by MEMS technologies and characterized. In the case of
body motion energy harvesting, a non resonant device based on the impact of
a rigid body on piezoelectric beams is investigated. A prototype is fabricated
and characterized.
Chapter 2 is focused on the modeling of piezoelectric beams. The constitu-
tive equations of piezoelectricity are combined with Timoshenkos beam theory
129
130
in order to elaborate the fundamental equations of piezoelectric multilayered
benders. From our knowledge, this complete derivation had not been proposed
in the literature. Both dynamic and quasi static solutions of the latter equations
are derived and arranged in the form of a constitutive matrix and of an equiv-
alent electrical network. The electrical network representation is particularly
useful in the eld of energy harvesting, as the devices has to be coupled with
complex conditioning electronics. A complete representation of a piezoelectric
cantilever loaded by a distributed mass, which is the basis of many harvesters
currently investigated, is developed. Finally, the generalized electromechanical
coupling factor dening the amount of mechanical energy transformed into elec-
trical energy (or vice-versa) by a piezoelectric bender during a cycle is dened
and a clear interpretation of the dierence between the material and structure
electromechanical coupling factor is proposed. Confusion between these two
factors is often found in the literature. It can have great repercussions on the
estimations of the model. It was also shown that the generalized electrome-
chanical coupling factor depends only on the material properties of the support
and piezoelectric materials and on the thickness ratio of the two materials, but
not on the lateral dimensions of the structure.
In Chapter 3, the manufacturing by MEMS technologies of piezoelectric
harvesters and the experimental determination of their corresponding equiva-
lent network parameters is presented. A robust process ow is developed. It
results in functional devices but they still need some improvements at the level
of etch homogeneity and packaging. Particularly, the proposed ambient atmo-
sphere packaging approach results in low mechanical quality factors and will be
improved in the future by implementing a vacuum packaging method. Static,
transient and steady state experimental methods for determining the equivalent
network parameters are then described and implemented on MEMS PZT and
AlN based harvesters and on commercial ceramic PZT structures. No complete
procedure for the characterization of the network parameters of piezoelectric
beams was existing before this work and methods are developed to this aim.
From a theoretical point of view, a large amount of experiments can be realized.
However, from a practical point of view, some of them are dicult to be carried
out and experiments that can be realized with commonly available laboratory
equipments are presented. It is shown that all the parameters but the stiness
of the beam can be determined from steady state measurements, which are for
most of them easily implemented. The determination of the stiness of the
beam requires a quasi-static experiment. Characteristic values of the network
parameters are then presented for the three types of structures (MEMS thin
lm AlN unimorph, MEMS thin lm PZT unimorph and commercial thick lm
PZT bimorph) studied during this thesis. The material properties of the piezo-
electric materials are estimated from these measurements. The e
31
piezoelectric
constant is found to be 0.9 C.m
2
, 4.1 C.m
2
and 11.9 C.m
2
for respectively
the thin lm AlN, the thin lm PZT and the thick lm PZT. It is shown that
PZT, either thick or thin, is more adapted to actuation situation than AlN,
but, at the opposite, that the latter material has better performances in terms
6. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK 131
of sensing applications. The generalized electromechanical coupling factor is
equal to 4.10
3
for the MEMS AlN harvester, 6.10
5
for the PZT MEMS
device and 1.10
1
for the commercial bender. These values do however not
contain enough information to perform a direct comparison in terms of energy
harvesting. This is done in the next chapters.
The human environment harvester, based on the impact of a rigid body on
piezoelectric beams, is investigated in Chapter 4. A complete model of the
impact of a mass on a piezoelectric bender based on the equivalent network
representation previously obtained is established for the rst time. Analytical
and numerical analysis of the developed model was realized. The following
conclusions are obtained:
In order to maximize the eciency of the energy conversion, the general-
ized electromechanical coupling factor and the mechanical quality factor
of the piezoelectric transducer have to be made as high as possible by
choosing appropriate materials and dimensions. Also, the parasitic dissi-
pations in the motion of the missile have intuitively to be minimized.
The inuence of the masses ratio and of the impact coecient of restitu-
tion is very complex. However, when the mass of the impacting body is
small compared to the one of the beam, better performances are obtained
by implementing an elastic impact. At the opposite, the performances
are counter intuitively optimized for inelastic impact when the mass of
the impacting body is large compared to the one of the beam.
The resonance frequency of the bender should be high enough so that the
amount of energy transferred by the moving object during an impact can
be dissipated prior to a second impact.
In order to limit reliability problems due to high stresses and deections
resulting from high amplitude excitations, a damping system has to be
implemented in the neighborhood of the piezoelectric elements (repulsing
magnets are used in our case).
As the conditions of large generalized electromechanical coupling factor are re-
quired for optimizing the performances, commercial ceramic piezoelectric ben-
ders are implemented in the prototype of the human motion energy harvester.
Because of their low generalized electromechanical coupling factor, the fabri-
cated MEMS devices can clearly not give good results in this situation. An
output power of 600 W is obtained for a device of dimensions 3.5*2*2 cm
3
weighting 60 g placed on the hand of a person and shaken at a frequency of
approximately 7 Hz for a 10 cm amplitude. Also, a power of 47 W is mea-
sured when the harvester is rotated of 180
each second. A large amount of

