TiNi-Base SMA Thin Film Microactuators and Related Science and Technology
Prof. Shuichi Miyazaki, Mr. Hiroki Cho, Mr. Masanari Tomozawa, Mr. Pio John Buenconsejo and Dr. Hee Young Kim, Institute of Materials Science, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8573, Japan

Ti-Ni based shape memory alloy (SMA) thin films including Ti-Ni, Ti-Ni-Pd, Ti-Ni-Cu, Ti-Ni-Zr, Ti-Ni-Pt and Ti-Ni-Au have been developed utilizing the sputter-deposition method by the present authors’ research group. The Ti-Ni is a standard material and the other ternary alloys have their own attractive characteristics when compared with the Ti-Ni. The Ti-Ni-X (Pd, Zr, Pt, Au) alloys are characterized by high transformation temperatures so that they are expected to show quick response due to higher cooling rates. The transformation temperature hysteresis of the Ti-Ni-Cu is less than that of the Ti-Ni without decreasing the transformation temperatures, implying that the Ti-Ni-Cu is also an attractive actuator material quick response. The transformation temperature hysteresis and the transformation strain of the R-phase are less than one tenth of those of the martensitic transformation in Ti-Ni, thus the R-phase transformation is also attractive for high response microactuators. The working frequency of the microactuators utilizing the Ti-Ni-Pd and Ti-Ni-Cu thin films reached 100Hz, and that of the microactuator using the R-phase transformation reached 125Hz. Science and technology related topics including crystallization of Ti-Ni amorphous films, interaction between film and substrate, alloying process in Ti/Ni multilayer films will be also reviewed.

Session 5: Thin Films, Powder, and Porous Materials

The Preliminary Program for The International Conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies (May 7-11, 2006)