Effect of poling on piezoelectric properties of lead zirconate titanate thin films formed by sputtering

Abstract
Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin film was formed on Pt/Ta/Si3N4/Si(100) substrate at 400 °C by sputtering and then annealed at 650 °C in air. The PZT film was 1 μm thick and had dielectric permittivity of 980, loss tangent of 0.05, remanent polarization of 31 μC/cm2, and coercive field of 110 kV/cm. Piezoelectric property of the film formed on silicon cantilever was estimated from the converse effect. Poling at 5 kV/mm increased the property by a factor of 1.2 to 3.4, resulting in converse piezoelectric constant (d31) varying from −84 to −102 pC/N.