Tuning of microstructure and piezoelectric response of laser ablated Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ films by varying the oxygen deposition pressure

We report on the correlated investigation between piezoelectric properties and crystalline structure of PbZr_0.52Ti_0.48O₃ (PZT) films under different oxygen pressures in the process of pulsed laser deposition. A sharp increase of effective longitudinal-piezoelectric coefficient (305 pm/V) and especially, a high effective transverse-piezoelectric coefficient (−16.2 C/cm²) were achieved in the PZT film deposited at 0.10 mbar, where the preferred (100)-orientation and columnar-grains with an obelisk-shape microstructure were presented. The comparative discussions in this study provide valuable insights into the crystalline and microstructure contributions to improve the piezoelectric responses for wide applications in high-performance piezoelectric devices from capacitors to MEMS devices.