A piezoelectric single-crystal ultrasonic microactuator for driving optics

At the millimeter scale, the motions or force out puts generated by conventional piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, photostrictive, or electromagnetic actuators are very limited. Here, we report a piezoelectric ultrasonic microactuator (size: 1.5 × 1.5 × 5 mm, weight: 0.1 g) made of PIN-PMN-PT single crystal. The actuator converts its high-frequency microscopic displacements (nanometer to micrometer scale) into a macro scopic, centimeter-scale linear movement of a slider via frictional force, resulting in a speed up to 50 mm/s and a very high unit volume direct driving force of 26 mN/mm³ (which is ~100 times higher than a voice coil motor and ~4 times higher than a piezoceramic ultrasonic motor). This work shows the feasibility of using piezoelectric single-crystal-based ultrasonic microactuator for miniature drive of optics in next-generation mobiles and cameras.