Piezoelectric Film Research Articles

Macro and nanoscale properties of (001)-oriented Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 lead-free piezoelectric thin films grown by sputtering on LaNiO3/Si substrates

In this paper, the effect of the post-annealing temperature on the structural and electrical properties at macro and nanoscale of Sodium Bismuth Titanate - Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 (BNT) films is reported. Stoichiometric BNT thin films were deposited by ex-situ radio frequency (rf) sputtering at substrate temperature of 200 °C. The as-deposited films were amorphous and post-annealing treatment was necessary to crystallize the film in the perovskite phase. 400-nm-thick stoichiometric BNT films were annealed at various temperatures from 400 °C up to 700 °C. The BNT film annealed at 400 °C remains amorphous. Film starts to crystallize at 450 °C and then the crystallization increases with the post-annealing temperature to reach an optimal at 650 °C without any secondary phase. Dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties were also improved with the increasing of the post-annealing temperature. The piezoelectric coefficient d33eff, measured at macroscale, reaches a maximum value of 57 pm/V for 400 nm-thick film post-annealed at 650 °C. On nanoscale, measurements performed by piezoresponse force microscopy are in perfect concordance with the performances obtained at macroscale. The efficient polarization reversal for domains and their retention when locally manipulated are observed, combined to a strong piezo-activity.

Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Dual-Cantilever Piezoelectric Film Sensor with a Broadband Response and High Sensitivity.

Cantilever-beam-type PVDF (Polyvinylidene Fluoride) piezoelectric film sensors are commonly utilized for vibration signal detection due to their simple structures and ease of processing. Traditional cantilevered PVDF piezoelectric film sensors are susceptible to the influence of the second-order vibration mode and have a low lateral stress distribution at the free end, which limit their measurement bandwidth and sensitivity. This study is on the design of a dual-cantilever PVDF piezoelectric film sensor based on the principle of cantilevered piezoelectric film sensors. The results of the experiments indicate that, compared to a typical single-arm piezoelectric cantilever beam vibration sensor, the developed sensor has a longer second-order natural frequency that ranges from 112 Hz to 453 Hz, while the first-order natural frequency is maintained at around 12 Hz. This leads to a better ratio of the second-order natural frequency to the first-order natural frequency and a wider frequency response range. At the same time, the sensitivity is increased by a factor of 3.48.

Design and analysis of a flexible hydrophone based on PVDF with aluminum film substrate and PDMS encapsulation

Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) need hydrophones for underwater acoustic sensing. However, previous hydrophones were rigid in shape and unable to realize conformal installation. In this paper, a flexible hydrophone with great installation adaptability was presented. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric film was applied as the transducing material. A flexible aluminum film was selected as the substrate. These two films were sandwiched by polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layers. Finite element simulation revealed that the sensitivity and bandwidth of the hydrophone were enhanced by using the aluminum film substrate. The sensing performance improvement was ascribed to the suppressed in-plane stress of the PVDF film. Prototypes were fabricated and tested. The fabricated hydrophone exhibited a sensitivity of −211 dB (ref. 1 V/μPa) at 500 Hz. It owned a 20–500 Hz working frequency range and an omnidirectional pattern. Besides, the sensitivity difference caused by shape changes was within 2.3 dB. Furthermore, the hydrophone showed good waterproofing ability.

Electromechanical analysis of a piezoelectric semiconductor bilayer system with imperfect interface

An electromechanical model of the bilayer structure consisting a piezoelectric semiconductor film and an elastic substrate with imperfect interface is established. The combined effects of piezoelectricity and flexoelectricity are taken into consideration simultaneously. Based on the Newmark model, closed-form expressions for the distributions of electron concentrations and relevant electromechanical fields in the bilayer composite beam system subjected to uniform temperature variation are obtained. The effects of interfacial parameter, flexoelectricity and initial carrier concentration have been discussed respectively. Different from the bilayer structure with perfect interface, it can be found that interfacial parameter plays a significant role in the electromechanical coupling characteristics of the bilayer system. Besides, the effect of flexoelectricity weakens the influence of imperfect interface to some extent. This research offers a new sight and guidance for practical applications of piezoelectric semiconductor multilayer systems.

