Electro-optic LiNbO3 thin films were deposited on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates using a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering process. The piezoelectric properties of the LiNbO3 films were investigated using the scanning probe microscopy in the piezoresponse mode. The obtained results show the high degree of grains orientation in polycrystalline structure. The piezoelectric modulus (dzz) was estimated to be 16 pm/V (for LiNbO3 / Si(100)) and 22 pm/V (for LiNbO3 / Si(111)) and the polarization about of 0.37 C·m – 2. These values are larger than those reported previously for LiNbO3 films.
When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3366

Bykov, A.S.

Kiselev, D.A.

Ksenich, S.V.

Lupascu, D.C.

Malinkovich, M.D.

Parkhomenko, Yu.N.

Shvartsman, V.V.

Zhukov, R.N.

Electronic Sumy State University Institutional Repository

JOURNAL OF NANO- AND ELECTRONIC PHYSICS ЖУРНАЛ НАНО- ТА ЕЛЕКТРОННОЇ ФІЗИКИ Vol. 5 No 4, 04041(3pp) (2013) Том 5 № 4, 04041(3cc) (2013)   The article was reported at the International Conference «Physics and Technology of Nanomaterials and Structures», Kursk, 21-22 November, 2013 2077-6772/2013/5(4)04041(3) 04041-1  2013 Sumy State University Short Communication  Piezoelectric Characteristics of LiNbO3 Thin-film Heterostructures  via Piezoresponse Force Microscopy  D.A. Kiselev1,*, S.V. Ksenich1, R.N. Zhukov1, A.S. Bykov1, M.D. Malinkovich1,  V.V. Shvartsman2, D.C. Lupascu2, Yu.N. Parkhomenko1  1 National University of Science and Technology "MISiS", 4, Leninskiy Pr., 119049 Moscow, Russian Federation 2 Institut für Materialwissenschaft, and Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE), Universität Duisburg-Essen, 15, Universitätsstr., 45141 Essen, Germany  (Received 05 August 2013; published online 10 December 2013)  Electro-optic LiNbO3 thin films were deposited on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates using a radio-frequency magnetron sputtering process. The piezoelectric properties of the LiNbO3 films were investigat-ed using the scanning probe microscopy in the piezoresponse mode. The obtained results show the high de-gree of grains orientation in polycrystalline structure. The piezoelectric modulus (dzz) was estimated to be 16 pm/V (for LiNbO3 / Si(100)) and 22 pm/V (for LiNbO3 / Si(111)) and the polarization about of 0.37 Cm – 2. These values are larger than those reported previously for LiNbO3 films.  Keywords: LiNbO3 thin film, Piezoresponse force microscopy, Domain structure.   PACS numbers: 77.80.Dj, 68.55. – a, 77.55.H –                                                           * dm.kiselev@misis.ru  1. INTRODUCTION  Among the most interesting and promising directions in the physics of optics and materials science is the study of the synthesis and characterization of thin film gradi-ent optical structures [1]. The results already obtained in this area are of great practical importance. In particular, created by ultra-wide range (for a visible, near and mid-IR range) and deep modulation on the beam splitter, reflector less optical phase shifters, compressors femto-second optical pulses that work in non-prism mode tran-sient tunneling narrow-band filters in the visible and near – infrared regions of the spectrum etc. [2]. As the next step in the development of this area is important to develop a new class of optical elements - gradient optical "transformers" on the basis of gradient thin film coatings, i.e. the gradient of thin-film multi-layer structures, the characteristics of which may vary considerably during their work by changing the optical thickness of a certain number of sub-elements. For ex-ample, the reflection of a certain wavelength range will change his passing, etc. This will greatly simplify the optical circuit devices, in some cases, remove the multi-ple channels to reduce the weight and dimensions. This is possible when creating one-layers in multilayer struc-tures of electro-optic materials, such as lithium niobate. However, this procedure requires the synthesis of die-lectric substrates oriented both crystallographic direc-tion and the polarization vector by fine film of lithium niobate with 100 nm thickness. Oriented polycrystalline lithium niobate (LiNbO3, LN) thin films are also of interest for a variety of elec-tro-optical and acousto-optical applications, including integrated device structures containing micro- and opto-electronic components. The ferroelectric properties of LN films were investigated by piezoresponse force mi-croscopy (PFM), which allows identifying the polariza-tion direction and the local domain distribution [3]. Pre-viously [4-6], this method has already been used to vis-ualize ferroelectric domains in LN films deposited on conductive silicon substrates.  