Noninterferometric measurement of lead zirconate titanate inverse piezoelectric extension

A noncontacting and noninterferometric depth discrimination technique, which is based on differential confocal microscopy, was used to measure the inverse piezoelectric extension of a piezoelectric ceramic lead zirconate titanate actuator. The response characteristics of the actuator with respect to the applied voltage, including displacement, linearity, and hysteresis, were obtained with nanometer measurement accuracy. Errors of the measurement have been analyzed. (C) 2001 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.