Single-crystal, mesoscopic films of lead zinc niobate-lead titanate: Formation and micro-Raman analysis

A process to form thin films of lead zinc niobate-lead titanate (PZN-PT) fr om a bulk crystal for microelectronic and microelectromechanical device app lications is presented. The structural phase transitions and ferroelectric ordering in unpoled crystalline bulk and thin-film relaxor PZN-PT are studi ed from -190 degreesC to 600 degreesC using polarized micro-Raman scatterin g. The structural phase transitions in this material are observed by distin ct changes in the polarization selectivity. The results for the thin film a nd bulk crystal are in good agreement for a wide range of the temperatures studied, indicating that the thin-film PZN-PT retains much, if not all, of the structural and ferroelectric properties of the original bulk substrate. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.