Design, Optimization and Performance Assessment of Single Port Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator through Finite Element Simulation.

In this paper, the study is supported by design, FEA simulation, and practical RF measurements on fabricated single-port-cavity-based acoustic resonator for gas sensing applications. In the FEA simulation, frequency domain analysis was performed to enhance the performance of the acoustic resonator. The structural and surface morphologies of the deposited ZnO as a piezoelectric layer have been studied using XRD and AFM. The XRD pattern of deposited bulk ZnO film indicates the perfect single crystalline nature of the film with dominant phase (002) at 2θ = 34.58°. The AFM micrograph indicates that deposited piezoelectric film has a very smooth surface and small grain size. In the fabrication process, use of bulk micro machined oxide (SiO2) for the production of a thin membrane as a support layer is adopted. A vector network analyzer (Model MS2028C, Anritsu) was used to measure the radio frequency response of the resonators from 1 GHz to 2.5 GHz. As a result, we have successfully fabricated an acoustic resonator operating at 1.84 GHz with a quality factor Q of 214 and an effective electromechanical coupling coefficient of 10.57%.

Thermally stable piezoelectric sensors for quantitative pressure sensing based on linear piezoelectric zinc oxide thin films

Linear piezoelectric materials offer new opportunities for next-generation multifunctional micro/nano systems on chip aside from ferroelectrics. However, the advantage of quantitative pressure sensing of linear piezoelectric materials over ferroelectrics has not been demonstrated, while the thermal stability of linear piezoelectric zinc oxide (ZnO) is yet to be evaluated. In this work, pressure sensors based on linear piezoelectric undoped ZnO and ferroelectric vanadium doped ZnO (V-ZnO) films are studied side by side. Both films possess similar fiber textures oriented along the polar ZnO [002] direction, yet each of the V-ZnO grains consists of strip-like domains observed by SEM. Applying triangular-wave pressures, the linear piezoelectric ZnO sensor generates triangular-wave voltage signals that are one-to-one linearly correlated to the applied pressure, showing decisive advantages for quantitative pressure sensing compared to the ‘sail-like’ voltage signals of the ferroelectric V-ZnO sensor that is many-to-one correlated to the applied pressure. Superior thermal stability is demonstrated in the linear piezoelectric ZnO sensor showing stable pressure sensing properties up to 450 °C compared to the degraded sensing properties of the ferroelectric V-ZnO sensor at 150 °C. The thermally stable piezoelectric sensors for quantitative pressure sensing based on linear piezoelectric ZnO films serve as candidates for high-performance multifunctional micro/nano systems.

Progress in manufacturing and processing of Al-Sc alloy targets

The development of the fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) puts forward higher requirements for radio frequency (RF) filters. Due to its higher frequency and larger bandwidth, bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter will become the mainstream RF filter solution. Scandium doped aluminium nitride (AlScN) piezoelectric film has attracted much attention due to its excellent piezoelectric response coefficients and electromechanical coupling coefficients. The doped Sc concentration will directly affect the piezoelectric coefficient and electromechanical coupling coefficient of the film. The most common technique for producing AlScN thin films is magnetron sputtering of targets made of Al-Sc alloy. However, with the increase of Sc content, the solid-liquid solidification interval, the number of intermetallic compounds, and the brittleness of the material will all increase significantly. Additionally, it will result in component macro-segregation, uneven phase distribution, and poor processing deformability. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to manufacture and process Al-Sc alloy targets. The mainstream processes for preparing Al-Sc alloy targets are divided into direct reaction method and powder metallurgy method. This paper reviews the research progress in manufacturing and processing of Al-Sc alloy targets.

