High-productive fabrication method of flexible piezoelectric substrate

This paper reports a simple and high-productive fabrication method of flexible piezoelectric substrate. To achieve a low-cost fabrication process of the substrate, we developed a novel transfer technique of piezoelectric thin films which were formed on temporary stainless-steel substrate to target PDMS (Poly-dimethylsiloxane) substrate by using wet etching process. We experimentally clarified that Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) thin films transferred on PDMS substrate, which is developed flexible piezoelectric substrate, have piezoelectric properties by evaluating crystal structures and an inverse piezoelectric effect. This fabrication method might allow us to efficiently develop novel MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) devices such as wearable sensors and artificial muscle in large quantities at a low cost.