Electromechanical Analysis of a Piezoelectric Beam Used to Drive a Torsional Microactuator

The present paper is to analyze the electromechanical responses of a piezoelectric beam in a novel torsional microactuator designed for digital micromirror devices. With the capability of self-detecting rotating angles, the microactuator is designed to actuate high rotating angles when applied with a low voltage. Having laid the design foundation of such devices for the industry, the present work analyzes the electromechanical response of the piezoelectric beam used to drive the micromirror. An analytical expression for the axial deformation of a PZT-4 cantilever beam in response to an applied voltage is presented in this article. Also, numerical investigations are conducted to study the effect of the beam's length and thickness on its axial deformation.