Effect of nanoparticles on piezoelectric response in polymer composites by quantitative evaluation

The effect of the intrinsic properties of silicone rubber and barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles on the piezoelectric properties of BaTiO3/silicon rubber composites was studied by the finite element analysis. The data of the simulation show that the stress and voltage of the composite were greatly increased when the concentration of the BaTiO3 nanoparticle increased from 5 to 30 vol. %. As Young’s modulus of silicone rubber increased from 5 to 20 MPa, the compressive stress of the composites raised linearly. With the Poisson’s ratio rising from 0.41 to 0.49, the compressive stress increased by 0.18 MPa in the process. When the dielectric constant of the BaTiO3/silicon rubber composite was less than 30, the potential difference of the piezoelectric film gradually raised with the dielectric constant increasing. When the dielectric constant of the composite was higher than 30, the output voltage of the composite gradually decreased. Therefore, the lower Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the silicone rubber composite is beneficial to improve the piezoelectric properties of the composite. This article will provide a reference for designing the preparation of spherical BaTiO3 composite materials.

A comparative study of dual cylinders and triangle bluff bodies for piezoelectric energy harvesting

The flow patterns behind tandem bluff bodies can be used to generate electricity in piezoelectric energy harvesters. The vortices and wakes that form behind the bluff bodies create a pressure differential, which can be used to deform a piezoelectric film. In this study, we investigated the performance of dual triangle and dual cylinder bluff bodies in tandem at varying Reynolds numbers, Re, and spacing ratios, D. We compared the flow patterns behind the two types of bluff bodies. Sixteen hot wire anemometers were placed at different locations to measure the velocity developed behind the dual bluff bodies in tandem. The results showed that the velocities behind the cylinder bluff bodies were initially higher than those behind the triangle bluff bodies at lower Re. This is because the cylinder bluff bodies create a more turbulent flow, which results in higher velocities at lower Re. The best distance between the two bluff bodies was 3D and 5D, where the output velocities were maximized at more than 12ms−1. However, for dual triangle, the velocities eventually became higher than those behind the cylinder bluff bodies at higher Re and lower separation ratios (1D and 2D). 3D was the best distance for triangle to produce a higher velocity pattern, and this was best observed when Re = 10k, which is the lowest inlet velocity set. The results of the experiments are expected to show that the dual triangle bluff bodies produce higher velocities than the dual triangle bluff bodies, which will lead to a higher amount of energy being harvested. The results show that the amount of energy harvested were increase with increasing Re and decreasing D. The information enhancement can be done with turbulence analysis which could lead to the development of more efficient and versatile piezoelectric energy harvester.

A sleep respiratory monitoring system based on piezoelectric film sensors

Sleep apnea hypoventilation syndrome (SAHS) is a potentially dangerous and common disease that can affect the patient’s health and even lead to sudden death during sleep, making it necessary to monitor changes in respiratory status in real time. Traditional medical devices are mainly concentrated in hospitals and are not conducive to widespread use, while wearable medical devices are well suited to this task. Occasional transient respiratory obstruction is common during sleep for normal people, but it is pathological if SAHS occurs very frequently and severe. In this paper, a respiration monitoring system based on piezoelectric film sensor was fabricated, which can make real-time monitoring, record and display the respiration rate, and automatically recognize it and sound a warning. The proposed system shows great potential for wearable SAHS monitoring instrument.

The Micro-Capacitance Enhancement of Polyionic Liquids Grafted Onto Carbon Nanotubes on the Piezoelectric Properties of Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) Films and Their Sensor Applications

The increased micro-capacitance of a poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) matrix can effectively improve the piezoelectric properties of the composite material. This work used chemically modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as the main reinforcement material. Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was used to graft polyionic liquids (PILs) with different hydrophilic anions to the CNTs’ surfaces. Solution casting and compressive melt molding were used to prepare the PVDF-composite piezoelectric films. Micro-capacitance formed by the PIL grafted CNTs dispersed well in the PVDF matrix, and their effects on the crystalline form and piezoelectric properties were studied. The hydrophobic hexafluorophosphate anion (-PF6 -) can significantly improve the CNTs dispersion and enhance the micro-capacitance formation in the PVDF matrix. During solution crystallization, the synergistic effect of CNTs and PIL on the PVDF and the solvent effect made the content of β phase of PVDF/CNTs@PIL-PF6 film reach 80.2%, resulting in a high dielectric constant of 188 and a piezoelectric coefficient of 36. In the process of melt crystallization, due to shear stretching and extrusion, the CNTs@PIL-PF6 had an obvious nucleation effect on the polar crystalline phase of PVDF, with a β phase content up to 99.3%, leading to the higher dielectric constant of 530 and the piezoelectric coefficient of 31. The current discovery provides a development direction for smart piezoelectric polymer matrix composites, which have great potential in preparing piezoelectric energy storage materials.

