Cet article présente les potentialités de films d'AlN piézoélectriques comme éléments actionneurs pour les MEMS. Le cas de micropoutres constituées d'un empilement de différents films (électrode/AlN/électrode/substrat Si) est présenté. Un dispositif interférométrique de type Twyman-Green permet de quantifier précisément les déformées et les déplacements ce qui permet de calculer, à l'aide des équations non simplifiées, différentes grandeurs physiques des films d'AlN, par exemple le module d'Young lié à l'orientation (002) des cristallites, les contraintes résiduelles consécutives au mode d'élaboration, le coefficient de dilatation α ainsi que le coefficient piézoélectrique d31. On retrouve sensiblement les valeurs du matériau massif.

Dense aluminum nitride ceramics were prepared by sintering green bodies at 1750 °C for 2 h. These green bodies were prepared by aqueous slip-casting from a powder that was surface-treated to prevent hydrolysis. The surface treatment of the aluminum nitride (AlN) powder consisted of dispersing the powder in warm-water solutions of aluminum dihydrogenphosphate Al(H2PO4)3. Different treatment temperatures in the range 30–80 °C were tested. For all the tested temperatures, the surface-treated AlN powder was found to be water-resistant, even after drying and/or redispersion. Various commercial dispersants were tested for their effectiveness, and the amount of dispersant was optimized in terms of a high solids loading of the suspension and an acceptable viscosity for slip casting. Based on these studies, a stable aqueous suspension of AlN powder, treated at 60 °C, with a total solids loading of 50 vol%, was prepared using CaF2 as a sintering additive. The well-dispersed powder made it possible to prepare green samples with close particle packing and relatively high sintered densities; that is, more than 96% of the theoretical density.