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Piezotronics Marries Electronics to Self-Powered MEMS

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 09-17-10 | Comments

Piezoelectric transducers are already used in everything from guitar pickups to alarm-clock buzzers. Now Georgia Tech researchers claim to have invented a whole new genre of piezoelectricity-powered devices called "piezotronics," which harness mechanical motion to create self-powered piezo-transistors, logic gates and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).

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Piezotronics Marries Electronics to Self-Powered MEMS
Recently at Smarter Technology, we wrote about a new generation of acoustic fabrics that turn clothing into wearable iPod speakers�made possible by piezoelectric transducers. Piezoelectricity is showing promise again with piezotronics, a new category of electronic device that harnesses the relationship between mechanical motion and electricity generation in piezoelectric crystals. A wide variety of naturally occurring and man-made crystals harbor the piezoelectric effect, whereby mechanical motion and the flow of electricity are caused by each other�that is, bending a piezoelectric nanowire causes electricity to flow and, visa versa, running current through a piezoelectric nanowire makes it bend. Now, the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is pioneering a whole array of piezotronic devices that use both effects�acting not only as transducers, but also as self-powered information processors.

A Georgia Tech research team has developed a new class of electronic logic device in which current is switched by an electric field generated by the application of mechanical strain to zinc-oxide nanowires (credit: Gary Meek).

Pieozoelectric crystals contain arrays of polarized molecules�called dipoles�which hold a positive charge on one end and a negative charge on the other. When their crystalline structure is mechanically deformed, the charge density in the material changes as a result of moving its internal dipoles, thereby inducing an electrical current to flow. Likewise, pieozoelectricity works in reverse�applying a voltage to a piezoelectric crystal can cause its dipoles to internally rearrange, thus deforming the material into a new shape.

Georgia Tech researchers measure the performance of a piezo-phototronic device in which a laser changes the conductance of a metal contact attached to a zinc-oxide structure (credit: Gary Meek).

Next: Self-Powering by Mechanical Motion >>

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