Silicon-integrated electrostatic energy harvesters

Kempitiya, Asantha; Hella, Mona M.; Oxaal, John; Borca-Tascuic, Diana-Andra

doi:10.1109/mwscas.2013.6674661

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The novelty of this design lies in the combination of EEH configurations for a low-frequency oscillator and a high-frequency oscillator in a FupC strategy. Furthermore, the electromechanical design of EEHs requires the simultaneous consideration of both the mechanical and electrical behavior [32,33]. Investigation of conditioning circuits for various EEH configurations have resulted in several guidelines for a harvester's design [23] and operation [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Numerical Analysis of an Electrostatic Energy Harvester With Impact for Frequency Up-Conversion

Lensvelt

Fey

Mestrom

et al. 2020

Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics

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Integration of vibration energy harvesters (VEHs) with small-scale electronic devices may form an attractive alternative for relatively large batteries and can, potentially, increase their lifespan. However, the inherent mismatch between a harvester's high-frequency resonance, typically in the range 100−1000 Hz, relative to the available low-frequency ambient vibrations, typically in the range 10–100 Hz, means that low-frequency power generation in microscale VEHs remains a persistent challenge. In this work, we model a novel electret-based, electrostatic energy harvester (EEH) design. In this design, we combine an out-of-plane gap-closing comb (OPGC) configuration for the low-frequency oscillator with an in-plane overlap comb configuration for the high-frequency oscillator and employ impact for frequency up-conversion. An important design feature is the tunability of the resonance frequency through the electrostatic nonlinearity of the low-frequency oscillator. Impulsive normal forces due to impact are included in numerical simulation of the EEH through Moreau's time-stepping scheme which has, to the best of our knowledge, not been used before in VEH design and analysis. The original scheme is extended with time-step adjustments around impact events to reduce computational time. Using frequency sweeps, we numerically investigate power generation under harmonic, ambient vibrations. Results show improved low-frequency power generation in this EEH compared to a reference EEH. The EEH design shows peak power generation improvement of up to a relative factor 3.2 at low frequencies due to the occurrence of superharmonic resonances.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Numerical Analysis of an Electrostatic Energy Harvester With Impact for Frequency Up-Conversion

Lensvelt

Fey

Mestrom

et al. 2020

Journal of Computational and Nonlinear Dynamics

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“…Compared to MEMS devices employing variable capacitors with the mobile electrode vibrating in-plane, the out-of-plane structures can potentially achieve greater relative electrode displacement, which enhances performance, providing higher sensitivity in sensing applications [11] or power generation in energy harvesting [12]. Among all applications for MEMS variable capacitors, energy harvesting is attracting significant attention from MEMS research community [13][14][15], in the quest of providing power to wireless sensors by converting sound or mechanical vibration energy, which are broadly available indoor and outdoor [16,17]. The variable capacitor is alternatively charged and discharged during an oscillation period [18,19] and conversion of energy takes place when the charged capacitor's plates move against the electrostatic force attraction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 1D model for design and predicting dynamic behavior of out-of-plane MEMS

Tichy

et al. 2018

J. Micromech. Microeng.

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This paper reports on the modeling of a common structure employed in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) that involves a suspended plate vibrating out-of-plane. A few examples of applications include pressure sensors, accelerometers, micro-mirrors and energy harvesters. In the design process of these devices, it is often required to predict the dynamic response of the structure to an applied force or base excitation, which is not a straightforward process, due to the multi-dimensional bending of the plate. To address this challenge, a simplified but effective approach is proposed here. Central to the proposed approach is modeling the beam-plate device as a sectionalized beam, consisting of the original suspension beam and a replacement beam representing the plate, with non-uniform properties and loading. The beam equation is then solved for the sectionalized beam to determine the static displacement. The results closely match those of finite element modeling. Finally, the effective mass and the effective spring constant are determined using the Rayleigh energy method and used to find the natural frequency of the system. The steady-state oscillatory response can thus be determined by employing classical theory for second order systems, on which the design parameters can be optimized.

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“…A recent review on PZT-based energy harvesters has been reported by M. G. Kang et al [ 18 ]. While many studies have been performed on PZ devices, studies of ES devices that employed electret film have also drawn attention to improve device performance [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Y. Suzuki gave a comprehensive review in 2011, in which the details of electric power generation using the electret technique and progress up to that point are reported [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Cantilever-Type Electrostatic Energy Harvester and Its Charging Characteristics on a Highway Viaduct

Koga¹,

Mitsuya²,

Honma

et al. 2017

Micromachines

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We have developed a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) electrostatic vibratory power generator with over 100 μWRMS of (root-mean-square) output electric power under 0.03 GRMS (G: the acceleration of gravity) accelerations. The device is made of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer and is fabricated by silicon micromachining technology. An electret built-in potential is given to the device by electrothermal polarization in silicon oxide using potassium ions. The force factor, which is defined by a proportional coefficient of the output current with respect to the vibration velocity, is 2.34 × 10−4 C/m; this large value allows the developed vibration power generator to have a very high power efficiency of 80.7%. We have also demonstrated a charging experiment by using an environmental acceleration waveform with an average amplitude of about 0.03 GRMS taken at a viaduct of a highway, and we obtained 4.8 mJ of electric energy stored in a 44 μF capacitor in 90 min.

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Silicon-integrated electrostatic energy harvesters

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Design and Numerical Analysis of an Electrostatic Energy Harvester With Impact for Frequency Up-Conversion

Design and Numerical Analysis of an Electrostatic Energy Harvester With Impact for Frequency Up-Conversion

A 1D model for design and predicting dynamic behavior of out-of-plane MEMS

Development of a Cantilever-Type Electrostatic Energy Harvester and Its Charging Characteristics on a Highway Viaduct

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