This paper describes the design, fabrication, and characterization of a bulk-micromachined piezoelectric microphone for aeroacoustic applications. The microphone was fabricated by combining a sol-gel lead zirconate-titanate (PZT) deposition process on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer with deep-reactive ion-etching (DRIE) for the diaphragm release. Experimental characterization indicates a sensitivity of 0.75 μV/Pa, a dynamic range greater than six orders of magnitude (47.8−169 dB ref 20 μPa), a capacitance of 13.9 nF and a resonant frequency of 50.8 kHz.
