Fabrication and characterization of a novel magnetoelectric multiferroic MEMS cantilevers on Si

In this paper, the fabrication and characterization of a novel magnetoelectric multiferroic (Dy modified BiFeO 3 or BDFO) MEMS cantilevers fabricated directly on Si have been reported for the first time ever. The functioning of BDFO microcantilevers has been tested in the presence of electric field as well as magnetic field. The transverse piezoelectric coefficients d 31 and e 31 of the BDFO films measured from the deflection of the cantilever under applied voltage were −40 pm/V and −5.63 C/m 2 respectively. The piezoelectric properties of BDFO films are similar to that reported for lead zirconate titanate (PZT), while offering additional flexibility in designing and operating MEMS devices.