Bimorph
Bimorph cantilevers used as micromechanical linear actuator:
1 - substrate
2 - piezoelectric layer
3 - metal layer
4 - mechanical contact area
5 - track
1 - substrate
2 - piezoelectric layer
3 - metal layer
4 - mechanical contact area
5 - track
A bimorph is a cantilever that consists of two active layers: piezoelectric and metal.[1] These layers produce a displacement via:
- thermal activation (a temperature change causes one layer to expand more than the other).
- electrical activation as in a piezoelectric bimorph (electric field causes one layer to extend and the other layer to contract).
A piezoelectric unimorph has one active (i.e. piezoelectric) layer and one inactive (i.e. non-piezoelectric) layer.