Tuning piezoelectric properties through epitaxy of La2Ti2O7 and related thin films
Current piezoelectric sensors and actuators are limited to operating temperatures less than ~200°C due to the low Curie temperature of the piezoelectric material. High temperature piezoelectric materials such as La2Ti2O7 (LTO) would facilitate the development of high-temperature sensors if the piezoelectric coupling coefficient could be maximized. We have deposited epitaxial LTO films on SrTiO3(001), SrTiO3(110), and rutile TiO2(110) substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and show that the crystalline orientation of the LTO film, and thus its piezoelectric coupling direction, can be controlled by epitaxial matching to the substrate. The structure and phase purity of the films were investigated by x-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy. To characterize the piezoelectric properties, piezoresponse force microscopy was used to measure the in-plane and out-of-plane piezoelectric coupling in the films. We find that the strength of the out-of-plane piezoelectric coupling can be increased when the piezoelectric crystalline direction is rotated partially out-of-plane via epitaxy. The strongest out-of-plane coupling is observed for LTO/STO(001). Deposition on TiO2(110) results in epitaxial La2/3TiO3, an orthorhombic perovskite of interest as a microwave dielectric material. La2/3TiO3 can be difficult to stabilize in bulk form, and epitaxial deposition has not been previously reported. These results confirm that control of the crystalline orientation of LTO-based materials can increase the out-of-plane strength of its piezoelectric coupling, which can be exploited in piezoelectric devices.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-06CH11357; AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1422279
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-128769; 49131
- Journal Information:
- Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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