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Procedia Engineering 120 (2015) 49 52

Proc. Eurosensors XXIX, September 6-9, 2015, Freiburg, Germany

A 256 MEMS membrane digital loudspeaker array based on

PZT actuators
F.Casseta,*, R. Dejaegerb, B. Larochec, B. Deslogesa, Q. Leclereb, R. Morissond,
Y. Bohardd, JP. Gogliod, J. Escatoc, S. Fangeta a
a

CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, 17 rue des Martyrs, Grenoble 38054, France
b
LVA-INSA,25 bis Avenue Jean Capelle, Villeurbanne 69621, France
c
FOCAL, 108 Avenue de lAvenir, La Talaudire 42350, France
d
Easii-IC,90 Avenue Lon Blum, Grenoble 38100, France

Abstract
This paper reports on the development of a unique Digital Loudspeaker Array solution, based on Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3
(PZT) thin-film actuated membranes, arranged in a matrix and which operate in a binary manner by emitting short
pulses of sound pressure. Using the principle of additivity of pressures in the air, it is possible to reconstruct audible
sounds. For the first time, electromechanical and acoustic characterizations were reported on 256 MEMS membranes
DLA. Sounds audible as far as several meters from the loudspeaker have been generated using low-voltage.
2015
2015The
The
Authors.
Published
by Elsevier

Authors.
Published
by Elsevier
Ltd. This Ltd.
is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EUROSENSORS 2015.

Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EUROSENSORS 2015

Keywords: Digital, Loudspeaker, PZT, actuator

1. Introduction
A Digital Loudspeaker Array (DLA) is an electromechanical transductor which receives a numerical
signal as input data and allows the analogical conversion directly in the air. Previous work about MEMSDLA used an electrostatic actuation, which presents pull-in limitation [1]. We designed high
performances PZT actuated membranes in order to obtain the higher acoustic pressure as possible. In this

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 438 782 756; fax: +33 476 922 950.
E-mail address: fabrice.casset@cea.fr.

1877-7058 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of EUROSENSORS 2015

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.563

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F. Casset et al. / Procedia Engineering 120 (2015) 49 52

paper, the actuation principle is first presented. Then the generic technology used to build demonstrators
based on thin-film PZT actuator is detailed. Finally, electromechanical and acoustic characterizations are
presented. Digital acoustic reconstructions have been demonstrated using low actuation voltage.
2. Actuation principle and technological realization of demonstrators
Through a mixt Finite Element Method (FEM) and analytical study, we designed high performances
PZT actuated membranes, in order to obtain the higher acoustic pressure as possible. We focused on
membranes (radius R = 1300 m) which theoretically present a resonant frequency of 18 kHz. Due to the
ferroelectric properties of PZT, we implement a double-actuator design able to generate positive or
negative acoustic pulses (Fig. 1) [3]. The actuation principle consists in stacking the piezoelectric layer
and electrodes together with an elastic layer clamped on its periphery. When an electric field is applied
between the top and the bottom electrode, the PZT layer shrinks in-plane (d31 coefficient effect) and a
bending motion of the membrane is therefore induced by the bimorph effect. Our design is compatible
with a multiple-level command of membranes, as described in [4]. It opens the perspective of 16-bitsDLA using a limited number of membranes.

Fig. 1. Thin-film PZT actuated membrane schematic view. The double actuator design allows to obtain
positive and negative acoustic pulses.

We used a generic technology to build demonstrators, compatible with RF MEMS [5] or haptic
interfaces [6]. Devices were manufactured out of 200 mm standard silicon wafers. First the structural
layer was deposited (1.9 m silicon-oxide and 4 m poly-silicon). Then we deposited and etched the
piezoelectric stack (Fig. 2-a). It consists of 2 m thick sol-gel PZT in between 200 nm thick Pt bottom
electrode and 100 nm thick Ru top electrode. We deposited and patterned a passivation silicon oxide layer
followed by gold lines and pads. Then, membranes were released by back side etching the substrate.
Finally, we sawed the substrate to obtain individual ultra-thin DLA, presenting a thickness finer than 735
m (Fig.2-b).
a)

b)

Fig. 2. (a) Schematic cross section of the technological stack and SEM cross section of the sol-gel thin film
PZT actuator and (b) Photography of a 256 MEMS membrane DLA (44 cm).

