Development and analysis of micro/nano displacement sensor for piezoelectric actuator

A novel generation of micro/nano displacement sensor for PZT actuator which could measure the minute displacement in micron or nanometer level has been performed in this paper. In general, the former two generations of sensor at IIM have been fabricated and tested successfully. In this paper, a new generation micro/nano displacement sensor with higher resolution has been proposed. This paper focus on the whole process of this novel sensor from the working principle, parameter determination to the FEM simulation and so forth. This sensor can enlarge the displacement of the PZT by utilizing the lever principle and the strain gauges can perceive the variation without amplifying the noise. About this sensor, we also use the flexure hinges as the rotation joints to obtain the expansion. In addition, we provide the accurate model for this special kind of displacement sensor, and through that people could design and set every parameter freely. The simulation results in FEM show that the theoretical model matched the simulation results and this new sensor would have a better performance than its last two generations.