Delving into Conversion Effects in 0.5 µm Thin Film Aluminum Nitride MEMS Devices

The domain of wireless sensors and portable electronic devices has garnered considerable attention and expanded significantly over the years. Currently, the majority of these devices rely on chemical batteries for power. However, various environmental energy sources with diverse parameters have the potential to be transformed into electrical energy to power portable devices and wireless sensors. It is worth noting that self-generating sensors are also of interest to decrease a sensing system's overall power consumption. For these reasons, various “active” materials have been explored in the literature for converting kinetic energy, particularly emphasizing the conversion effect of thin embedded layers in integrated devices. In this context, this paper investigates the conversion effects and properties of embedded 0.5 µm aluminum nitride films in MEMS for mechanical energy conversion. The study, conducted through a MEMS analyzer and metrological characterization, highlights the suitability of the proposed solution for use as a generating solution in micrometric scale sensing systems and autonomous nodes experiencing low-frequency distributed kinetic vibrations.