Publication

In this study, an electromagnetic energy harvester using a bulk micromachined silicon spiral spring and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) packaging technique was fabricated and characterized to generate electrical energy from ultra-low ambient vibrations under at vibration accelerations 0.3g. The proposed energy harvester was comprised of a highly-miniaturized neodymium-ironboron (NdFeB) magnet, a silicon spiral spring, a multi-turn copper coil, and a PDMS housing in order to improve its electrical output power and reduce its size/volume. When an external vibration directly moves the mounted magnet as a seismic mass at the center of the spiral spring, the mechanical energy of the moving mass was transformed into electrical energy through the 183 turns of the solenoid copper coil. Silicon spiral springs were used to generate a high electrical output power by maximizing the deflection of the movable mass in response to low-level vibrations. The fabricated energy harvester exhibited a resonant frequency of 36 Hz and an optimal load resistance of 99 Ω. It generated an output power of 29.02 µW and load voltage of 107.3 mV at a vibration acceleration of 0.3g. It also exhibited a power density and normalized power density of 48.37 µW·cm⁻³ and 537.41 µW·cm⁻³·g⁻², respectively. The total volume of the fabricated energy harvester was 1 cm × 1 cm × 0.6 cm (height).