Microcantilevers Fabrication Process of Silicon-Based (Pb, La)(Zr, Ti)O3 Antiferroelectric Thick Films for Microactuator Applications

Abstract

(Pb, La) (Zr, Ti)O3 (PLZT) antiferroelectric thick films were deposited on Pt (111)/ Ti/SiO2/Si (100) substrates via sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that the films derived on Pt (111)/ Ti/SiO2/Si (100) substrates showed strong (111) preferred orientation. The Bulk and Surface silicon of micromachining process were employed in the silicon-based antiferroelectric thick film microcantilever fabrication, such as wet chemical etching for PLZT, inductive couple plasmas (ICP)for silicon etching, platinum etching and so on. Challenges such as Pt/Ti bottom electrode and morphology of PLZT thick film were solved, the integration of functional antiferroelectric materials and MEMS technology, provide a new way of thinking for the design and manufacture of micro-actuators.