3D-Printed piezoelectric nanogenerator with aligned graphitic carbon nitrate nanosheets for enhancing piezoelectric performance

Carbon-based materials are attracting increasing attention in the field of electronic devices because of their nontoxicity, availability, low cost, and easy synthesis. In this study, we fabricated a printed piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) based on a Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and graphitic carbon nitrate (g-C3N4) composite. Piezoelectric films with different weight percentages (0, 5, 7.5, 10, and 15 wt%) of g-C3N4 nanosheets (CNNSs) were fabricated. The PVDF/CNNS with 7.5% CNNS exhibited higher performance. We observed that the printing process aligned all CNNS along the x-axis, which improved stress management and eventually improved the performance of the fabricated device. The fabricated device exhibited better performance without pooling and generated a peak-to-peak voltage of 6.65 V with a current of 0.195 µA, corresponding to a power density of 4.86 µW/cm2. The device generated a voltage of up to 18.8 V with footsteps.

Stretchable piezoelectric biocrystal thin films

Stretchability is an essential property for wearable devices to match varying strains when interfacing with soft tissues or organs. While piezoelectricity has broad application potentials as tactile sensors, artificial skins, or nanogenerators, enabling tissue-comparable stretchability is a main roadblock due to the intrinsic rigidity and hardness of the crystalline phase. Here, an amino acid-based piezoelectric biocrystal thin film that offers tissue-compatible omnidirectional stretchability with unimpaired piezoelectricity is reported. The stretchability was enabled by a truss-like microstructure that was self-assembled under controlled molecule-solvent interaction and interface tension. Through the open and close of truss meshes, this large scale biocrystal microstructure was able to endure up to 40% tensile strain along different directions while retained both structural integrity and piezoelectric performance. Built on this structure, a tissue-compatible stretchable piezoelectric nanogenerator was developed, which could conform to various tissue surfaces, and exhibited stable functions under multidimensional large strains. In this work, we presented a promising solution that integrates piezoelectricity, stretchability and biocompatibility in one material system, a critical step toward tissue-compatible biomedical devices.

Investigation of thermal annealing on the characteristics of ScxAl1−xN thin films

Good temperature stability is essential for radio-frequency (RF) devices working at high frequencies. AlN and Sc doped AlN (ScxAl1−xN) are widely used as piezoelectric thin films for their excellent performance, but the temperature characteristics of these two materials could be more precise. In this work, the effect of high-temperature thermal annealing on the characteristics of ScxAl1−xN thin films was investigated. ScxAl1−xN thin films with different Sc compositions were deposited and then annealed in different atmospheres at various temperatures. It was found that ScxAl1−xN thin films could maintain good temperature stability below 900 °C in vacuum or air, and AlN can even maintain up to 1300 °C under vacuum. When the annealing temperature exceeded 900 °C, the films’ crystallinity and lattice would appear to have apparent changes. Moreover, the introduction of oxygen at elevated temperatures could impair the surface morphologies and mechanical properties of the ScxAl1−xN thin films. The results revealed that the increased Sc composition decreased the temperature stability of the ScxAl1−xN thin films, and AlN was proved to have better temperature stability than the other two thin films. This work establishes a research foundation for utilizing ScxAl1−xN thin films in high-temperature applications.

