Driving of piezoelectrics for MEMS-based cooling systems

A cooling system, comprising:

• a plurality of cooling cells, each of the plurality of cooling cells including a support structure and a cooling element having a central axis, the cooling element being supported by the support structure at the central axis such that a first portion of the cooling element on a first side of the central axis and a second portion of the cooling element on a second side of the central axis opposite to the first side are unpinned, the first portion and the second portion of the cooling element being configured to undergo vibrational motion when actuated to drive a fluid toward a heat-generating structure, the cooling element further including a first piezoelectric having a first polarization and a second piezoelectric having a second polarization opposite to the first polarization, the first piezoelectric being part of the first portion of the cooling element, the second piezoelectric being part of the second portion of the cooling element;
• and
• drive electronics configured to drive each of the plurality of cooling cells such that the first portion of the cooling element and the second portion in the cooling element are driven by a single drive signal.

A method of cooling a heat-generating structure, comprising:

• driving a cooling element to induce a vibrational motion at a frequency using a single drive signal, the cooling element having a central axis, the cooling element being supported by a support structure at the central axis such that a first portion of the cooling element on a first side of the central axis and a second portion of the cooling element on a second side of the central axis opposite to the first side are unpinned, the first portion and the second portion of the cooling element being configured to undergo the vibrational motion when actuated to drive a fluid toward the heat-generating structure, the cooling element further including a first piezoelectric having a first polarization and a second piezoelectric having a second polarization opposite to the first polarization, the first piezoelectric being part of the first portion of the cooling element, the second piezoelectric being part of the second portion of the cooling element.