Microsyst Technol (2017) 23:1751–1759

DOI 10.1007/s00542-016-2940-1

TECHNICAL PAPER

Design and development of guided four beam cantilever type

MEMS based piezoelectric energy harvester
Shanky Saxena1,2 · Ritu Sharma1 · B. D. Pant2 

Received: 17 November 2015 / Accepted: 12 April 2016 / Published online: 28 April 2016
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Abstract MEMS devices have found applicability in generates potential of opposite polarities that can be har-
remote area of operation such as temperature monitoring in vested using separate set of capacitors. Potential generated
extreme climates, structural health monitoring, and car tire ranges from 17.84 to 89.21 mV for input acceleration rang-
pressure monitors etc. due to compact shape and ability to ing from 1 to 5 g respectively.
operate in low power (few microwatts). These devices are
generally powered through a small battery but replacement
at such remote locations is not feasible which imposes a 1 Introduction
serious challenge of powering these devices for infinitely
long time. Energy harvesting provides an unending power MEMS (Micro-electro mechanical system) devices have a
source (few milli-watts) which is adequate to power these wide area of applications as pressure sensors, accelerom-
MEMS devices having remote area applications. Piezo- eters, gyroscopes etc. Due to compact shape and ability
electric type energy harvesters are the most promising to operate in low power (few microwatts) MEMS devices
and efficient vibration energy harvesters that are widely have found applicability in remote area of operation such
used. Increased depth of cavity due to large displacement, as temperature monitoring in extreme climates, structural
residual stress and lower output potential are demerits of health monitoring, car tire pressure monitors etc. (Kulah
single cantilever type piezoelectric energy harvester. In and Najafi 2008). These devices are generally powered
this paper a new design of guided four beam cantilever through a small battery and replacement at such remote
type piezoelectric energy harvester is simulated, analyzed locations is not feasible which imposes a serious challenge
and reported. Displacement of 0.095 µm is achieved at an of powering these devices for infinitely long time (Soliman
input acceleration of 1 g (9.8 m/s2) which is 32.14 % less et al. 2008a, b). Energy harvesting provides an unending
than displacement of single beam cantilever which has also power source (few milli-watts) which is adequate to power
been reported and compared with the new proposed design these MEMS devices specifically for remote area applica-
in this paper. Maximum stress calculated at an input accel- tions (Chye et al. 2010). Vibration energy harvesting is a
eration of 5 g is 4.7 × 105 N/m2 on piezoelectric layer and better choice as ambient vibrations are freely available
8  × 105 N/m2 on guided beams which is well below the with different amplitudes and frequency in the environment
fracture stress for silicon. Tensile and compressive stress enabling sufficient power to drive sensor nodes at remote
places (Glynne-Jones et al. 2001). Most MEMS based
vibration energy harvesters are based on electromagnetic,
* Shanky Saxena piezoelectric and capacitive type transduction mechanisms.
[email protected] Electromagnetic type uses Faradays law of electromagnetic
1 induction for potential generation; fabrication of coils and
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering,
Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, magnets in MEMS is not suitable. Capacitive type operates
India on variation in capacitance due to vibrations, fabrication
2
MEMS and Microsensors Group, Central Electronics is very suitable in MEMS but it requires an initial voltage
Engineering Research Institute, Pilani 333031, India for device operation. Piezoelectric type is best suitable for

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1752 Microsyst Technol (2017) 23:1751–1759

