With daily growth of using microcantilevers in microelectromechanical systems, comprehensive analysis on their dynamical behavior is necessary since they are mostly utilized as the main sensing device. In this paper, the out-of-plane vibrations of the piezoelectrically actuated microcantilever are experimentally investigated. The microcantilever is covered with a piezoelectric layer on its top surface through which it can be excited by applying the voltage to the piezoelectric actuator. The nonlinear frequency response of the microcantilever is studied and shift in natural frequency due to nonlinearity is examined. By observing the subharmonics of the fundamental frequencies at 2X and 3X, it is experimentally shown that there exist cubic and quadratic nonlinearities in the microcantilever. A mathematical model based on these experimental tests is then proposed and verified. The out-of-plane measurements provide the ability to observe both transversal and torsional modes. In addition, the modes in which the microcantilever acts like a plate are observed.
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