14th National Conference on Technological Trends | 30 - 31, August 2013 | College of Engineering Trivandrum

Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester

Visakh.V1 , M.R.Baiju2
Dept. of Electronics and Communication
College of Engineering ,Thiruvananthapuram.
visakh.l.vijayan87@gmail.com1 , mrbaiju@gmail.com2

Abstract
Vibration energy harvesting can be done efficiently only
when the resonant frequency of the energy harvesting de-
vice matches with the frequency of the ambient vibrations.
We propose a piezoelectric energy harvester in the form of
a cantilever beam attached to an anchor at one end and a
free hanging proof mass at the other end . Aluminium Ni-
tride(AlN) is used as the piezoelectric material due to its
high piezoelectric coefficients. The resonant frequency of
our divice is 120 Hz, which is the vibration frequency of
most machines. Simulation results from Coventor MEMS+
and Matlab Simulink show that the device vibrates with an
amplitude of 1.5 µm, given an acceleration of 1g at the res-
onant frequency.
1. Introduction
Wireless Sensor Networks(WSN) are going to become
an indispensable component in our environment for ap-
plications like automobile tire pressure sensors, tempera-
ture sensors in buildings, monitoring crack formation in
aircrafts,blood pressure monitoring in patients etc [7] [5]
[6].High energy storage density batteries like lithium ion
batteries has been the primary source for powering the WSN
nodes [5].But the bulky size of batteries and the need for
replacement or recharging has hindered the extensive ap-
plications of WSN in various domains. As a result, the
idea of harvesting energy directly from the environment has
attracted immense interest in the recent years [7] [5].The
ambient sources of energy in the environment includes so-
lar energy, mechanical vibrations, acoustic nose, tempera-
ture variations etc. Out of these sources, mechanical vi-
brations is one of the most viable and ubiquitous source
of energy [7].There are mainly three methods of converting
the mechanical energy from vibrations to electrical energy -
Electromagnetic Conversion, Electrostatic Conversion, and
Piezoelectric Conversion [7] [5] [8].
Out of the various proposed and tested vibration en-
ergy harvesting devices(EHD), piezoelectric converters has
received most attention due to various reasons like high en-
ergy density, no separate voltage source is required, no me-
chanical stops required etc. [7] [11]. Several piezoelectric
EHDs were presented in literature. In [7], the author pro-
posed an initial prototype for piezoelectric converter which
produced a maximum output of about 200µ W.Another
piezoelectric EHD with cantilever beam using AlN piezo-
electric material has been discussed in [2].This paper dis-
cusses a standard manufacturing process flow for fabrica-
tion of the device. An ultra wide bandwidth piezoelec-
tric EHD is proposed in [1] which uses a doubly anchored
beam for resonant frequency tuning. A passive resonant fre-
quency adaptation capability for a piezoelectric converter is
discussed in [3]. In [9], a doubly clamped structure has been
proposed which produces a power of 20µ W at 1.2 g accel-
eration. This structure also has a frequency tuning property
of about 3 Hz.
In this paper the design and analysis of a piezoelectric
energy harvester is presented.
2. Principle of Vibration Energy Harvesting
2.1. Vibrations
Low level mechanical vibrations are present almost
everywhere like buildings, machines,manufacturing and as-
sembly plant environments, vehicles, refrigerators, dryers
etc. An extensive study of various commonly occurring low
level vibrations was carried out in [7]. Many interesting ob-
servations were made in the study. Most of the vibration
energy from the sources is concentrated at a few discrete
frequencies. Also the fundamental vibration frequency for
almost all sources is between 70 and 125 Hz.All the vibra-
tion sources can be characterized by the acceleration mag-
nitude and frequency of the fundamental vibration mode.
2.2. Vibration to Electricity Conversion Model
A generic vibration to electricity conversion model has
been proposed by Williams and Yates in [10]. This model
is shown in fig.1
The model is described by the equation 1

582
 14th National Conference on Technological Trends | 30 - 31, August 2013 | College of Engineering Trivandrum

mζe A2
|P | =
4ωζT2

(4)
If the acceleration magnitude of the vibration remains
constant, the output power is inversely proportional to the
frequency. So the converter should be designed to resonate
at the lowest fundamental frequency. Also the power output
increases with proof mass. The mechanical damping should
be as low as possible and the power is optimized for ζe equal
to ζm .

