Single sheet differential-poled piezoelectric microactuator for a hard disk drive

摘要

A piezoelectric (PZT) microactuator directly attached to a head slider, for mounting on a suspension for use as a third stage actuator in a hard disk drive, is fabricated from and comprises a single sheet of a piezoelectric material with the top and bottom covered with an electrically conductive material to form the electrodes. The piezoelectric material is differential-poled so that one lateral portion is poled in one direction and another lateral portion is poled in the opposite direction. When a drive voltage is applied between the top and bottom electrodes, one portion of the piezoelectric material expands while the other portion contracts, thereby providing a rotational movement. The direction of motion of each respective portion is determined by the direction of the applied voltage and the respective direction of poling.

主权项

1. A piezoelectric microactuator configured for third stage actuation in a hard disk drive, said microactuator comprising:
a single sheet of piezoelectric material having a top surface, an opposing bottom surface, a first lateral portion and a second lateral portion, wherein the first lateral portion is poled in a first direction and the second lateral portion is poled in an opposing second direction; and a single first actuation electrode layer electrically coupled with the top surface and a single second actuation electrode layer electrically coupled with the bottom surface.