Shock-induced aluminum nitride based MEMS energy harvester to power a leadless pacemaker

Aluminum nitride (AlN) film as a piezoelectric material has been used widely, particularly in vibration energy harvester due to its unique and enhanced properties such as high temperature resistance and compatibility with CMOS processes. In this work, AlN film with (002) preferred orientation was prepared on silicon wafers by pulse DC reactive magnetron sputtering (RMS), and the properties such as peak intensity, full width at half maximum (FWHM) and surface morphology were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The preferred orientation was found to be sensitive to deposition conditions such as gas flow rate, power, bottom electrodes materials and substrates temperature. The results shows that the intensity was 1.1×105 counts, the FWHM was 1.9owhen the temperature was 260°C. The film was used to fabricate the vibrated energy harvester successful and the power density reached about 3000uW/cm3 at the vibration frequency under 1g acceleration.

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Ultra-low frequency piezomems energy harvester for a leadless pacemaker

2018 IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) ◽

10.1109/memsys.2018.8346636 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nathan Jackson ◽

Oskar Olszewski ◽

Alan Mathewson ◽

Cian O'Murchu

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvester ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Leadless Pacemaker

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Construction of plastic contact deformation maps on ceramics: a case study on aluminum nitride

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100165641 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 54 ◽

pp. 636-637

Author(s):

D. L. Callahan

Keyword(s):

Plastic Deformation ◽

Aluminum Nitride ◽

Mechanical Response ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Bright Field Image ◽

Perfectly Plastic ◽

Contrast Analysis ◽

Deformation Patterns

Modern polishing, precision machining and microindentation techniques allow the processing and mechanical characterization of ceramics at nanometric scales and within entirely plastic deformation regimes. The mechanical response of most ceramics to such highly constrained contact is not predictable from macroscopic properties and the microstructural deformation patterns have proven difficult to characterize by the application of any individual technique. In this study, TEM techniques of contrast analysis and CBED are combined with stereographic analysis to construct a three-dimensional microstructure deformation map of the surface of a perfectly plastic microindentation on macroscopically brittle aluminum nitride.The bright field image in Figure 1 shows a lg Vickers microindentation contained within a single AlN grain far from any boundaries. High densities of dislocations are evident, particularly near facet edges but are not individually resolvable. The prominent bend contours also indicate the severity of plastic deformation. Figure 2 is a selected area diffraction pattern covering the entire indentation area.

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CBED analysis of impurity distributions in AlN

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100174205 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 214-215

Author(s):

Daniel Callahan ◽

G. Thomas

Keyword(s):

Aluminum Nitride ◽

Bulk Material ◽

Strong Dependence ◽

Lattice Parameter ◽

Promising Technique ◽

Nitride Ceramics ◽

Surface Phases ◽

Convergent Beam ◽

Oxygen Impurities

Oxygen impurities may significantly influence the properties of nitride ceramics with a strong dependence on the microstructural distribution of the impurity. For example, amorphous oxygen-rich grain boundary phases are well-known to cause high-temperature mechanical strength degradation in silicon nitride whereas solutionized oxygen is known to decrease the thermal conductivity of aluminum nitride. Microanalytical characterization of these impurities by spectral methods in the AEM is complicated by reactions which form oxygen-rich surface phases not representative of the bulk material. Furthermore, the impurity concentrations found in higher quality ceramics may be too low to measure by EDS or PEELS. Consequently an alternate method for the characterization of impurities in these ceramics has been investigated.Convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) is a promising technique for the study of impurity distributions in aluminum nitride ceramics. Oxygen is known to enter into stoichiometric solutions with AIN with a consequent decrease in lattice parameter.

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Microstructural changes of Aluminum Nitride after laser irradiation and electroless copper deposition

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100170918 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 52 ◽

pp. 636-637

Author(s):

S. Cao ◽

A. J. Pedraza ◽

L. F. Allard

Keyword(s):

Aluminum Nitride ◽

Laser Irradiation ◽

Electroless Deposition ◽

Thermal Evaporation ◽

Surface Region ◽

Near Surface ◽

Laser Patterning ◽

Electroless Copper ◽

Excimer Laser Irradiation ◽

Laser Effect

Excimer-laser irradiation strongly modifies the near-surface region of aluminum nitride (AIN) substrates. The surface acquires a distinctive metallic appearance and the electrical resistivity of the near-surface region drastically decreases after laser irradiation. These results indicate that Al forms at the surface as a result of the decomposition of the Al (which has been confirmed by XPS). A computer model that incorporates two opposing phenomena, decomposition of the AIN that leaves a metallic Al film on the surface, and thermal evaporation of the Al, demonstrated that saturation of film thickness and, hence, of electrical resistance is reached when the rate of Al evaporation equals the rate of AIN decomposition. In an electroless copper bath, Cu is only deposited in laser-irradiated areas. This laser effect has been designated laser activation for electroless deposition. Laser activation eliminates the need of seeding for nucleating the initial layer of electroless Cu. Thus, AIN metallization can be achieved by laser patterning followed by electroless deposition.

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Simply supported FPEDs connected by springs for broadband energy harvesting

International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics ◽

10.3233/jae-209323 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (1-4) ◽

pp. 201-210

Author(s):

Yoshikazu Tanaka ◽

Satoru Odake ◽

Jun Miyake ◽

Hidemi Mutsuda ◽

Atanas A. Popov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Evaluation Method ◽

Energy Harvester ◽

Vibrational Energy ◽

Functional Materials ◽

Vibration Energy ◽

Theoretical Evaluation ◽

Vibration Energy Harvester ◽

Polyvinylidene Difluoride ◽

Simply Supported

Energy harvesting methods that use functional materials have attracted interest because they can take advantage of an abundant but underutilized energy source. Most vibration energy harvester designs operate most effectively around their resonant frequency. However, in practice, the frequency band for ambient vibrational energy is typically broad. The development of technologies for broadband energy harvesting is therefore desirable. The authors previously proposed an energy harvester, called a flexible piezoelectric device (FPED), that consists of a piezoelectric film (polyvinylidene difluoride) and a soft material, such as silicon rubber or polyethylene terephthalate. The authors also proposed a system based on FPEDs for broadband energy harvesting. The system consisted of cantilevered FPEDs, with each FPED connected via a spring. Simply supported FPEDs also have potential for broadband energy harvesting, and here, a theoretical evaluation method is proposed for such a system. Experiments are conducted to validate the derived model.

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