In this article we report on direct investigation of domain structures and local piezoelectric properties of LiNbO3 thin films by the PFM method.  2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS  The LiNbO3 films were deposited on n-type Si (100) and Si (111) substrates (  2 Ω·cm) by RF magnetron sputtering of the single-crystalline target in Ar / O  1 atmosphere and under the working pressure of 0.6 Pa. The thickness of the LiNbO3 thin films was about 100 nm. After sputtering process the films were an-nealed in a furnace at 700 °C for two hours. The piezoe-lectric properties of the LN thin films were character-ized by the piezoresponse force microscopy using com-mercial scanning probe microscopes MFP-3D (Asylum Research) and NTEGRA Prima (NT-MDT). Out-of-plane PFM images of the samples were obtained by applying AC voltage (5V peak-to-peak) with the fre-quency of 5 kHz. To address the DC voltage dependence of the local piezoresponse so-called remnant piezoelec-tric loop (REM hysteresis) were measured by applying a sequence of DC voltage pulses with cycling magni-tude and collecting the PFM signal after each pulse. The measurements were done in a DC voltage range – 40 V ≤ VDC ≤ + 40 V. Both DC voltage pulse duration and measuring time were 1 sec.  3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS  The XRD was performed with a θ – 2θ configuration and the results for the samples are summarized in Fig. 1. The XRD spectra show several peaks from 20º to 60º for polycrystalline LiNbO3 films, that correspond to the diffraction contribution from the (012), (104), (006), (116).  D.A. KISELEV, S.V. KSENICH, R.N. ZHUKOV, ET AL. J. NANO- ELECTRON. PHYS. 5, 04041 (2013)   04041-2 20 30 40 50 60 70 800200400LN/Si(100)(116)(006)(104)  Intensity (a.u.)2  (Deg)(012)LN/Si(111)  Fig. 1 – XRD spectra and phase analysis for LiNbO3 thin films  The surface morphologies of the LiNbO3 films syn-thesized on silicon substrates with (100) and (111) ori-entations observed by PFM as shown in Fig 2a, d.  The surface roughness was about 6 nm and 8 nm for the LiNbO3/Si(100) and LiNbO3/Si(111) hetero-structures, respectively. This result meets the demands for practical wave guiding devices. Lateral relief corre-spondence grain sub-structure of the LN films with av-erage grain diameter of 50 nm and 75 nm for the films on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates, respectively.  LiNbO3/Si(100) LiNbO3/Si(111)        Fig. 2 – Simultaneously obtained topographic (a, d), ampli-tude (b, e) and phase (c, f) PFM images for LN thin films, sputtered on (100) and (111) oriented silicon substrates  PFM was used to characterize the polarization states of the LN films and to determine the piezoelectric con-stants. Figs. 2b, e and c, f show the amplitude and phase PFM images, respectively, obtained simultaneously with the topography images. The amplitude of the PFM signal corresponds to a local deformation of the sample under an alternating electric field i.e. provides values of the local piezoelectric coefficient dzz. Phase images show grains with «bright» and «dark» contrast, which correspond the orientation of the polarization vector up and down rela-tive to the film plane.  Fig. 3a-c represent the PFM amplitude images ob-tained at different ac probing voltage values 3 V, 7 V and 11 V (scan size 1  1 m). It is clear that the piezoresponse amplitude increases with the increasing magnitude of the AC voltage. Fig. 3d shows the corresponding histograms of the amplitude PFM signal for the PFM image obtained by ac voltage varied from 1 to 11 V. In both cases this histo-grams can be identified as Gaussian distributions with a single narrow maximum.  The position of this maximum corresponds to a mean piezoresponse signal for a given image. The AC voltage dependences of this mean piezoresponse a for LN film are shown in Fig. 4. As expected, the piezoresponse am-plitude increases linearly with the voltage. The mean dzz piezoelectric coefficient can be evaluated from the slope of these dependences (Fig. 4) according the formula [7]:   zzACAdV , (1)  where A (pm) is the piezoresponse amplitude and VAC (V) is the amplitude of the applied voltage. The best fit yields for LiNbO3/Si(111) heterostructures the value of dzz  22 pm/V and for LiNbO3/Si(100) we obtained a slight-ly smaller dzz  16 pm/V. The measured dzz values are close to the d33 value for LN single crystal [8], and nanocrystal-line particles based on LiNbO3 [9].    a   b  c 0 100 200 300 400 500 6000100020003000Number of events (a.u.)   