Thickness and Nb-doping effects on ferro- and piezoelectric properties of highly a-axis-oriented Nb-doped Pb (Zr0.3Ti0.7)O 3 films

Abstract

Tetragonal Nb-doped Pb(Zr0.3Ti0.7)O3 (PNZT) films with a lead oxide seeding layer were deposited on the Pt(111)/Ti/SiO2/Si (100) substrates by sol-gel processing. The as-grown PNZT films with thicknesses ranging from about 0.08 to 0.78 μm show highly a -axis preferential orientation, and their ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties improved with increasing film thickness. Due to the combined effects of Nb doping and a -axis texturing as well as reduced substrate constraint, a high d33 constant up to 196 pm/V was obtained for PNZT film at 0.78 μm in addition to a large remnant polarization of 69 μC/cm2. This well a -axis-oriented PNZT films on platinized Si with a high piezoresponse are suitable for the fabrication of microelectromechanical devices. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.