Lift-off PMN-PT Thick Film for High Frequency Ultrasonic Biomicroscopy

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Solid State Physics
• Ceramic Engineering

Background:

• Piezoelectric materials are crucial for transducer applications.
• Developing high-performance piezoelectric thick films is essential for advanced devices.
• Sol-gel methods offer precise control over film properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To deposit and characterize a piezoelectric 0.65Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3)-0.35PbTiO(3) (PMN-35PT) thick film.
• To evaluate the dielectric and ferroelectric properties of the lifted-off film.
• To assess the performance of a transducer fabricated using the PMN-35PT thick film.

Main Methods:

• Sol-gel composite method for depositing a ~12 µm thick PMN-35PT film on a Pt-buffered Si substrate.
• Wet chemical etching for separating the film from the substrate.
• Measurement of dielectric properties (dielectric constant, loss) and ferroelectric properties (remnant polarization).
• Fabrication and testing of a single-element acoustic transducer.

Main Results:

• The lifted-off PMN-35PT thick film exhibited desirable dielectric and ferroelectric characteristics.
• A dielectric constant of 3,326 and a dielectric loss of 0.037 at 1 kHz were recorded.
• A remnant polarization of 30.0 µC/cm(2) was achieved.
• The fabricated acoustic transducer demonstrated a wide -6 dB bandwidth of 63.6% at 110 MHz.

Conclusions:

• The sol-gel derived, lifted-off PMN-35PT thick film possesses excellent dielectric and ferroelectric properties.
• The film's performance is suitable for high-frequency acoustic transducer applications.
• This fabrication approach enables the development of advanced piezoelectric devices.