Enhancement of piezoelectric response in (100)/(001) oriented tetragonal Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 films by controlling tetragonality and volume fraction of the (001) orientation.

(100)/(001)-oriented 2 μm-thick Pb(Ti, Zr)O3, films with the Zr/(Zr + Ti) ratio of 0.39 and 0.50 were prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The volume fraction of (001)-oriented domain, Vc, was controlled by selecting the kinds of substrates with different thermal expansion coefficient. The effective piezoelectric constant increased up to 310 pm/V with decreasing the Vc and tetragonality (lattice parameter ratio of c axis to a axis) determined by the decrease of the Zr/(Zr + Ti) ratio. Observed large piezoelectric response was considered to be mainly contributed by the extrinsic effect, such as the 90o domain switching. These experimental inputs suggest the new concept for enhancement of the piezoelectric properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]