MEMS based vibration energy harvesters due to simplicity from the encapsulation layer of the device. As the proof
in operation and fabrication in MEMS technology (Dallago mass at the center is guided by four beams this structure
et al. 2010; Halvorsen 2008). Cantilever fixed from one end gives lower residual stress as compared to single beam can-
free from other with seismic mass are used to realize piezo- tilever structure. Piezoelectric layer on four beams gener-
electric type energy harvesters (Liu et al 2011). Cantilever ates potential due to compressive and tensile stress which
structures are modeled with spring mass damper system, can be connected in series to increase the output potential
the structure resonates when the system frequency matches generated (Wang et al. 2012; Marzencki et al. 2009).
the ambient vibration frequency of the environment (Yi In this paper guided four beam cantilever structure is
et al. 2002). Each cantilever has static system frequency designed and thoroughly investigated using Finite Ele-
which depends on physical parameters as length, width, ment Method (FEM) simulator and compared analytically.
thickness and seismic mass of the cantilever which is to be Parameters such as resonance frequency, total displace-
resonated with random vibration frequency of the environ- ment, von Mises stress, output potential, are obtained as a
ment (Mateu and Moll 2005). This imposes a serious chal- function of input acceleration. Finally the fabrication flow
lenge in design of piezoelectric based cantilever structures for the device is presented.
such that they adaptively resonate with the random vibra-
tion frequency otherwise the power harvested will drasti-
cally reduce and will not be able to drive the sensor nodes 2 Design of guided four beam piezoelectric energy
(Saxena et al. 2015). Zhu et al. (2010) reviewed strategies harvester
to increase operating frequency range first by tuning the
resonant frequency of the cantilever at all times by mechan- In this paper guided four beam cantilever is designed and
ical tuning methods (changing dimensions, moving center compared with a single beam cantilever. FEM simulation
of gravity of proof mass, variable spring stiffness, strain- for the guided four beam cantilever is reported and com-
ing the structure) and by electrical tuning methods (adjust- pared analytically. The four beams connected at center
ing load). Strategies to widen bandwidth such as genera- with proof mass offers centrosymmetric geometry. Guided
tor array, amplitude limiter and coupled oscillators have beams have dimension as length 2500 µm, width 2000 µm
also been reviewed. Shahruz (2006) developed a device and thickness 20 µm respectively. In the guided four beam
containing array of cantilever beams with proof masses at structure shown in Fig. 1b each beam is fixed from one end
their tips, making the device to work as a band pass filter. and connected with proof mass at the other end. Shape of
Soliman et al. (2008a, b) presented an approach to design the proof mass affect the potential generated, a pyramidal
broadband piezoelectric harvesters by arranging multi- shape proof mass provides higher generated potential (Sax-
ple piezoelectric bimorphs in a system. Mechanical tun- ena and Sharma 2014). This pyramidal shape of the proof
ing methods are easy to implement but have slow response mass can be achieved by using Tetra Methyl Ammonium
time, consumes energy at resonance and increased damp- Hydroxide (TMAH) etching by suitable corner compen-
ing when compressive load is applied. Mechanical stop- sation. Dimensions for the proof mass are base 1 (AB)
pers have fatigue problem caused while limiting the ampli- equals 3033 µm, base 2 (CD) equals 3500 µm, height (h) is
tude whereas maximum output power is reduced while 330 µm and ratio ‘r’ (CD/AB) is 1.15 as shown in Fig. 1a.
using coupled oscillators. Energy harvesters are packaged Four beams of silicon comprises of four layers (1) oxide
in a vacuum encapsulation which is essential to reduce layer for insulation between substrate and the bottom elec-
the damping and increase the output power. However the trode, (2) bottom electrode of Gold (Au) for charge col-
maximum displacement of the cantilever is restricted by lection, (3) Piezoelectric layer of Zinc oxide (ZnO) is
the depth of the cavity formed for the encapsulation. Lower sputtered over bottom electrode, (4) Top electrode (Au)
frequency and higher acceleration causes frequent colli- is sputtered over piezoelectric layer for charge collection.
sion of the free end of the cantilever with the capping layer For device fabrication a P-type silicon substrate (100) of 3
resulting in fracture of the beams which reduces the life- inches diameter (350 ± 25 µm) is suitable to obtain proof
time of the device. Guided beam cantilever structure fixed mass of the desired thickness. Ambient vibration displaces
from four ends and having proof mass at the center gives the guided beams which generates tensile and compressive
stable, reliable and improved response as compared to sin- stress in the beams resulting in the generation of charge
gle beam cantilever structure. Proof mass is supported with along the piezoelectric layer due to piezoelectric effect.
four beams which give stable operation and ability to sus-
tain higher stress values due to high amplitude vibrations 2.1 Resonance frequency
as compared to single beam cantilever. Four beams provide
higher stiffness to the structure resulting in lower displace- The first criterion to generate maximum output power is to
ment which reduces frequent collision of the proof mass tune the resonance frequency of the guided beam cantilever

