Structural, dielectric and piezoelectric properties of (Bi0.5Na0.5)TiO3-(Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3-Bi(Zn0.5Ti0.5)O3 thin films prepared by sol-gel method

Lead free (1-x)(0.8Bi(0.5)Na(0.5)Ti(0.5)O(3)-0.2Bi(0.5)K(0.5)TiO(3))-xBiZn(0.5)Ti(0.5)O(3) (x=0-0.06) (BNT-BKT-BZT) thin films were deposited on Pt (111)Ti/SiO2/Si(100) substrates by a sal gel processing technique. The effects of BZT content on the structural, dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of the BNT-BKT-BZT thin films were investigated systematically. The BNT-BKT-BZT thin films undergo a transition from ferroelectric to relaxor phase with increasing temperature. The phase transition temperature decreases with the increase of BZT content The BNT-BKT-BZT thin film with x=0.04 exhibits the best ferroelectric properties (P-max=40 mu C/cm(2) and P-r=10 mu C/cm(2)), largest dielectric constant (epsilon=560) and piezoelectric constant (d(33)=40 pm/V). This finding demonstrates that the BNT-BKT-BZT thin film has an excellent potential for demanding high piezoelectric properties in lead free films. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.