PFM Amplitude (pm)1V 11V  Fig. 3 – Out-of-plane PFM amplitude images taken at 3 V (a), 7 V (b), and 11 V (c), for LiNbO3 thin film, and corresponding histograms (d) extracted from PFM amplitude images  On the other hand, the piezoelectric coefficient is proportional to the polarization, P:    02 ,zzd Q P  (2)  where Q is the electrostriction coefficient (Q  0.095 m4C – 2 for bulk LN [10]), 0 is the permittivi-ty of vacuum,  is the relative dielectric permittivity. Taking the relative dielectric permittivity of the LN to be about 30 at low frequency, the polarization for LiNbO3 / Si(111) heterostructure can be estimated to be ~ 0.37 C·m – 2, which is relatively large in comparison with the value reported previously for LN films [11, 12]. To get information about the anisotropy of the lon-d d e f º pm a b c º pm  PIEZOELECTRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HETEROSTRUCTURES… J. NANO- ELECTRON. PHYS. 5, 04041 (2013)   04041-3 gitudinal piezoelectric coefficient dzz of LN thin films, the remnant piezoelectric loops were measured shown in Fig. 5.   Fig. 4 – The mean PFM amplitude signals versus AC voltage for the LN thin film -40 -20 0 20 40-400-2000200400    LN/Si(100)  LN/Si(111)d eff zz (a. u.)Bias Voltage (V) Fig. 5 – REM piezoelectric hysteresis loops for the LiNbO3 films with different orientations of Si substrate  It is clear that the remnant piezoelectric response for the LN films synthesized on Si (111) is larger than for the films synthesized on Si (100). Accordance with to the imaging principle of the PFM, the value of dzz for grains with the polarization vector perpendicular to the film surface is higher than that for grains with the polarization vector deviating from the direction of the surface normal [13]. Therefore, the piezoelectric results shown in Fig. 4 and 5 suggest that the presence of differences in the values of piezoelectric modules (polarization vector) for LN thin films synthesized by varying the substrate orienta-tion.  4. CONCLUSIONS  Piezoresponse force microscopy technique was used to investigate the local piezoelectric properties of the electro-optic LiNbO3 thin films. The piezoelectric re-sponse of the films depends on the crystallographic ori-entation of the silicon substrate. The piezoelectric coeffi-cient (dzz) was determined to be 16 pm/V and 22 pm/V for LiNbO3/Si(100) and LiNbO3/Si(111) heterostruc-tures, respectively. The polarization was estimated to be ~ 0.37 C·m-2. These values are higher than previously reported values for LN films. The results indicate that one of the problems the solution of which is necessary for the creation of electro-optic lithium niobate thin films on dielectric layers, namely the high crystallo-graphic orientation of the structure can be solved by means of RF sputtering technology.  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT  The research was financially supported by the Min-istry of Education and Science of the Russian Federa-tion using the equipment of Common-Use Scientific Center “Material Science and Metallurgy” at NUST “MISiS” and by the Program for Creation and Develop-ment of the National University of Science and Technol-ogy “MISiS”. DAK acknowledges German Academic Ex-change Service (DAAD project A/12/00679) for financial support during his research stay at the University of Duisburg-Essen.   REFERENCES  1. О.D Volpian., A.I. Kuzmichev, Negative Refraction of Waves. Keeping to the Physics and Technology of Electro-magnetic Metamaterials (Kiev: Avers: 2012). 2. О.D. Volpian, S.I. Shkatula, M.D. Malinkovich, The De-fense Industry - Scientific and Technical Progress Russia No4, 22 (2012). 3. V. Bornand, B. Gautier, P. Papet, Mater. Chem. Phys. 86, 340 (2004). 4. R.N. Zhukov, A.S. Bykov, D.A. Kiselev, M.D. Malinkovich, Yu.N. Parkhomenko, J. Alloy. Compd. 586, S336 (2014). 5. R.N. Zhukov, D.A. Kiselev, M.D. Malinkovich, Yu.N. Parkhomenko, E.A. Vygovskaya, O.V. Toropova, Russ. Microelectronics 41, 459 (2012). 6. D.A. Kiselev, R.N. Zhukov, A.S. Bykov, M.D. Malinkovich, Y.N. Parkhomenko PIERS Proceedings, 520 (August 19 – 23: Moscow: Russia: 2012). 7. K.Ch. Chiu, T.H. Yang, J.M. Wu, Nanotechnology 24, 225602 (2013). 8. M.P. Shaskol'skaya, Acoustic Crystals: A Handbook. (Mos-cow: Nauka: 1982). 9. D. Mohanty, G.S. Chaubey, A. Yourdkhani, S. Adireddy, G. Caruntu, J.B. Wiley, RSC Advances 2, 1913 (2012). 10. Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors, Electronic Materials: Science & Technology, 1 (Ed. K. Uchino) (1996). 11. D.G. Lim, B.S. Jang, S.I. Moon, C.Y. Won, J. Yi, Solid-State Electron. 45, 1159 (2001). 12. S.W. Jung, Y.S. Kim, S.H. Jeong, Y.I. In, K.H. Kim, K. No J. Korean Phys. Soc. 42, 1386 (2003). 13. O. Auciello, A. Gruverman, H. Tokumoto, S.A. Prakash, S. Aggarwal, R. Ramesh, MRS Bull. 23, 33 (1998).  

