Enhanced domain contribution to ferroelectric properties in freestanding thick films

We report the success in fabricating clamped, "island," and freestanding 10 mu m thick piezoelectric films using aerosol deposition. The deposition was conducted at room temperature by impinging the piezoelectric particles flowing through the nozzle onto platinized silicon (Pt/Ti/SiO(2)/Si) substrate and crystallization was conducted by annealing at 700 degrees C. Freestanding films were synthesized by increasing the cooling rate from annealing temperature to room temperature which resulted in large internal stress between the substrate and film interface. Dielectric and ferroelectric characterizations showed enhanced ferroelectric performance of freestanding films as compared to continuous or clamped film which was associated to increased domain contribution due to decrease in degree of clamping as further confirmed by piezoforce microscopy. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3181058]