2.3. Transduction Mechanisms

Figure 1: Generic Vibration Converter
There are mainly three types of tranduction mech-
anism for vibration energy harvesters- Electromagnetic ,
Electrostatic and Piezoelectric transduction Mechanisms
mz̈ + (be + bm )ż + kz = −mÿ (1) [7] [11].
In electromagnetic generators, the electrical damper of
where the microgenerator is implemented by using the principle of
z is the spring deflection, y is the input displacement, m Faraday’s law electromagnetic induction.A coil is allowed
is the mass, be is electrically induced damping coefficient, to move in a magnetic field.The change of magnetic flux
bm mechanical damping coefficient,and k is the spring con- linkage in the coil produces an voltage across the coil, driv-
stant. ing a current in the circuit The force produced by the mov-
The power converted to electrical system is given by ing charges in the magnetic field opposes the relative motion
between the coil and the magnet.The work done against this
opposing force is converted into electrical energy.
ω 3 2
mζe ωn ω 2 ( ) Y There are some practical difficulties in implementing
ωn electromagnetic microgenerator in the MEMS scale. The
|P | = ω ω
(2ζT ) + (1 − ( )2 )2 number of coils that can be manufactured is limited and this
ωn ωn
results in low output voltages which cannot be rectified us-
(2) ing diode rectifiers. Also the integration of permanent mag-
where nets and ferromagnetc materials in MEMS scale is difficult.
ζe is the electrical damping ratio, ζm is the mechanical In electrostatic microgenerators, mechanical force
damping ratio, ζT is combined damping ratio (ζe + ζm ), ωn will do work against the attraction of oppositely charged
natural frequency of the mass spring system , ω frequency plate of a capacitor.The voltage across a capacitor is given
of the driving vibrations,and Y input displacement. by

The power output when the resonant frequency of the

mass spring system matches with the input vibration fre-
quency is given by
Q
V=
C
mζe ω 3 Y 2 (5)
|P | =
4ζT2 where Q is the charge, C is the capacitance which is
given by
(3)
or

583
 14th National Conference on Technological Trends | 30 - 31, August 2013 | College of Engineering Trivandrum

0 lw
C=
d
(6)
If the charge is held constant, the voltage can be in-
creased by reducing the capacitance.If the voltage is held
constant, the charge can be increased by increasing the ca-
pacitance.The capacitance is varied by varying either ’l’ or
’d’. In either case, the energy stored on the capacitor, which
is given by the following equation increases.
Figure 2: Circuit representation of piezoelectric element

is zero.) The expression for the open circuit voltage is given

by equation 10 .
1 1 Q2
E= QV = CV 2 =
2 2 2C −dt
VOC = σ (10)

(7)
If the piezoelectric material undergoes a periodic or
An excellent description of the various modes of opera- sinusoidal stress due to external vibrations, an AC open
tion of electrostatic converters is given in [4]. circuit voltage defined by equation 10 can be measured
The primary disadvantage of electrostatic convert- across the material.
ers is that they require a separate voltage source to initi-
ate the conversion process because the capacitor must be
charged up to an initial voltage for the conversion process to 3.0.1 Modes of Operation
start.They also require mechanical stops which causes relia-
bility problems and also increases the mechanical damping. There are two modes in which a piezoelectric material
is generally used. They are
3. Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting
• 33 mode
In piezoelectric converters, the property of piezo elec-
tricity is used as the conversion mechanism.ie when a me- • 31 mode
chanical stress is produced in a piezoelectric material, an
electric field is induced across the material and vice versa.
This effect is due to the spontaneous separation of charge
within certain crystal structures under the right conditions
producing an electric dipole.The constitutive equations for
a piezoelectric material are given in equations 8 and 9 .
σ
δ= + dE (8)
Y