the volume occupied by the prototype of the harvester can be eliminated and
one can estimate an output power density of 10 W/cm
3
or 4 W/g for an
optimized device undergoing the previously described rotary motion. These
132
gures can be multiplied by a factor 12 when a 7 Hz frequency, 10 cm ampli-
tude linear motion is considered. These results are the highest published for
inertial human motion energy harvesters.
In Chapter 5, the behavior of the output power of the piezoelectric vibra-
tion energy harvesters (machine environment) is rst theoretically investigated.
For the rst time, dielectric dissipations are included in the model. No publica-
tions taking into account this mode of parasitic mechanism has been proposed.
When assuming a single harmonic input vibration, it is shown that the best
performances are obtained at the resonance or anti-resonance frequency of the
devices. In terms of power per unit displacement, it is demonstrated that it
was always advantageous to work at anti-resonance, at the price of a high imp-
edance optimum load (low current). However, the anti-resonance performances
depend strongly on the generalized electromechanical coupling factor and on
the dielectric dissipations. It is not possible to study experimentally the anti
resonance behavior for the available samples, either because of too low gen-
eralized electromechanical coupling factor in the case of the MEMS devices
or because of too large dielectric dissipations in the case of the commercial
PZT piezoelectric bender. Therefore, the analysis is focused on the resonance
characteristics. The output power delivered to a purely resistive load at res-
onance is not aected by dielectric dissipations and depends primarily on the
eective mass of the bender and on the frequency and amplitude of the input
vibrations, but also on the generalized electromechanical coupling factor and
on the mechanical quality factor. At the opposite of what is observed in the
case of the human environment harvester, it is shown that the generalized elec-
tromechanical coupling factor and the mechanical quality factor do not have
necessarily to be maximized, but only to be set above a certain value. This
conclusion is important as it means that thin lm AlN or PZT MEMS devices
can achieve performances similar to those of ceramic PZT structures if the
parasitic mechanical dissipations can be reduced below a certain threshold. In
the remainder of Chapter 5, the behavior of the output power at resonance
of MEMS devices based on thin lm PZT or AlN materials and commercial
piezoelectric bender made of ceramic PZT are experimentally characterized.
It is demonstrated that the developed model gives a good estimation of the
measured data. Some discrepancies are however found, particularly at high
level of input acceleration for which non linear eects were experimentally ob-
served: the generated voltage predicted by the linear model is clearly larger
than the measured one in this situation. Finally, it is shown that the packaging
of MEMS AlN harvesters creates additional parasitic dissipation mechanisms
which reduce drastically the output power of the devices. At the present mo-
ment, output power in the range of 50 W are obtained for an approximated
volume of 0.3 cm
3
with AlN and PZT MEMS harvesters, which is enough to
power low consumption sensor nodes. These results are amongst the high-
est published data related to the output power of MEMS piezoelectric energy
harvesters.
The research on the developed MEMS piezoelectric harvesters continues at
6. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK 133
Imec and at the Holst Centre. Particularly, vacuum packaged devices have
been produced. As mentioned in the last chapter, vacuum packaging allows
increasing the produced power by a factor 4 by limiting the parasitic mechan-
ical dissipations. New problems are however encountered: due to the large
displacement of the mass, it impacts in most of the situations on the inner side
of the package. The eect of this phenomenon on the reliability of the devices is
currently investigated. A general study of the fracture and fatigue behavior is
also being carried on. Fracture is a critical issue for the manufactured devices.
They are fragile, particularly when subjected to undesired mechanical shocks.
Fatigue eects need also to be studied, as the energy harvesters are meant to
remain functional for periods exceeding several years. From a literature review,
it is determined that fatigue in micromachined piezoelectric laminated beams is
