PRODUCTION OF A QUASI-TRAVELING WAVE IN SILICON MEMBRANES WITH A THINDEPOSITED LAYER OF SOL-GEL PZT

In this paper, we present the excitation of travelling waves in a rect angular silicon membrane covered with a thin sol-gel PZT layer. We fir st describe the process of deposition and poling of the PZT layer and the measurements of its electro-mechanical properties. Then, we have g enerated travelling waves in the membrane using a single-phase drive o n the piezoelectric stack and we characterized the deformation modes u sing a special interferometer technique. Finally, we show that, by gen erating micron scale amplitudes of vibration, ic will be possible to r ealise micro-actuators using this principle. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.