Piezoelectric ALN cantilever array on a SU-8 substrate for flexible artificial basilar membrane

摘要

Artificial basilar membrane (ABM) has been developed to mimic the cochlea's transduction and mechanical frequency selectivity. In our previous study, ABM was designed as a cantilever array on silicon substrate using aluminum nitride. However, its frequency range was relatively high (2.92-12.6 kHz) compared to the communication range of human (300-3,400 Hz). To lower the frequency response range of the ABM, we fabricated piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) cantilever array on a flexible SU-8 substrate. The deposited AlN thin film exhibited c-axis orientation on the cured SU-8 film, which was identified by SEM and XRD. The fabricated AlN cantilever array demonstrated piezoelectric characteristics with mechanical frequency selectivity, which is a vital function for artificial basilar membrane.