Electrical properties of high density PZT and PMN–PT/PZT thick films produced using ComFi technology

To achieve high actuation forces in piezoelectric film actuators and transducers it is desirable to have relatively thick films. Sol-gel derived films are often limited in the maximum thickness that is obtainable due to the increased probability of cracking and delamination during processing. Composite film (ComFi) technology combines conventional sol-gel processing with ceramic powder processing to enable thick (>2 μm) ferroelectric films to be deposited onto silicon substrates at temperatures as low as 710 °C. Ten micrometre thick films have been fabricated using three different piezoelectric powders [hard doped PZT, soft doped PZT and PMN–PT(85–15)]. The resultant films have high densities with relative permittivities of 800, 900 and 1800, respectively. The d33 piezoelectric coefficients were found to be lower than corresponding values for the bulk material. This has been attributed to a combination of small grain size and the clamping effects of the rigid substrate. Hysteresis loop measurements show that greater fields are required to achieve a similar degree of polarisation to that of the bulk material. This indicates that the presence of the substrate also affects the ability to pole the material so further reducing the observed piezoelectric coefficient.