Epitaxial piezoelectric thin films on flexible substrates for microelectromechanical systems

Enhanced piezoelectric response in thin films is desireable for a number of applications. Achieving low actuation voltage micro-electromechanical (MEMs) devices and high sensitivity sensors all require materials with higher piezoelectric coefficients. Piezoelectric coefficients are functions of a number of different processing parameters including, but not limited to, orientation and composition. While a great deal of research has focused on examining the effect that preferred orientation (or epitaxy) in a Pb(Zr_xTi_1-x)O₃ (PZT) thin film has on its piezoelectric properties, this work investigates exploiting this effect on arbitrary substrates. In this effort, the substrates are flexible nickel superalloys but the technique employed to produce them could be integrated with any number of base materials, including other metals, foils, or even polymers. This allows researchers to take advantage of the desirable qualities of epitaxial PZT without being constrained to a single crystal substrate. Devices such as flexible MEMs or wearable peizosensors might be achieved using this method. Additionally this approach minimizes cost by eliminating need for single crystal substrates and applying inexpensive sol-gel film deposition techniques.