Piezoelectric nanocomposite films based on anionic waterborne polyurethane and barium titanate nanoparticle: Fabrication, microstructure, and property characterization

AbstractWe report the fabrication, microstructure, thermal property, and piezoelectric performance of flexible waterborne polyurethane (WPU) nanocomposite films reinforced with barium titanate (BT) nanoparticles with ~50 nm diameter. An anionic segmented WPU was synthesized via bulk polymerization, and its nanocomposite films containing 10–40 wt% BT were fabricated via aqueous dispersion casting and hot pressing. Although the BT nanoparticles interacted with the urethane groups of the WPU hard segment by inducing the separation of the semicrystalline soft segment, they were aggregated in the WPU matrix. Accordingly, the glass transition temperature of the WPU matrix decreased with BT content, but the melting temperature increased. As the BT content increased in the nanocomposite films, the thermal decomposition temperature of the WPU soft segment showed a slight decrease, while the decomposition temperature of the hard segment increased. Additionally, the residue at 600°C increased significantly from 2.0% for neat WPU film to 36.3% for the nanocomposite film containing 40 wt% BT. The piezoelectric outputs attained by the nanocomposite films increased with BT content. Under compressive stress of 23 kPa, the nanocomposite film containing 40 wt% BT was able to achieve the highest piezoelectric voltage of ~0.51 V, a current of ~43.0 nA, and an electric power of ~21.9 nW. For the nanocomposite film, a linear relationship between the piezoelectric out voltage and the applied compressive stress with a slope of ~0.0253 was also observed.Highlights Anionic waterborne polyurethane (WPU) with hard/soft segments is synthesized. Barium titanate (BT) nanoparticles are adopted as a piezoelectric nanofiller. WPU/BT nanocomposites are manufactured by dispersion casting and hot pressing. Specific interactions between BT nanoparticles and WPU hard segments exist. Piezoelectric outputs of nanocomposites increase with BT content and stress.

Radiation-Hardened and Flexible Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 Piezoelectric Sensor for Structural Health Monitoring.

Piezoelectric sensors are excellent damage detectors that can be applied to structural health monitoring (SHM). SHM for complex structures of aerospace vehicles working in harsh conditions is frequently required, posing challenging requirements for a sensor's flexibility, radiation hardness, and high-temperature tolerance. Here, we fabricate a flexible and lightweight Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 piezoelectric film on flexible KMg3(AlSi3O10)F2 substrate via van der Waals (vdW) heteroepitaxy, endowing it with robust ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties under low energy-high flux protons (LE-HFPs) radiation (1015 p/cm2). More importantly, the Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 film sensor maintains highly stable damage monitoring sensitivity on an aluminum plate under harsh conditions of LE-HFPs radiation (1015 p/cm2, flat structure), high temperature (175 °C, flat structure), and mechanical fatigue (bending 105 cycles under a radius of 5 mm, curved structure). All these superior qualities are suggested to result from the outstanding film crystal quality due to vdW epitaxy. The flexible and lightweight Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 film sensor demonstrated in this work provides an ideal candidate for real-time SHM of aerospace vehicles with flat and complex curve-like structures working in harsh aerospace environments.

Super-High-Frequency Bulk Acoustic Resonators Based on Aluminum Scandium Nitride for Wideband Applications.

Despite the dominance of bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters in the high-frequency market due to their superior performance and compatible integration process, the advent of the 5G era brings up new challenges to meet the ever-growing demands on high-frequency and large bandwidth. Al1-xScxN piezoelectric films with high Sc concentration are particularly desirable to achieve an increased electromechanical coupling (Kt2) for BAW resonators and also a larger bandwidth for filters. In this paper, we designed and fabricated the Al1-xScxN-based BAW resonators with Sc concentrations as high as 30%. The symmetry of the resonance region, border frame structure and thickness ratio of the piezoelectric stack are thoroughly examined for lateral modes suppression and resonant performance optimization. Benefiting from the 30% Sc doping, the fabricated BAW resonators demonstrate a large effective electromechanical coupling (Keff2) of 17.8% at 4.75 GHz parallel resonant frequency. Moreover, the temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of the device is obtained as -22.9 ppm/°C, indicating reasonable temperature stability. Our results show that BAW resonators based on highly doped Al1-xScxN piezoelectric film have great potential for high-frequency and large bandwidth applications.