Piezoelectric Characteristics of LiNbO3 Thin-film Heterostructures via Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

SocioEconomic Challenges Journal (Sumy State University)

JOURNAL OF NANO- AND ELECTRONIC PHYSICS ЖУРНАЛ НАНО- ТА ЕЛЕКТРОННОЇ ФІЗИКИ 
Vol. 5 No 4, 04041(3pp) (2013) Том 5 № 4, 04041(3cc) (2013) 
 
 
The article was reported at the International Conference «Physics and Technology of Nanomaterials and Structures», Kursk, 21-22 November, 2013 
2077-6772/2013/5(4)04041(3) 04041-1  2013 Sumy State University 
Short Communication 
 
Piezoelectric Characteristics of LiNbO3 Thin-film Heterostructures  
via Piezoresponse Force Microscopy 
 
D.A. Kiselev1,*, S.V. Ksenich1, R.N. Zhukov1, A.S. Bykov1, M.D. Malinkovich1,  
V.V. Shvartsman2, D.C. Lupascu2, Yu.N. Parkhomenko1 
 
1 National University of Science and Technology "MISiS", 4, Leninskiy Pr., 119049 Moscow, Russian Federation 
2 Institut für Materialwissenschaft, and Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CENIDE), 
Universität Duisburg-Essen, 15, Universitätsstr., 45141 Essen, Germany 
 
(Received 05 August 2013; published online 10 December 2013) 
 
Electro-optic LiNbO3 thin films were deposited on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates using a radio-
frequency magnetron sputtering process. The piezoelectric properties of the LiNbO3 films were investigat-
ed using the scanning probe microscopy in the piezoresponse mode. The obtained results show the high de-
gree of grains orientation in polycrystalline structure. The piezoelectric modulus (dzz) was estimated to be 
16 pm/V (for LiNbO3 / Si(100)) and 22 pm/V (for LiNbO3 / Si(111)) and the polarization about of 0.37 Cm – 2. 
These values are larger than those reported previously for LiNbO3 films. 
 
