Liwei Lin (Advisor)

In this work, we report a thermoelectric energy harvester based on an ion-conductive ionogel withthree distinctive features as compared with the state-of-art systems: (1) selfhealable in both thematerial and device operations under large deformations; (2) ultrahigh Seebeck coefficient withthe measured value of 7068 μV/K for the material, and 298 μV/K for a prototype energy harvesterin operations; and (3) stable performances under large bending states with little...

Advanced tactile feedback systems are important tools in the field of human–machine interfaces. In this work, an airflow-assisted corona charging process is utilized to charge films made of electret material for the construction of a sandwich-structured flexible actuator system. With a voltage as low as 20 V, this flexible actuator can stimulate skin sensations for basic tactile feedback functions. Under a driving voltage of 200 V, the system can generate an output force of ≈55 mN, which is larger than that of the output force by cellphones under the vibration mode. Utilizing these...

The geometric designs of MEMS devices can profoundly impact their physical properties and eventual performances. However, it is challenging for researchers to rationally consider a large number of possible designs, as it would be very time- and resource-consuming to study all these cases using numerical simulation. In this paper, we report the use of deep learning techniques to accelerate the MEMS design cycle by quickly and accurately predicting the physical properties of numerous design candidates with vastly different geometric features. Design candidates are represented in a...

This paper presents an improved lumped element model for clamped, circular-shape, piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs). A small signal equivalent circuit is developed to include electrical, mechanical, and acoustic domains, which are analyzed separately and combined with the associated couplings. For the first time, a two-term mode shape approach is adapted to reveal intrinsic and extrinsic properties of a pMUT, such as equivalent circuit parameters, input impedance, velocity, displacement, bandwidth, quality factor, directivity, and the on-axis pressure in the...