Influence of pulse poling on the piezoelectric property of Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3 thin films

We have investigated the influence of pulse poling on the piezoelectric property of Pb(Zr0.52,Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) thin films. 1.9-μm-thick PZT thin films were deposited by sol-gel method and fabricated into microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based piezoelectric microcantilevers. 1 kHz of unipolar or bipolar triangle pulse wave between 30-100 V was applied to the PZT thin films. The effective piezoelectric constant d31, under small signal actuation at 1-3 Vpp, was estimated from the tip displacement of the piezoelectric microcantilevers. The highest piezoelectric constant |d31| as high as 105 pm/V has been obtained by downward unipolar pulse poling at 100 V.