Keywords: LiNbO3 thin film, Piezoresponse force microscopy, Domain structure. 
 
 PACS numbers: 77.80.Dj, 68.55. – a, 77.55.H – 
 
 
                                                        
* dm.kiselev@misis.ru  
1. INTRODUCTION 
 
Among the most interesting and promising directions 
in the physics of optics and materials science is the study 
of the synthesis and characterization of thin film gradi-
ent optical structures [1]. The results already obtained in 
this area are of great practical importance. In particular, 
created by ultra-wide range (for a visible, near and mid-
IR range) and deep modulation on the beam splitter, 
reflector less optical phase shifters, compressors femto-
second optical pulses that work in non-prism mode tran-
sient tunneling narrow-band filters in the visible and 
near – infrared regions of the spectrum etc. [2]. 
As the next step in the development of this area is 
important to develop a new class of optical elements - 
gradient optical "transformers" on the basis of gradient 
thin film coatings, i.e. the gradient of thin-film multi-
layer structures, the characteristics of which may vary 
considerably during their work by changing the optical 
thickness of a certain number of sub-elements. For ex-
ample, the reflection of a certain wavelength range will 
change his passing, etc. This will greatly simplify the 
optical circuit devices, in some cases, remove the multi-
ple channels to reduce the weight and dimensions. This 
is possible when creating one-layers in multilayer struc-
tures of electro-optic materials, such as lithium niobate. 
However, this procedure requires the synthesis of die-
lectric substrates oriented both crystallographic direc-
tion and the polarization vector by fine film of lithium 
niobate with 100 nm thickness. 
Oriented polycrystalline lithium niobate (LiNbO3, 
LN) thin films are also of interest for a variety of elec-
tro-optical and acousto-optical applications, including 
integrated device structures containing micro- and opto-
electronic components. The ferroelectric properties of 
LN films were investigated by piezoresponse force mi-
croscopy (PFM), which allows identifying the polariza-
tion direction and the local domain distribution [3]. Pre-
viously [4-6], this method has already been used to vis-
ualize ferroelectric domains in LN films deposited on 
conductive silicon substrates.  
In this article we report on direct investigation of 
domain structures and local piezoelectric properties of 
LiNbO3 thin films by the PFM method. 
 
2. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS 
 
The LiNbO3 films were deposited on n-type Si (100) 
and Si (111) substrates (  2 Ω·cm) by RF magnetron 
sputtering of the single-crystalline target in Ar / O  1 
atmosphere and under the working pressure of 0.6 Pa. 
The thickness of the LiNbO3 thin films was about 
100 nm. After sputtering process the films were an-
nealed in a furnace at 700 °C for two hours. The piezoe-
lectric properties of the LN thin films were character-
ized by the piezoresponse force microscopy using com-
mercial scanning probe microscopes MFP-3D (Asylum 
Research) and NTEGRA Prima (NT-MDT). Out-of-
plane PFM images of the samples were obtained by 
applying AC voltage (5V peak-to-peak) with the fre-
quency of 5 kHz. To address the DC voltage dependence 
of the local piezoresponse so-called remnant piezoelec-
tric loop (REM hysteresis) were measured by applying 
a sequence of DC voltage pulses with cycling magni-
tude and collecting the PFM signal after each pulse. 
The measurements were done in a DC voltage range –
 40 V ≤ VDC ≤ + 40 V. Both DC voltage pulse duration 
and measuring time were 1 sec. 
 
