Conducting lanthanum nickel oxide as electrodes for lead zirconate titanate films

Lanthanum nickel oxide (LaNiO3 or LNO) is a conducting ceramic which has go od potential for use as electrodes in multilayer actuators. In this work, l ead zirconate titanate (PZT) films were prepared by a modified sol-gel proc ess on stainless steel substrates. A LNO film prepared by a metal-organic d eposition method was spin-coated onto the PZT film and the LNO/PZT him was cofired by rapid thermal processing at various temperatures. A transition l ayer consisting of a mixture of PZT and LNO was introduced between the LNO and PZT layer in order to enhance adhesion. The electrical resistivity of t he LNO films was measured as a function of the sintering temperature and 75 0 degreesC was found to be the optimum sintering temperature. The microstru ctures of the LNO/PZT films were studied in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.