Title :
X-shaped-spring enhanced MEMS electret generator for energy harvesting
Author :
Minakawa, Yutaro ; Rui Chen ; Suzuki, Yuya
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mech. Eng., Univ. of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract :
X-shaped high-aspect-ratio parylene spring has been proposed for MEMS electret energy harvester in order to suppress the rotational motion of the seismic mass. A MEMS harvester prototype with the X-shaped spring is successfully microfabricated with parylene trench filling technology. The rotational angle has been reduced to 1/5 with the present spring structure, and 1.5 μW output power is obtained at 28 Hz and 0.5 g. The X-shaped spring also offers nonlinear behavior of the spring, which realizes a wide bandwidth of 16-28 Hz. In addition, interdigitated suspended electrodes have been prototyped for the parasitic capacitance reduction and thus for higher output power.
Keywords :
capacitance; electrets; energy harvesting; low-power electronics; microelectrodes; microfabrication; micromechanical devices; X-shaped high-aspect-ratio parylene spring; X-shaped-spring enhanced MEMS electret generator; bandwidth 16 Hz to 28 Hz; energy harvesting; interdigitated suspended electrodes; microfabrication; nonlinear spring behavior; parasitic capacitance reduction; parylene trench filling technology; power 1.5 muW; rotational motion suppression; seismic mass; Electrets; Electrodes; Generators; Micromechanical devices; Power generation; Springs; Substrates; Electret; Energy harvesting; Parasitic capacitance; Parylene; X-shaped spring;
Conference_Titel :
Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS & EUROSENSORS XXVII), 2013 Transducers & Eurosensors XXVII: The 17th International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Barcelona
DOI :
10.1109/Transducers.2013.6627250