F. Casset et al. / Procedia Engineering 120 (2015) 49 52

In parallel, an electronic board was design and manufactured using discrete components. It consists in
a microcontroller, two FPGA and 512 drivers (one driver per actuator). Moreover a socket with 576
micro-pins was used to electrically connect the 576 pads of the DLA. Fig. 3 gives a view of the system.

Fig. 3. Picture of the MEMS DLA (256 membranes, R = 1300m) based on PZT actuators connected with
its electronic board using a dedicated socket Schematic cross section and photography.

3. Electromechanical and acoustic characterizations

Electromechanical characterizations were performed on MEMS-DLA. We used a WYKO optical
profilometer to measure the maximum deflection experienced by the membrane. We calculated the
differential displacement amplitude (DDA), which is the measured membrane deflection under a given
voltage minus the membrane position at 0 V, in order to get rid of the residual stress. Fig. 4 shows the
DDA for internal and external actuators of 3 membranes (R = 1300 m). One can note that the DDA
reaches 4 m using only 10 V. Internal and external actuators allow obtaining symmetric response
insuring symmetric negative and positive acoustic pulses as expected. We also measured the resonant
frequency of the fundamental mode of the membrane using laser vibrometry, namely 17.3 kHz (quality
factor = 500). The discrepancy between the expected resonant frequency and the measured one can be
explained by the residual stress that must be taking into account for predictive model.

Fig. 4. Membrane DDA measurements (R = 1300 m) for external and internal actuators of 3 different
membranes.

Acoustic characterizations were performed on 256 membranes MEMS-DLA. We measured the

response spectrum of the DLA playing in the digital reconstruction mode a 5.5 kHz sinus with a sampling
rate of 44.1 kHz. It shows a satisfactory limited number of harmonic parasitic peaks and a high SPL value
of about 100 dB at 13 cm (Figure 5). The acoustic pressure generated by the MEMS-DLA in its analogic
mode was also investigated using an actuation voltage of only 8 V. Figure 6 compares the acoustic

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F. Casset et al. / Procedia Engineering 120 (2015) 49 52

pressure measured by a microphone placed 13 cm face to our MEMS-DLA, with the acoustic pressure of
a 64-membranes MEMS-DLA [3] when we play a sinus with frequency ranging from 500 Hz up to 50
kHz. It shows an acoustic pressure increase of about 40 dB, coming from membrane surface and number
increase but also actuator optimization. Sound quality was also improved per a factor 3 (Total-HarmonicDistortion criteria). Sounds audible as far as several meters from the loudspeaker have been generated.
Digital acoustic reconstructions using our MEMS-DLA have been demonstrated using low actuation
voltage. These results are promising for the development of ultra-thin DLA.
5.5 kHz sinus to be digitally reconstructed

Fig. 5. Response spectrum of the 256-MEMS DLA (R = 1300 m) playing in digital mode a 5.5 kHz sinus.

Fig. 6. Comparison of the measured acoustic pressure between a 256-MEMS DLA and a 64-MEMS DLA.

4. Conclusion
Electromechanical and acoustic characterizations were reported on a 256 MEMS membranes DLA
based on PZT actuators. Sounds audible as far as several meters have been generated with sound pressure
levels higher than previous works and using low actuation voltage (8 V). These results are very promising
for the development of ultra-thin DLA.

References
[1] BM. Diamond et al. Digital sound reconstruction unsing arrays of CMOS-MEMS microspeaker, IEEE Int. Conf. on
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Conference, 2002, pp. 292-295.
[2] R. Dejaeger et al. Development and characterization of a piezoelectrically actuated MEMS digital loudspeaker, 26th
European Conference on Solid-State Transducers (Eurosensors), 2012, pp. 184-187.
[3] S. Monkronthong et al. Multiple-level digital Loudspeaker array, 28th European Conference on Solid-State Transducers
(Eurosensors), 2014.
[4] M. Cueff et al. A fully package piezoelectric switch with low voltage actuation and electrostatic hold, IEEE Int. Conf. on
Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Conference, pp. 212-215, 2010..
[5] F. Casset et al. Low voltage actuated plate for haptic applications with PZT thin-film, The 17th International Conference
on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (Transducers), June 16-20, 2013.