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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Design and Assembly of an Ultra-light Motorized Microdrive for Chronic Neural Recordings in Small Animals
Published on: November 8, 2012
A cylindrical micro-ultrasonic motor (stator transducer size: 1.4 mm in diameter and 5.0 mm long)
1Division of Fundamental Technology Development, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Saitama, Japan. tmorita@postman.riken.go.jp
Abstract:
Ultrasonic motors are suitable for a micro-actuator because of a direct drive, no brake and their simple construction. In order to fabricate micro-ultrasonic motors, a piezoelectric thin film is essential. In this study, a hydrothermal method was adopted to deposit a PZT thin film. The dimensions of the stator transducer were: outer diameter, 1.4 mm; inner diameter, 1.2 mm; and length, 5.0 mm. The resonance frequency of the stator transducer was 227 kHz, and the vibration amplitude was 58 nmp-p at an input voltage of 4.0 Vp-p. The maximum revolution speed was 680 rpm, and the maximum starting torque was 0.67 microNm. The experimental conditions were 20 Vp-p and 5.3 mN pre-load. The motor property versus scale was investigated using an equivalent circuit. The calculated results indicated that the output torque of the 100 microns diameter motor was 27 nNm.

