Thickness effect on the dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate thin films

Lead zirconate titanate (Pb[Zr.sub.0.52][Ti.sub.0.48][O.sub.3]-PZT) thin films with different thicknesses are deposited on Pt(111)/Ti/Si[O.sub.2]/Si substrates by using sol-gel method. The scanning force microscopy is used for studying the effect of thickness on the microscopic piezoresponse and the differences between the macroscopic and microscopic electrical properties of the films are assigned to changes in the nonswitching film-electrode layer and domain structure.