Strain engineering effects on electrical properties of lead-free piezoelectric thin films on Si wafers.

Using radio frequency - magnetron sputtering, calcium-doped barium zirconate titanate ((Ba(0.85)Ca(0.15))(Zr(0.1)Ti(0.9))O(3), BCZT) thin films were deposited on Si wafers with different bottom electrodes. The obtained BCZT thin film on a lanthanum nickel oxide (LNO) electrode had a highly c-axis preferred orientation, while the BCZT thin film on a Pt bottom electrode had (111) preferred orientation. Furthermore, the out-of-plane lattice constant of the BCZT on LNO/Si was 3.4% larger than that of the reported bulk material because of the compressive thermal stress from LNO with a large thermal expansion coefficient. This compressive thermal stress engenders an increase of the Curie temperature. The local piezoelectric response of the BCZT thin film on a LNO/Si structure was measured by piezoresponse force microscope.