Novel optimized design of a piezoelectric energy harvester in a package for low amplitude vibrations

Abstract

This paper presents a novel piezoelectric energy harvesting device created with the flip-chip bonding of two different parts, one is a MEMS die which plays the role of inertial mass and the other is an associate CMOS chip anchored to the vibrating environment. The flip-chip bonding is performed between the MEMS die, which consists of four piezoelectric beams connected to four PADs or anchor points, and a test PCB, which is used to validate the feasibility of the whole assembled system. The resulting system in package is a proof of concept of a novel design concept that increases the extracted power from an ambient vibration. FEM simulations have been carried out to study the mechanical behaviour of the who le system. Moreover, the fabrication of the piezoelectric die and the test PCB has been successfully performed, as well as their flip-chip integration.