Printing of uniform PZT thin films for MEMS applications

A flexible manufacturing method for the deposition of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films based on ink jet printing has been developed and used to fabricate a first functioning piezoelectric micromachined transducer by printing. The performance of the printed PZT based transducer was fit to established models to determine piezoelectric coupling and dielectric properties. The piezoelectric coefficient, d31, for printed PZT was between −75 pC/N and −95 pC/N. The relative permittivity was 750–890 and the dielectric loss tangent was 2.4–2.8%. This process enables digital deposition of printed devices with the key properties within the range required for high performance piezoelectric MEMS.