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Fig. 2  Resonance frequency at a thickness of 5–20 µm of the silicon

beam. The minimum and maximum resonance frequency obtained at
335.96 and 1631.4 Hz for beam thickness of 5 and 20 µm respectively

ambient vibrations of low frequency. Spring constant of

the cantilever depends on the Young’s modulus (E), width
(W) thickness (t) and the length (l) of the cantilever as
given by Eq. (2). Resonance frequency for the guided can-
tilever beam is obtained using FEM simulator COMSOL
Multiphysics (5.1 license version) for different thickness
Fig.  1  a Extended view of pyramidal shape proof mass. b Resonance
frequency for four beam guided cantilever structure at a beam thick- (from t = 5 to 20 µm) of the beam and compared analyti-
ness of 5 µm is 335.96 Hz obtained using FEM cally. Length (l) and width (W) of the four guided beams
are fixed at 2500 and 2000 µm respectively. Seismic mass
having dimensions 3500 × 3500 × 330 µm and weight
to the frequency of ambient vibration. The resonance fre- 8.155 × 10−6 kg is attached at the center of the four beams
quency of the guided cantilever depends on spring con- to lower the resonance frequency. FEM simulation gives
stant (k) of the beams and seismic mass (m) at the center as resonance frequency at 335.96 Hz for a beam thickness of
given by Eq. (1) (Zhu et al. 2010). 5 µm as shown in Fig. 1b.
Resonance frequency when calculated analytically using
 Eq. (1) at a thickness of 5 µm of the silicon beam comes
1 k out to be 337.72 Hz. As thickness of the silicon beam
f = (1)
2π m increases the resonance frequency of the system non line-
arly increases as given by Eq. (2). When the beam thickness
4EWt 3
k= (2) is increased to 20 µm, the resonance frequency obtained is
l3 1631.4 Hz using FEM simulation which justifies Eq. (2).
where in Eqs. (1) and (2) ‘k’ is spring constant, ‘m’ Resonance frequency when calculated analytically using
is weight of proof mass, ‘W’ is width of beam, ‘t’ is the Eq. (1) at a thickness of 20 µm increases to 1754.85 Hz
thickness of beam, ‘l’ is length of beam and ‘E’ is Young’s which is reported in Fig. 2. It can be observed from Fig. 2
modulus. that the resonance frequency obtained using FEM simulator
Guided beam cantilever with seismic mass is mod- and calculated analytically are in close agreement to each
eled by spring mass damper systems having a fixed reso- other.
nance frequency. Seismic mass (m) reduces the resonance Resonance frequency obtained at different thickness of
frequency of the system which is required to tune with guided beam from 5 to 20 µm is in lower frequency region

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Table 1  Displacement, von 1 g 2 g 3 g 4 g 5 g

Mises stress and electric
potential at different dimensions Case I 2500 × 2500 µm
of proof mass
 Displacement (µm) 0.050 0.100 0.140 0.200 0.250
 Von Mises stress (N/m2, maximum) 0.8 × 105 1.6 × 105 2.5 × 105 3 × 105 4 × 105
 Von Mises stress (piezoelectric layer) 0.5 × 105 1.1 × 105 1.6 × 105 2.1 × 105 2.6 × 105
 Electric potential (V) 0.0093 0.0186 0.0279 0.0372 0.0465
Case II 3500 × 3500 µm
 Displacement (µm) 0.095 0.190 0.286 0.382 0.479
 Von Mises stress (N/m2, maximum) 1.5 × 105 3 × 105 5 × 105 6 × 105 8 × 105
 Von Mises stress (piezoelectric layer) 0.94 × 105 1.8 × 105 2.8 × 105 3.7 × 105 4.7 × 105
 Electric potential (V) 0.01732 0.03468 0.05197 0.06929 0.08662
Case III 4500 × 4500 µm
 Displacement (µm) 0.140 0.300 0.450 0.600 0.700
 Von Mises stress (N/m2, maximum) 2 × 105 4.5 × 105 7 × 105 9 × 105 10 × 105
 Von Mises stress (piezoelectric layer) 1.5 × 105 3 × 105 4.5 × 105 6 × 105 7.5 × 105
 Electric potential (V) 0.02864 0.05729 0.08593 0.11458 0.14322

