Highly piezoelectric MgZr co-doped aluminum nitride-based vibrational energy harvesters

The first MgZr co-doped AlN-based vibrational energy harvester (VEH) is presented. (MgZr)AlN, which is a new class of doped AlN, provides high piezoelectricity and cost advantage. Using 13%-(MgZr)-doped AlN for micromachined VEHs, maximum output power of 1.3 μW was achieved with a Q-factor of 400 when resonant frequency, vibration acceleration, load resistance were 792 Hz, 8 m/s(2), and 1.1 MΩ, respectively. Normalized power density was 8.1 kW·g(-2)·m(-3). This was one of the highest values among the currently available piezoelectric VEHs.