If the nonlinearity of the motion of a piezoelectric transducer (PZT) can be described as a quadratic function, the integrated intensity of one frame in phase shift interferometry can be calculated using the Fresnel integral. For a PZT with smaller nonlinearity, the rms phase error is almost linearly proportional to the quadratic coefficient The effects of PZT nonlinearity on the three- and the...

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) nanofibers are obtained by electrospinning a sol-gel based solution and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) polymer, and subsequent sintering of the electrospun precursor fibers. The PVP content of the precursor solution is critical in the formation of the fully fibrous mats. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) is used to examine the morphology of the precursor fibers and a...

Lead zirconate titanate (Pb(Zr1−xTix)O3 or PZT) ferroelectric ceramics have been widely used in transducers, actuators, and sensors, since they posses high dielectric and piezoelectric properties with a relatively high temperature of operation. Commercially used PZT ceramics are always modified by different dopants and are divided into the “soft” (donor doped) and “hard” (acceptor doped) groups...

In this study, we fabricated piezoelectric energy harvesters composed of lead-free (K,Na)NbO3 (KNN) thin films and compared the power generation performance with PZT-thin film energy harvesters. Both of the piezoelectric thin films were deposited on Pt/Ti/Si cantilevers by rf-sputtering. The KNN and PZT thin films had perovskite structure, and showed the relative dielectric constants of 744 and...

We demonstrate a water-immersible thin film lead zirconate titanate, Pb(Zr,Ti)O3, [PZT] actuator, without special passivation layer, towards in-vivo or in-vitro scanning probe microscope (SPM) measurements of living cells in water or biological fluids. In order to be water-immersible, the electrodes need to be electrically insulated and the piezoelectric layer needs to be protected against dire...

Photoacoustic (PA) signals are short ultrasound (US) pulses typically characterized by a single-cycle shape, often referred to as N-shape. The spectral content of such wideband signals ranges from a few hundred kilohertz to several tens of megahertz. Typical reception frequency responses of classical piezoelectric US imaging transducers, based on PZT technology, are not sufficiently broadband t...

The electro-optical properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films depend strongly on the quality and crystallographic orientation of the thin films. We demonstrate a novel method to grow highly textured PZT thin films on silicon using the chemical solution deposition (CSD) process. We report the use of ultrathin (5-15 nm) lanthanide (La, Pr, Nd, Sm) based intermediate layers for obtain...

In this paper, the interdisciplinary energy harvesting issues on piezoelectric energy harvesting were investigated using a ‘33’ mode (mechanical stress and/or electric field are in parallel to the polarization direction) lead zirconate titanate multilayer piezoelectric stack (PZT-Stack). Key energy harvesting characteristics including the generated electrical energy/power in the PZT-Stack, the ...

This paper describes the use of micromachined lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoceramic elements for heat generation by ultrasonic energy dissipated within the elements and surrounding media. Simulations based on three-dimensional finite-element models suggest that circular disk-shaped elements provide superior steady-state temperature rise for a given cross-sectional area, volume of the PZT e...

Thick soft and hard lead zirconate titanate (PZT) films are fabricated on alumina substrates using the screen-printing technique. The geometries of the substrates are suited to three different mechanical characterization tests devoted to the determination of the Young’s modulus of the films: a dynamic, a quasi-static and a nanoindentation test. Values of 52 8 and 20 7 GPa for the Young’s modulu...