which is suitable for energy harvesting applications. The frequency as given by Eq. (1). Furthermore it reduces the
results reported in Fig. 2 concludes that a four beam guided displacement which further reduces the stress and potential
cantilever structure is capable of operating at low frequency generated.
range so as to resonate with the frequency of the ambient Whereas for case III with proof mass dimension of
vibrations. Therefore the design suggested and reported in 4500  × 4500 µm a resonance frequency of 1286.4 Hz is
this paper is suitable for piezoelectric type energy harvester observed. von Mises stress at 1 g is 2 × 105 N/m2 and
device applications which can be fabricated using MEMS reaches to a maximum value of 10 × 105 N/m2 at 5 g. Elec-
technology. tric potential generated is 28.64 and 143.2 mV at 1 and 5 g
In the proceeding sections guided beam cantilever type respectively. As the mass dimension is high the resonance
piezoelectric energy harvester is investigated with external frequency generated is low but it results in higher stress
vibrations. The acceleration is varied from a range of 1–5 g values which may lead to fracture point of beams.
and parameters such as displacement, von Mises stress and Finally for case II with dimension of 3500 × 3500 µm a
electric potential are obtained and reported in the proceed- resonance frequency of 1631.4 Hz is observed. von Mises
ing sections. stress at 1 g is 1.5 × 105 N/m2 and reaches to a maximum
value of 8 × 105 N/m2 at 5 g. Electric potential generated
2.1.1 Selection of proof mass is 17.32 and 86.62 mV at 1 and 5 g respectively. As this
dimension of proof mass gives considerable output with
The design layout is prepared for thickness of 350 µm (3 lower stress values hence chosen for designing the guided
inch). Beam thickness of 20 µm is kept so that it is achieved four beam cantilever structure reported in this paper.
using TMAH etching and also withstands proof mass.
Therefore the maximum thickness of the proof mass is 2.2 Displacement
fixed at 330 µm (which is selected for minimum resonance
frequency). The length and the width of the proof mass is In this section displacement of the guided beam cantilever
optimized by selecting three values i.e. 2500 × 2500 µm, structure is discussed. Displacement of the guided beam
3500  × 3500 µm and 4500 × 4500 µm. Resonance fre- from fixed end towards the guided end is obtained for input
quency, stress and electric potential for the three variations acceleration ranging from 1 to 5 g. In dominant frequency
is analyzed and then appropriate dimension for proof mass mode of operation the guided beam structure displaces in
is selected. ±Z direction as shown in Fig. 1b. Arc length is the length
As seen from Table 1 for case I proof mass of dimension from fixed end of the beam to the guided end of the beam
2500 × 2500 µm gives a resonance frequency of 2216.2 Hz where proof mass is attached. The arc position selected is
and von Mises stress at 1 g is 0.8 × 105 N/m2 and reaches the interface of the top surface of piezoelectric layer and
to a maximum value of 4 × 105 N/m2 at 5 g. Electric the top electrode where charge is generated and collected.
potential generated is 9.3 and 46.5 mV at 1 and 5 g respec- Displacement versus arc length graph for the guided beam
tively. Lower the mass dimension higher is the resonance at an input acceleration ranging from 1 to 5 g is shown in

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Fig. 3  Displacement versus
arc length graph for the guided
beam for input acceleration
from 1 to 5 g. Displacement val-
ues of 0.095 and 0.479 µm are
obtained at an input acceleration
of 1 and 5 g respectively

Fig. 3. It can be seen from the graph that a displacement of Displacement of the guided beam is also compared with
0.095 µm is obtained at an input acceleration of 1 g which the displacement of single beam cantilever structure as
gradually increases with the input acceleration and reaches shown in Fig. 4. One end of the cantilever is fixed and seis-
to a maximum value of 0.479 µm at an acceleration of 5 g. mic mass is attached at the other end. The dimensions of
The graph in Fig. 3 justifies that the maximum displace- cantilever structure are length 2100 µm, width 200 µm and
ment occurs at the guided beam end attached to seismic thickness 5 µm which is designed using FEM (COMSOL
mass and it reduces towards the fixed end of the beams. Multiphysics). When an input acceleration of 1 g is applied
Deflection of the beam is minimum at the fixed end there- the single beam cantilever gives a displacement of 0.14 µm
fore displacement is minimum which results in higher stress which resonates at a frequency of 1611.9 Hz. However the
generation at the fixed end of the guided beam structure. proposed guided beam structure gives a displacement of
The device operation should be in dominant mode to have 0.095 µm at 1 g input acceleration which is less by 32.14 %
resonance with low frequency ambient vibrations therefore as compared to displacement obtained by single beam can-
displacement curves for dominant mode are of significance. tilever structure.
Displacement of the device is a key parameter in deter-
mining the depth of the cavity for the device encapsulation, 2.3 Von Mises stress
larger the value of displacement larger the depth of the cav-
ity is required otherwise due to collisions, fracture of beams Displacement of the device generates stress along the
will take place. A four beam guided structure is fixed from length of the guided beams. Tensile and compressive stress
four ends which results in lower displacement and lead to is generated at the fixed end and guided end of the device.
the stable operation of device, furthermore the problem of Figure 5 shows von Mises stress versus arc length graph for
residual stress is also not dominant in the reported structure the four beam guided cantilever for input acceleration from
as the beams have larger width and is fixed from four ends. 1 to 5 g.

