In this paper, two different piezoelectric microactuator designs are studied. The\ncorresponding devices were designed for optimal in-plane displacements and different high\nflexibilities, proven by electrical and optical characterization. Both actuators presented two\ndominant vibrational modes in the frequency range below 1 MHz: an out-of-plane bending and an\nin-plane extensional mode. Nevertheless, the latter mode is the only one that allows the use of the\ndevice as a modal in-plane actuator. Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations confirmed that the\ndisplacement per applied voltage was superior for the low-stiffness actuator, which was also\nverified through optical measurements in a quasi-static analysis, obtaining a displacement per volt\nof 0.22 and 0.13 nm/V for the low-stiffness and high-stiffness actuator, respectively. In addition,\nelectrical measurements were performed using an impedance analyzer which, in combination with\nthe optical characterization in resonance, allowed the determination of the electromechanical and\nstiffness coefficients. The low-stiffness actuator exhibited a stiffness coefficient of 5 Ã?â?? 104 N/m, thus\nbeing more suitable as a modal actuator than the high-stiffness actuator with a stiffness of 2.5 Ã?â?? 105\nN/m.
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