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Abstract
The effect of processing on the ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of sol-gel grown Pb1.1Nb0.04Zr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PNZT) thin films was investigated. The effective d 31 piezoelectric coefficient of as-grown films was measured using piezoelectrically actuated cantilevers. The results indicate that films annealed after each layer possess a significant internal field, leading to high piezoelectric coefficients in the as-grown PNZT films. But the films annealed in the final step possess a very small internal field, and, consequently, small piezoelectric response.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thankfully acknowledge the generous support of this research by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the valuable help we received from our colleagues in the NSF-MRSEC Center for Materials for Information Technology (MINT), the Central Analytical Facilities (CAF), and the Laboratory for Electronic Materials and Device Technology (EMD Tech), all at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.