Piezoelectric and ferroelectric films for microelectronic applications

Piezoelectric and ferroelectric films are very promising materials for microelectronic applications. In this paper, some important issues for these materials and applications are reviewed, and recent progresses on integrated ferroelectrics have been given. The physical and chemical preparation methods of the silicon-based piezoelectric and ferroelectric films, such as Sol–Gel, sputtering, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, have been described and compared. To realize a microelectronic device, the integrated circuits compatible ferroelectric/piezoelectric etching method is very important. The wet-chemical etching methods and dry-etching methods, such as reactive ion etching, have been introduced. There are many important applications for the silicon-based piezoelectric and ferroelectric films. One is the micro-sensors or micro-actuators or micro-electro-mechanical-system. Another is the memory devices. Some typical devices using piezoelectric and ferroelectric films have been introduced.