Characterization of Mechanical Properties of PZT Thin Film by Nanoindentation

The mechanical properties of sol-gel-deposited lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films have been studied using nanoindentation method. This permitted a determination that the sol-gel derived PZT (53/47) films display an elastic modulus, approximately 123 GPa, much higher than that of bulk PZT ~ 68 GPa. The thin films exhibit hardness between 7 and 8 GPa, slightly lower than that of bulk PZT ~ 9 GPa. The underlying substrate may influence the mechanical properties measurement with increasing indentation depth and the induced error due to substrate effect is analyzed. Moreover, the nanoindentation method can be used to investigate the effect of processing parameters such as annealing time on the mechanical properties of PZT thin film. This may provide the possibility to use them better in PZT based micro sensors and actuators