Composition Regulation of Potassium Sodium Niobate Thin Films through Post-Annealing under Alkali Element Atmospheres

Amorphous potassium sodium niobate (KNN) films were synthesized at 300 °C through the radio frequency magnetron sputtering method and subsequently crystallized by post-annealing at 700 °C in various alkali element atmospheres (Na and K). The as-deposited film is notably deficient in alkali metal elements, particularly K, whereas the loss of alkali elements in the films can be replenished through annealing in an alkali element atmosphere. By adjusting the molar ratio of Na and K in the annealing atmosphere, the ratio of Na/K in the resultant film varied, consequently suggesting the efficiency of this method on composition regulation of KNN films. Meanwhile, we also found that the physical characteristics of the films also underwent differences with the change of an annealing atmosphere. The films annealed in a high Na atmosphere exhibit large dielectric losses with limited piezoelectric vibration behavior, while annealing in a high K atmosphere reduces the dielectric losses and enhances the piezoelectric behavior. Furthermore, the results of vibration measurement demonstrated that the film annealed in a mixed powder of 25% Na₂CO₃ and 75% K₂CO₃ exhibits an optimal vibration displacement of ~400 pm under the sinusoidal excitation voltage of 8 V. This approach of altering the composition of KNN films through post-annealing may introduce the new concept of property design of KNN as well as other similar films.