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Maximum stress of 9.4 × 104 N/m2 is observed at an

input acceleration of 1 g whereas at an input acceleration of
5 g maximum stress is 4.7 × 105 N/m2 is observed across
the piezoelectric layer (Fig. 5). At fixed end of the beam
stress is maximum which decreases along the length of
the beam and reaches to a minimum value at a length of
1250 µm. Further as the length increases towards the guided
end stress increases and reaches to its maximum value at
length 2500 µm which justifies generation of tensile and
compressive stress shown in Fig. 5. It can be observed from
Table 1 for case II that maximum stress across piezoelectric
layer is 4.7 × 105 N/m2 and maximum stress on the guided
beam structure near the fixed ends is 8 × 105 N/m2. Maxi-
mum stress values are well below the fracture stress for sil-
icon, therefore the design can withstand input acceleration
of 5 g or even higher.

2.4 Electric potential

Stress in the guided beam results in generation of charge

Fig. 4  Single beam cantilever with proof mass having resonance fre-
quency of 1611.9 Hz gives displacement of 0.14 µm at an input accel- along the piezoelectric layer due to piezoelectric effect.
eration of 1 g Tensile and compressive stress generates charges of oppo-
site polarities along the length of the piezoelectric layer.

Fig. 5  von Mises stress versus

arc length graph for the guided
beam for input acceleration
from 1 to 5 g. Maximum
stress values of 9.4 × 104 and
4.7 × 105 N/m2 is obtained at
an input acceleration of 1 and
5 g respectively

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Fig. 6  Electric potential versus

arc length graph for the guided
beam for input acceleration
from 1 to 5 g. Maximum
electric potential of 17.84 and
89.21 mV is obtained at an
input acceleration of 1 and 5 g
respectively

Table 2  Electric potential Input acceleration Electric potential at fixed end (mV) Electric potential at guided end (mV)
generated by one beam due to
tensile and compressive stress 1 g 17.32 −17.84
at fixed end and Guided end
2 g 34.68 −35.68
of four beam guided cantilever
structure 3 g 51.97 −53.52
4 g 69.29 −71.37
5 g 86.62 −89.21

Figure  6 shows electric potential versus arc length graph It can be observed that the potential generated due to
for the four beam guided cantilever structure for input tensile and compressive stress are quite similar in magni-
acceleration from 1 to 5 g. tude but with opposite polarities which is given in Table 2
Maximum potential generated at an input acceleration of for one beam. The same potential will be generated across
1 g is 17.84 mV and at 5 g is 89.21 mV which can be seen the four beams of four guided beam structure which can be
from Fig. 6. Electric potential generated across the piezoe- connected in series or in parallel to increase the net electric
lectric layer is maximum at the point of maximum stress (i.e. potential harvested.
fixed end and guided beam end) which gradually reduces
towards the minimum stress region (i.e. at the center of the
beam). The graph justifies that electric potential is generated 3 Fabrication flow
with opposite polarities due to tensile and compressive stress
near fixed and guided beam end. The advantage of using Guided beam cantilever type energy harvester can be fabri-
guided beam structure is that two separate set of electrodes cated in MEMS technology. Five Mask level processes are
can be deployed to harvest this potential having opposite required to complete the device fabrication. P-type silicon
polarities thus adding to the total potential harvested. substrate having 3 inch diameter of thickness 380 ± 25 µm

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Table 3  Fabrication flow for guided beam cantilever type piezoelec- compared to displacement obtained by single beam canti-
tric energy harvester lever designed for the same resonance frequency. Low dis-
Oxidation (~1 µm) placement of the guided beam structure reduces the prob-
M#1 lithography seismic mass ability of the collision of proof mass with the encapsulation
TMAH etching (depth ~330 µm) layer of the device providing stable and reliable operation.
Oxide etch (BHF) The device with the dimensions reported in the paper can
Oxidation dry (0.1 µm) be fabricated in MEMS technology.
Cr/Au sputtering (200/2000 Å)
M#2 lithography bottom electrode/etch
AlN/ZnO sputtering (~2 µm)
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