Piezoelectric Response of PZT Nanostructures Obtained by Focused Ion Beam

Pb(Zrx,Ti1 - x)O3 (PZT) microscale island (1μ m∼ 100 nm) was fabricated by Focused Ion Beam (FIB) before and after its crystallization. In the first case the FIB etching is realized on amorphous films and a post annealing treatment, at the crystallization temperature of the PZT films, is necessary to cristallize the film in the perovskite phase. In the second case the etching are made on crystallized films. Local electrical properties were evaluated by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) technique and the degradations induce in the films are studies by Raman spectroscopy. Compared to the PZT island fabricated after crystallization, the result shows that there is noticeable enhancement in nanoscale electrical properties of PZT island fabricated before crystallization, especially when the island size decreases.