Electrical properties’ maxima in thin films of the lead zirconate–lead titanate solid solution system

The piezoelectric strain coefficients have been measured as a function of composition for films in the PbZrO3–PbTiO3 (PZT) solid solution system, using a double‐beam laser interferometry technique. This compositional dependence of piezoelectric, and the associated dielectric and ferroelectric properties for films 1 μm in thickness with varying Zr/Ti ratio, deposited on platinized silicon substrates using a modified sol‐gel route, corresponds to data reported for undoped PZT ceramics with respect to the effective morphotropic phase boundary composition. Films with composition near the morphotropic phase boundary, Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3, show enhanced values of the longitudinal piezoelectric coefficient, 194 pC/N; dielectric permittivity, 1310; and remanent polarization, 36 μC/cm2.