Enhanced piezoelectric properties in europium-doped lead lanthanum zirconate titanate thin films.

• c/a ratio of Pb 0·92 (La 1-y Eu y) 0·08 (Zr 0·52 Ti 0·48)O 3 (PLZT) film rises with Eu doping. • The d 33 value of PLZT film improves with Eu doping (y = 0.5). • The Young's constant of PLZT film lowers with Eu doping (y = 0.5). • Frequency stability of the PLZT film improves up to 1 MHz with Eu doping (y = 0.5). This paper investigates the effect of europium (Eu3+) doping on the crystal structure, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) thin film. For the present study, Pb 0·92 (La 1-y Eu y) 0·08 (Zr 0·52 Ti 0·48)O 3 (PLEZT) compositions with various Eu concentrations (y = 0.0, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7) were prepared on Si/SiO 2 /Ti/Pt substrates by chemical solution deposition technique. The X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies revealed the structural distortions in PLZT films with Eu doping. The piezoelectric charge coefficient showed significant enhancement with Eu doping for y = 0.5 composition, with good room temperature frequency stability. This improvement in the piezoelectric characteristics of PLEZT films is the result of stronger intrinsic contributions brought in by bigger c/a ratios and higher extrinsic contributions from non-180° domain wall motions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]