Nanocrystalline PZT thick films (1 mm square and over 10 mm thick) directly deposited onto stainless-steel substrates (PZT/SUS) by aerosol deposition ( AD) technique and then annealed using focused laser beam with a fiber laser to suppress thermal damage to the back sides of the PZT/SUS and substrate near the film edge and to retain the dielectric and/or ferroelectric properties of the PZT/SUS. Compared with CO2 laser annealing, fiber laser annealing suppressed thermal damage to the substrate. Compared with PZT/SUS annealed at 600 degrees C using an electric furnace, PZT/SUS annealed at 600 degrees C using a fiber laser showed superior properties, namely, dielectric constant epsilon > 1200 at a frequency of 100 Hz, remanent polarization P-r > 30 mu C/cm(2), and coercive field strength E-c < 50 kV/cm at a frequency of 10 Hz. Furthermore, the grain growth for the PZT/SUS formed by AD technique and annealed by fiber laser irradiation was occurred within the laser spot size. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.