Cantilever type lead zirconate titanate microactuator utilizing ruthenium oxide

A new and simple cantilever type Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 [PZT] microactuator was fabricated by adopting RuO2. The RuO2 has reasonably good conductivity and stiffness and it call replace the double layer of electrode and supporting layer to a single layer in a cantilever beam. The RuO2, PZT and Al thin films were deposited on the Si substrate. The patterning of the Al was carried out by a lithography process and etched with a chemical wet etchant. The etching of PZT and RnO2 were performed by a reactive ion etching system. The Si was etched isotropically to form a cantilever beam. The fabricated cantilever beam consists of Al, PZT and RuO2, and the thicknesses of the films are 0.40, 0.25 and 0.70 mu m, respectively. The beams were from 140 mu m to 275 mu m in length and all of them were 60 mu m wide. Driving tilt angles of the cantilever beams were almost proportional to the applied voltages.