D = E + dσ
where δ is mechanical strain, σ is mechanical stress,
Y is the modulus of elasticity (Young’s Modulus), d is
the piezoelectric strain coefficient, E is the electric field, D
is the electrical displacement (charge density),and  is the
dielectric constant of the piezoelectric material.
A circuit representation of a piezoelectric element
is given in [7]. The source voltage is simply defined as the
open circuit voltage resulting from equation 9. (The open
circuit condition means that the electrical displacement (D)
(9)
Figure 3: (33 mode)
Typically, piezoelectric material is used in the 33 mode,
meaning that both the voltage and stress act in the 3 direc-
tion. However, the material can also be operated in the 31
mode, meaning that the voltage acts in the 3 direction (i.e.

584
 14th National Conference on Technological Trends | 30 - 31, August 2013 | College of Engineering Trivandrum

voltage source is needed to initiate the conversion process.

Additionally, there is generally no need for mechanical
limit stops. Therefore, these devices can be designed to
exhibit very little mechanical damping.

4. Proposed Energy Harvesting Structure

In this paper, a piezoelectric microgenerator structure is
presented.

Figure 4: (31 mode)

the material is poled in the 3 direction), and the mechanical

stress / strain acts in the 1 direction. Operation in 31 mode
leads to the use of thin bending elements in which a large
strain in the 1 direction is developed due to bending. The
most common type of 31 elements are bimorphs, in which
two separate sheets are bonded together, sometimes with a
center shim in between them. As the element bends, the
top layer of the element is in tension and bottom layer is in
compression or vice versa.Therefore, if each layer is poled
in the same direction and electrodes are wired properly, the
current produced by each layer will add. This is termed
as Parallel polling.Conversely, if the layers are poled in
opposite directions, the voltages add. This is termed series
poling. Figure 5: Proposed Structure

Although the electrical/mechanical coupling for 31
mode is lower than for 33 mode, there is a key advantage to
operating in 31 mode. The system is much more compliant,
therefore larger strains can be produced with smaller input
forces. Also, the resonant frequency is much lower. An
immense mass would be required in order to design a
piezoelectric converter operating in 33 mode with a reso-
nant frequency somewhere around 120 Hz. Therefore, the
use of bending elements operating in 31 mode is essential.
A bending element could be mounted in many ways to
produce a generator. A cantilever beam configuration with
a mass placed on the free end has been chosen for two rea-
sons. First, the cantilever mounting results in the lowest
stiffness for a given size, and even with the use of bending
elements it is difficult to design for operation at about 120
Hz in less than 1 cm3. Second, for a given force input, the
cantilever configuration results in the highest average strain
for a given force input.
Piezoelectric converters have certain advan-
tages.Voltages in the range of two to several volts and
currents on the order of tens to hundreds of microAmps are
easily obtainable.A second advantage is that no separate
Most of the commonly occurring machine vibrations is
around 120 Hz [7].So we designed our structure to have a
resonant frequency of 120 Hz , vibrating in the vertical di-
rection in first mode. The structure has dimensions 1200µm
length, 500µm width and 400µm height.
The structure has an anchor part made of silicon on
which the piezolayer and the electrical contacts are de-
posited. The proof mass is at the end of the cantilever beam
which is also made of silicon.The piezoelectric material
used is Aluminium Nitride(AlN), which has piezoelectric
coefficients of e33 =1.55 cm−2 and e31 =-0.58 cm−2 . The
upper and lower electrode contacts are made of Aluminium.
5. Manufacturing Process Flow
The first step of the process flow is the deposition of
silicon with a thickness of 490 µm. This layer is then etched
with a mask to define the anchor and the proof mass. Then
a sacrificial layer is added above which the beam part is cre-
ated. After this the lower electrode is deposited and etched.
This is followed by Aluminium Nitride layer and then the
Aluminium upper electrode is deposited.
The floor plan of the device is as shown in fig 6.