the most susceptible to occur in the interfaces between the dierent materials.
Geometries dierent than a rectangular beam such as for example tapered
cantilevers or membranes are also investigated for the purpose of increasing
the power generated by the devices. To the same aim, structures based on
33 piezoelectric coecients rather than on the 31 coecients are investigated.
Also, eorts are done for developing viable conditioning electronics for rectify-
ing the AC power delivered by the piezoelectric vibration harvesters. Finally,
new designs of devices for harvesting eciently the energy from broadband
spectrum mechanical vibrations are studied.
134
List of Publications
Journal Publications
1. M. Renaud, P. Fiorini and C. van Hoof, Optimization of a piezoelec-
tric unimorph for shock and impact energy harvesting, Smart Mater.
Struct., vol. 16, pp. 11251135, 2007.
2. M. Renaud, K. Karakaya, T. Sterken, P. Fiorini, C. van Hoof and
R. Puers, Fabrication, modeling and characterization of MEMS piezo-
electric vibration harvesters, Sens. and Actuat. A, vol. 145-146, pp.
380386, 2008.
3. M. Renaud, P. Fiorini, R. van Schaijk and C. van Hoof, Harvesting
energy from the motion of human limbs: the design and analysis of an
impact-based piezoelectric generator, Smart Mater. Struct., vol. 18, pp.
943961, 2009.
4. K. Karakaya, M. Renaud, M. Goedbloed and R. van Schaijk, The eect
of the built-in stress level of AlN layers on the properties of piezoelectric
vibration energy harvesters, J. Micromech. Microeng., vol. 18, 2008.
Conference Publications
1. M. Renaud, T. Sterken, P. Fiorini, R. Puers, K. Baert and C. Van Hoof,
Scavenging energy from human body: design of a piezoelectric trans-
ducer, in Proc. of the Conf. on Solid State Sens., Act. and Microsys.,
Transducers05, 2005, pp. 784787.
2. M. Renaud, T. Sterken, A. Schmitz, P. Fiorini, R. Puers and C. Van Hoof,
Piezoelectric Harvesters and MEMS Technology: Fabrication, Modeling
and Measurements, in Proc. of the Conf. on Solid State Sens., Act. and
Microsys., Transducers07, 2007, pp. 891894.
3. M. Renaud, P. Fiorini, R. van Schaijk and C. Van Hoof, An Impact
Based Piezoelectric Harvester Adapted to Low Frequency Environmen-
135
136 List of Publications
tal vibration, in Proc. of the Conf. on Solid State Sens., Act. and
Microsys., Transducers09, 2009, pp. 2094-2097.
4. A. Schmitz, T. Sterken, M. Renaud, P. Fiorini, R. Puers, and C. van Hoof,
Piezoelectric Scavengers in MEMS Technology: Fabrication and Simu-
lation, in Proc. of Power MEMS, pp. 6164, 2005.
5. N. El Ghouti, R. Vullers, A. Schmitz and M. Renaud, Piezoelectric
energy scavengers for powering wireless autonomous transducer systems,
in Proc. Smart Systems Integ., 2007.
6. S. Matova, R. Elfrink, R. van Schaijk and M. Renaud, Modeling and
validation of piezoelectric AlN harvesters, in Eurosensors XXII, 2008.
7. R. Elfrink, M. Renaud, T. Kamel, C. de Nooijer, M. Jambunathan,
M. Goedbloed, D. Hohlfeld, S. Matova and R. van Schaijk, Vacuum
packaged MEMS piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters, accepted for
presentation at Power MEMS 2009.
8. R. Elfrink, V. Pop, D. Hohlfeld, T. Kamel, S. Matova, C. de Nooijer,
M. Jambunathan, M. Goedbloed, L. Caballero, M. Renaud, J. Penders
and R. van Schaijk, First autonomous wireless sensor node powered by
a vacuum-packaged piezoelectric MEMS energy harvester, accepted for
presentation at IEDM 2009.
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each second. Also, a power of 600 W is measured

. Een groot deel

Figure 1.7 - Non resonant harvester proposed by Rastegar [52].

C [123]). The suitability of its

Figure 2.9 - Assumed behavior of the shear and tensile stresses.

Figure 2.19 - Electrical network representation of a piezoelectric beam.

governed by a time constant estimated to be 10 ms for the commercial piezo-

X7 is easily performed with a classical impedance analyzer as for the clamped

) impact can be obtained by considering that

after an impact. No closed form solutions are known

(the bender is assumed

pseudo-oscillatory behavior, a double real root that it is critically damped and

. The real parts of the dierent roots can only be negative, as

Figure 5.1 - Equivalent circuit model of a piezoelectric bending structure excited by a

1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0

1.4 1.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9 0.8 0

each second. A large amount of

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