Leader in Integrated ICT Hardware & Systems
The PiezoMEMS team at Tyndall has two main objectives:
The team consists of members with a diverse background in various disciplines such as: Electrical engineering, bioengineering, material science, physics, and mechanical engineering. The team investigates everything from atoms to systems. We use fundamental material science to create the smart materials used in the MEMS devices and then integrate the devices into a fully functional system using circuit design.
The PiezoMEMS team have developed various types of smart materials with a focus on piezoelectrics. The team specializes in the deposition of CMOS compatible Aluminium Nitride and Aluminium Scadium Nitride, and also has experience working with other piezoelectric materials such as PVDF, PZT, Lithium Niobate, and quartz. Additionally, the team has developed smart materials in the area of permanent magnets, triboelectrics, and stimuli-responsive hydrogels, all of which can be integrated into MEMS devices.
We have developed devices for a wide range of applications including: energy harvesting, RF resonators, sensors, transducers, flexible circuits, and robotics. The team has experts in finite element modelling which is used to design the device and predict the output prior to fabrication. Members of the team have extensive knowledge in microfabrication and work closely with the fabrication engineers at Tyndall to make the devices. As part of the Heterogeneous System Integration group the team also investigates methods of packaging the MEMS devices in order to increase reliability and performance.
We have an active internal collaboration with different research groups in Tyndall like Advanced RF Technologies, Photonics and Bioelectronics.
The team is always willing to collaborate with other academic or industrial partners where smart materials and/or MEMS are required. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding our research activities or if you want to discuss possible projects.