Functionality in frequency tuning of magnetoelectric heterostructure integrated highly flexible bulk acoustic wave resonator

Functional flexible piezo-resonators are of vital interest for designing micro-electrometrical system (MEMS) based high-frequency wearable devices. The magnetoelectric (ME) heterostructure comprising highly magnetostrictive Ni–Mn–In and piezoelectric AlN films was fabricated over flexible substrates to develop the bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator. The BAW resonators fabricated over Ni and Kapton substrates show the fundamental resonance at ∼5.535 and 5.400 GHz, respectively. The comparative study of frequency tuning for both resonators has been executed in the presence of a dc magnetic field. A larger frequency shift (ΔfR) of ∼540 MHz was detected at 1200 Oe for a device fabricated over Ni with a sensitivity of ∼5.4 Hz/nT. However, it is 360 MHz in the case of Kapton, with a sensitivity of ∼3.0 Hz/nT. Moreover, the BAW resonator over the magnetostrictive Ni substrate shows a higher tunability of ∼11.4% compared to ∼8.5% for the resonator fabricated over non-magnetostrictive Kapton. The equivalent modified Butterworth–Van Dyke circuit parameters have been extracted by fitting the experimental data with and without an external magnetic field using advanced design system. The effect of an external magnetic field has been thoroughly investigated on device parameters, such as electromechanical coupling coefficient (K2), acoustic velocity, quality factor (Q), and figure of merit. The anisotropic functionality of the fabricated resonator has been studied by measuring the tunability of the resonator in parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields. The present study motivates the incorporation of flexible magnetostrictive substrates for futuristic multifunctional MEMS magnetic field sensor applications.

6-20 GHz 30% ScAlN Lateral Field-Excited Cross-Sectional Lamé Mode Resonators for Future Mobile RF Front Ends.

This article reports on 30% scandium-doped AlN (ScAlN) lateral field-excited (LFE) cross-sectional Lame' mode resonators (CLMRs) with unprecedented performance in the 6-20 GHz range. By combining high-crystallinity 30% ScAlN piezoelectric thin films, a lithographic tunability of the resonance frequency, and a simple three-mask post-CMOS compatible fabrication process, we propose a technology platform that can enable the mass production of low-loss, wideband, and compact microacoustic filtering devices spanning a wide spectrum portion on the same chip for the next-generation radio frequency front ends (RFFEs) of handsets. This article demonstrates a successful scaling of the microacoustic technology well beyond the sub-6-GHz fifth-generation (5G) band, as well as the outstanding capabilities of high-crystallinity 30% ScAlN piezoelectric layers in delivering high-quality factor ( Q ) and high-electromechanical coupling ( kt2 ) resonators, notably exceeding the state of the art in terms of relevant figures of merit (FOMs). Furthermore, we experimentally investigate the impact of geometrical parameters, such as tethering configuration and width-over-length ratio on the devices' 3-dB quality factor ( [Formula: see text]), power linearity (PL), and temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF). By adopting a statistical approach for data analysis, we determine the optimal geometry to maximize the Q value. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrate that a fully tethered device's configuration ensures superior PL, lower TCF, and higher device yield and select that as the best design tradeoff between all the variables under consideration. Finally, we discuss a further scaling of LFE CLMRs, both in terms of higher doping levels in the piezoelectric layer, in order to enhance the performance of microacoustic filters, and in terms of higher operation frequencies, in order to reach and cover the mm-wave spectrum.

Boosting Performance of SAW Resonator via AlN/ScAlN Composite Films and Dual Reflectors.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators based on aluminum nitride (AlN)/scandium-doped AlN (ScAlN) composite thin films with dual reflection structures demonstrate substantial improvement in acoustic performance. In this work, the factors affecting the final electrical performance of SAW are analyzed from the aspects of piezoelectric thin film, device structure design, and fabrication process. AlN/ScAlN composite films can effectively solve the problem of abnormal grains of ScAlN, improve the crystal orientation, and reduce the intrinsic loss and etching defects. The double acoustic reflection structure of the grating and groove reflector can not only reflect the acoustic wave more thoroughly, but also helps to release the film stress. Both structures are beneficial to obtain a higher Q value. The new stack and design results in large Qp and figure of merit among SAW devices working at 446.47 MHz on silicon up to 8241 and 18.1, respectively.