Determination of optimal crystallographic orientations for LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ bimorph actuators

Abstract

The actuators for precise positioning based on bimorph structures of piezoelectric LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 crystals are considered. The optimal orientations of the actuator plates ensuring the highest possible displacements are determined by the extreme surfaces technique and the finite-element method. The simulated displacements for optimal orientations of LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 plates are compared with those obtained experimentally for manufactured LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 actuators, whose orientations are not optimal. As is shown, the optimal configuration of the actuator allows us to significantly increase its displacement for both LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 specimens.