Epitaxial PZT thin films on YSZ-buffered Si (001) substrates for piezoelectric MEMS or NEMS applications

We report the growth of epitaxial Pb(Zr_0.54Ti_0.46)O₃ (PZT) thin films on yttria-stabilized zirconia buffered silicon substrates by pulsed laser deposition. We demonstrate a full in plane epitaxy of the buffer layer, showing a RMS roughness of less than 0.3 nm for a 120 nm thick layer. This buffer layer allows the growth of fully (110) textured oxide conducting SrRuO₃ and subsequent functional oxide layers. Here the Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ oxide was chosen to demonstrate its possible integration in piezoelectric microelectromechanical systems on silicon.