Simulation, fabrication and characterization of transducers based on piezoelectric nanowires

This report presents the work done during my internship at the IMEP-LaHC and LMGP laboratories. The use of batteries in electronic devices has been widely spread these last few years, although causing environmental issues. The goal is then to find alternative solutions using the energy available everywhere around us: mechanical energy. This internship is focused on the study of NGs based on piezoelectric ZnO NWs fabricated by MOCVD. The objectives are the fabrication, simulation and characterization of devices transforming mechanical energy into electrical energy, using the piezoelectric effect coming from the NWs. The simulation, using the finite element method (COMSOL multiphysics), allows to optimize the device by varying different parameters (size of the NWs, density of charges...). The results of these simulations will then be used for the fabrication of the NWs arrays. The fabrication of the device consists in covering the NWs with a dielectric material (PMMA). It also requires two electrodes to recover the generated signal in order to characterize the device using a test bench (compression). The obtained results are promising on the future of these devices, however, there are still optimizations to be made and studies to be carried out on the subject.