Journal of the American Ceramic Society, Vol.85, No.4, 1019-1021, 2002
Control of crystal orientation and piezoelectric response of lead zirconate titanate thin films near the morphotropic phase boundary
PbZr0.53Ti0.47O3 (PZT) thin films with various preferred crystallographic orientations were synthesized on various substrates using pulsed laser deposition techniques. Larger piezoelectric displacement, which involved the bending vibration of the PZT film/substrate, was observed in randomly oriented PZT thin film than that in (100)- and (111)-preferred texture films. This result was discussed by correlation with the number of effective spontaneous polarization axes in the morphotropic phase boundary of the PZT system. Moreover, polarization fatigue was found to lower the electric-field-induced displacement significantly, indicating a large contribution of ferroelectric domain motion to the piezoelectric response of PZT thin films under bipolar drive.