Integration of PVDF (Polyvinylidene Fluoride) in MEMS Production

The combination of materials with new processing setups often leads to new opportunities in well-known technologies. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is widely used because of its chemical resistance and thermal properties. Usually, it is shaped by spray casting to produce plumber components. PVDF is also known for its piezoelectric behavior, which can be measured in PVDF films, like it was shown by Kawai [1] and others long ago. Nevertheless, piezoelectric materials are used in the production of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), PVDF is not. Therefore, the main idea is to evaluate the possibilities and afterwards develop a way to integrate PVDF into MEMS product for example as membranes with piezoelectric behavior. It has been observed, that PVDF films which were exposed to an electrical field during drying show a higher piezoelectric behavior than those which were not or have been polarized by an electric field after drying the film.