Ultraviolet-assisted cold poling of Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 films.

This paper discusses the advantages of a room-temperature poling procedure during exposure to ultraviolet light for Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 (PZT) films. The results of these experiments include the following: for 1.7-µm-thick chemical solution-deposited PZT films, the saturation photocurrent density after a 10 min white light exposure (190–1900 nm) (no DC bias field applied) increased up to 0.066 µA/cm2 with increasing Cr thickness of top electrode in Cr/Pt bilayer electrodes. Furthermore, the d33,f piezoelectric coefficients for UV-poled samples were 40 and 20% higher than those achieved from field-only poling at either room temperature or 150 °C. Additionally, the development of an internal bias field and pinching were investigated in major and minor polarization–electric field loops. It was found that ultraviolet illumination during the poling process produced photoinduced charge carriers that became trapped by local defects and/or grain boundaries in the films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]