585
 14th National Conference on Technological Trends | 30 - 31, August 2013 | College of Engineering Trivandrum
Figure 6: Floor plan of the device
6. Simulation and Results
The structure is modeled in Coventor MEMS+ 2.0.
The manufacturing process file is created in Process Edi-
tor and structure is designed in Innovator. then the model is
exported to Matlab Simulink for analysis.
A modal analysis is done in Simulink and the resonant
frequency of the device is found to be 120 Hz. Giving an
acceleration of 1g, in the vertical direction at its resonant
frequency ,the displacement of the beam is found out to be
about 1.5 µm. The result is shown in the figure 7.
Figure 7: Displacement of the structure at the resonant fre-
quency
586
7. Conclusion
Most of the commonly occurring vibration sources
produce vibrations at very low frequencies, often less
than 200 Hz. So microgenerators need to be designed to
vibrate at such low frequencies.It is a challenge for the
designers to design a micro device to vibrate at such low
frequencies. In this paper , a piezoelectric microgenerator
is proposed for harvesting energy from ambient vibrations.
Our device vibrates at a very low resonant freuency of 120
Hz. Many commonly used electrical machines vibrate at
that frequency. So our structure finds application in such
environments.
The structure is designed in the MEMS designing soft-
ware Coventor MEMS+ and the analysis of the structure is
done with Matlab Simulink.At its resonant frequency , the
beam displaces upto 1.5 µm at an input acceleration ampli-
tude of 1g, which produces sufficient strain in the piezoelec-
tric material.
References
[1] A. Hajati, S. P. Bathurst, H. J. Lee, and S. G. Kim. De-
sign and fabrication of a nonlinear resonator for ultra wide-
bandwidth energy harvesting applications. Cancun, Mexico,
January 2011. IEEE MEMS CONFERENCE.
[2] M. Marzencki, S. Basrour, B. Charlot, S. Spirkovich, and
M. Colin. A mems piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting
device. In âĂć, France. PowerMEMS Conference.
[3] M. Marzencki, M. Defosseux, and S. Basrour. Mems vibra-
tion energy harvesting devices with passive resonance fre-
quency adaptation capability. JMEMS, VOL. 18, NO. 6, DE-
CEMBER 2009, 18(6), December 2009.
[4] P. D. Mitcheson, T. Sterken, C. He, M. Kiziroglou, E. M.
Yeatman, and R. Puers. Electrostatic microgenerators. Con-
trol and Measurements, 41:114–119, May 2008.
[5] P. D. Mitcheson, E. M. Yeatman, G. Rao, A. S. Holmes, and
T. C. Green. Energy harvesting from human and machine
motion for wireless electronic devices. volume 96. IEEE
Proceedings, September 2008.
[6] R.Elfrink, S.Matova, C. Nooijer, M.Jambunathan,
M.Goedbloed, J. de Molengraft, V.Pop, R.J.M.Vullers,
M.Renaud, and R. Schaijk. Shock induced energy harvest-
ing with a mems harvester for automotive applications. In
âĂć. IEEE.
[7] S. J. Roundy. Energy Scavenging for Wireless Sensor Nodes
with a Focus on Vibration to Electricity Conversion. PhD
thesis, THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKE-
LEY, 2003.
[8] R. J. M. Vullers, R. van Schaijk, I. Doms, C. V. Hoof, and
R. Mertens. Micropower energy harvesting. Solid State Elec-
tronics, 53:684–693, 2009.
[9] Z. Wang, S. Matova, R. Elfrink, M. Jambunathan,
C. de Nooijer, R. van Schaijk, and R. J. M. Vullers. A piezo-
electric vibration harvester based on clamped guided beams.
IEEE MEMS CONFERENCE, February 2012.
 14th National Conference on Technological Trends | 30 - 31, August 2013 | College of Engineering Trivandrum

[10] C. B. Williams and R. B. Yates. Analysis of a microelectric

generator for microsystems. pages 369 – 372. Transducers
95 / Eurosensors , 1995.
[11] M. Zhu, E. Worthington, and J. Njuguna. Analyses of power
output of piezoelectric energy-harvessting devices directly
connected to a load resistor using a coupled piezoelectric-
circuit finite element method. Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics
and Frequency Control, 56(7), July 2009.

587