Ultra-wide bandwidth piezoelectric energy harvesting
Abstract
Here, we present an ultra wide-bandwidth energy harvester by exploiting the nonlinear stiffness of a doubly clamped microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs) resonator. The stretching strain in a doubly clamped beam shows a nonlinear stiffness, which provides a passive feedback and results in amplitude-stiffened Duffing mode resonance. This design has been fabricated into a compact MEMS device, which is about the size of a US quarter coin. Based on the open circuit voltage measurement, it is expected to have more than one order of magnitude improvement in both bandwidth (more than 20% of the peak frequency) and power density (up to 2 W/cm3) in comparison to the devices previously reported.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- August 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.3629551
- Bibcode:
- 2011ApPhL..99h3105H
- Keywords:
-
- energy harvesting;
- feedback;
- microfabrication;
- micromechanical resonators;
- piezoelectric devices;
- 84.60.-h;
- 85.50.-n;
- 85.85.+j;
- 81.16.-c;
- Direct energy conversion and storage;
- Dielectric ferroelectric and piezoelectric devices;
- Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems and devices;
- Methods of nanofabrication and processing