Micromoulding of PZT film structures using electrohydrodynamic atomization mould filling

In this work, electrohydrodynamic atomization combined with a photolithography polymeric micromoulding technique was used to form PZT ceramic structures. PZT thick film structures consisting of squares and rectangles of various sizes and separations were produced and used to evaluate the process. An expansion effect of approximately 10 μm on the ceramic structure width relative to the 200 μm wide mould design was observed. The minimum continuous gap between features achieved using this process was 13.5 μm, and the smallest regular PZT square structure obtainable was 106 μm in width. A sloping side wall of the PZT structures caused by the shielding of the photoresist mould was also observed in the process. The resulting PZT structures had a homogenous microstructure and exhibited a relative permittivity of 250, d33, f of 67 pCN−1 and remnant polarisation of 8.8 μC/cm2.