Preparation of (M)NbO3 Thin Film on Nickel−based Electrodes

Piezoelectric materials like PZT can develop a mechanical strain when they are subject to an applied electric field; this phenomenon is known as the converse piezoelectric effect. Sodium potassium niobate (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) is... [ view full abstract ]

Piezoelectric materials like PZT can develop a mechanical strain when they are subject to an applied electric field; this phenomenon is known as the converse piezoelectric effect. Sodium potassium niobate (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) is considered as a potentially attractive alternative to PZT due to its interesting piezoelectric properties which are comparable to those of PZT. The continued trend towards miniature actuators and sensors has motivated the development of piezoelectric thin film as electrodes. To reduce the price of electrodes, It is desirable to replace noble metals used as electrode materials for piezoelectric thin film with base metals. A nickel−based layer in conjunction with other protective layers is proposed as a bottom electrode for lead−free piezoelectric KNN thin film. The fabricated KNN thin film was fully characterized in this paper. In this way XRD, EDX and SEM characterization were done to determine metallurgical properties and electrical and piezoelectrical properties measured by standard methods. All the sputtering parameters optimized and the effective piezoelectric coefficients d33 and d31 were estimated to be 37 pm/V and 17.2 pm/V, respectively, at 100 kV/cm.