US researchers have fabricated piezoelectric thin films with record-setting properties.
The new material is a lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) thin film integrated on a silicon substrate, fabricated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Penn State University measured its properties and found a "two-fold higher figure of merit than the best reported PZT films for energy harvesting applications", said Penn State.
PZTs - lead zirconium titanates - are widely used high-performance piezo materials.
"This increase in the effective piezoelectric activity in a thin film will result in a dramatic improvement in performance," said Penn State. "For example, energy harvesting using such thin films will provide local power sources for wireless sensor nodes for bridges, aircraft, and potentially for human-body sensors."
Along with Penn State and UW-Madison, participating institutions included the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), University of Michigan, University of California, Berkeley, Cornell University, and Argonne National Laboratory.
A paper: Giant Piezoelectricity on Si for Hyperactive MEMS, appeared in the November 18 issue of Science.