Substrate-Free Thick-Film Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) Performance Measurement Using Berlincourt Method

Abstract

Lead Zirconate Titanate or PZT is a high performance piezoelectric material which is able to generate charges when a proportional amount of stress is applied on the material. It has the potential to be used to fabricate micro-power generator for powering low power electronic devices, on top of already existence sensors and actuators. One of the indicators for comparing the performance of the smart materials is the piezoelectric charge coefficient, d33. In this paper, the actual d33 of PZT fabricated in the form of substrate-free thick-films were measured using Berlincourt Method whereby a standard dynamic force is applied to the materials and the resultant value of charges is recorded and compared over a period of time after the thick-films were polarized. The d33 values are compared between substrate-based and substrate-free specimens show a difference of about 45 % as a result of clamping effect contributed by d31. The experiment results also show that the thick-film PZT processed at 950 °C and polarized at 220 V with a thickness of about 120 μm has a piezoelectric charge coefficient of 82 pC/N.