Fabrication of stabilized piezoelectric thick film for silicon-based MEMS device

Electrical properties of piezoelectric thick films with controlled microstructure were investigated. In order to enhance the electromechanical properties (e.g. d₃₁, d₃₃) of a thick film by control of its microstructure, a mixed powder, referred to as BNP, consisting of both nano-sized and micro-sized piezoelectric particles, was employed as a starting precursor in the film fabrication process. According to a scanning electron microscopy study, it is shown that a BNP thick film exhibits the densest homogeneous microstructures. According to surface area measurements, the BNP thick film was sufficiently densified without an additional infiltration process of Pb(Zr_1-xTi_x)O₃ sol for densification. The screen-printed BNP thick film possesses a dielectric constant and a remanent polarization much higher than those of a thick film composed of only micro-sized piezoelectric particles by a factor of more than two. This suggests the potential application of the BNP thick film, in conjunction with a silicon substrate, to a micromachined monolithic PZT thick film device on the silicon substrate. PACS 85.40.Xx; 85.85.+j; 85.50.-n; 77.65.-j; 68.37.-d