Preparation of PZT Thick Films by an Interfacial Polymerization Method

Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 (PZT) films of 10 to 50 μm in thickness were prepared by a new sol-gel process using an interfacial polymerization technique. The interfacial polymerization process is that an alkoxide precursor solution is poured on the surface of water in a container to form a gel film at the interface between the two immiscible liquids. The precursor solution was prepared by adding PZT alkoxide solution, PZT powders coated with Pb5Ge3O11 (PG), and a surfactant into hexane solvent. After the polymerization at the interface, the gel films were gently placed on a silicon substrate by draining the water in the container. The gel films containing PZT powders were sintered at 950°C for 10 min to obtain crystallized PZT films. The remanent polarization of a PZT thick film was 33.1 μC/cm2. The piezoelectric d33 constant measured with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer was 225 pm/V and was independent of frequency from 0.2 to 3 kHz.