Vibrating Piezoelectric Energy Conversion Efficiency of Sol-Gel PZT Films with Various Crystal Orientations on MEMS Buckled Diaphragm Structures

Vibrating energy conversion efficiency was investigated on piezoelectric transducers fabricated on MEMS buckled diaphragm structures from the viewpoint of crystal orientation of sol-gel derived lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) films. The crystal orientation dominates in-plane stress and spontaneous polarization direction of the PZT films. The in-plane stress affects the static buckling of the diaphragm where a large convex buckling results in a high mechanical conversion efficiency from the flexural vibration to the in-plain vibration. The polarization direction affects the intrinsic piezoelectric conversion efficiency. The crystal orientation of the sol-gel PZT was controlled through pyrolysis temperature between 250°C and 350°C, resulting in a texture variation from (100)-oriented films to (111)-oriented ones. Highly (111)-oriented films showed large polarizations but small buckling deflections, while highly (100)-oriented films showed vice versa. Intermediately textured films with 40-45% (111)-orientation index showed the highest conversion efficiency.