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 
 
The XRD was performed with a θ – 2θ configuration 
and the results for the samples are summarized in Fig. 1. 
The XRD spectra show several peaks from 20º to 60º 
for polycrystalline LiNbO3 films, that correspond to the 
diffraction contribution from the (012), (104), (006), (116). 
 D.A. KISELEV, S.V. KSENICH, R.N. ZHUKOV, ET AL. J. NANO- ELECTRON. PHYS. 5, 04041 (2013) 
 
 
04041-2 
20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0
200
400
LN/Si(100)
(116)
(006)
(104)
 
 
In
te
n
s
it
y
 (
a
.u
.)
2  (Deg)
(012)
LN/Si(111)
 
 
Fig. 1 – XRD spectra and phase analysis for LiNbO3 thin films 
 
The surface morphologies of the LiNbO3 films syn-
thesized on silicon substrates with (100) and (111) ori-
entations observed by PFM as shown in Fig 2a, d.  
The surface roughness was about 6 nm and 8 nm for 
the LiNbO3/Si(100) and LiNbO3/Si(111) hetero-
structures, respectively. This result meets the demands 
for practical wave guiding devices. Lateral relief corre-
spondence grain sub-structure of the LN films with av-
erage grain diameter of 50 nm and 75 nm for the films 
on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates, respectively. 
 
LiNbO3/Si(100) LiNbO3/Si(111) 
  
  
  
 
Fig. 2 – Simultaneously obtained topographic (a, d), ampli-
tude (b, e) and phase (c, f) PFM images for LN thin films, 
sputtered on (100) and (111) oriented silicon substrates 
 
PFM was used to characterize the polarization states 
of the LN films and to determine the piezoelectric con-
stants. Figs. 2b, e and c, f show the amplitude and phase 
PFM images, respectively, obtained simultaneously with 
the topography images. The amplitude of the PFM signal 
corresponds to a local deformation of the sample under an 
alternating electric field i.e. provides values of the local 
piezoelectric coefficient dzz. Phase images show grains 
with «bright» and «dark» contrast, which correspond the 
orientation of the polarization vector up and down rela-
tive to the film plane. 
 
Fig. 3a-c represent the PFM amplitude images ob-
tained at different ac probing voltage values 3 V, 7 V and 
11 V (scan size 1  1 m). It is clear that the piezoresponse 
amplitude increases with the increasing magnitude of the 
AC voltage. Fig. 3d shows the corresponding histograms of 
the amplitude PFM signal for the PFM image obtained by 
ac voltage varied from 1 to 11 V. In both cases this histo-
grams can be identified as Gaussian distributions with a 
single narrow maximum.  
The position of this maximum corresponds to a mean 
piezoresponse signal for a given image. The AC voltage 
dependences of this mean piezoresponse a for LN film 
are shown in Fig. 4. As expected, the piezoresponse am-
plitude increases linearly with the voltage. The mean dzz 
piezoelectric coefficient can be evaluated from the slope 
of these dependences (Fig. 4) according the formula [7]: 
 
 zz
AC
A
d
V
 , (1) 
 
where A (pm) is the piezoresponse amplitude and VAC (V) 
is the amplitude of the applied voltage. The best fit yields 
for LiNbO3/Si(111) heterostructures the value of 
dzz  22 pm/V and for LiNbO3/Si(100) we obtained a slight-
ly smaller dzz  16 pm/V. The measured dzz values are close 
to the d33 value for LN single crystal [8], and nanocrystal-
line particles based on LiNbO3 [9]. 
 
 
 
a 
 
 
b 
 
c 
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
0
1000
2000
3000
N
u
m
b
er
 o
f 
ev
en
ts
 (
a.
u
.)
 
 
 PFM Amplitude (pm)
1V 11V
 
 
Fig. 3 – Out-of-plane PFM amplitude images taken at 3 V (a), 
7 V (b), and 11 V (c), for LiNbO3 thin film, and corresponding 
histograms (d) extracted from PFM amplitude images 
 
On the other hand, the piezoelectric coefficient is 
proportional to the polarization, P: 
 
  02 ,zzd Q P  (2) 
 
where Q is the electrostriction coefficient 
(Q  0.095 m4C – 2 for bulk LN [10]), 0 is the permittivi-
ty of vacuum,  is the relative dielectric permittivity. 
Taking the relative dielectric permittivity of the LN to 
be about 30 at low frequency, the polarization for 
LiNbO3 / Si(111) heterostructure can be estimated to be 
~ 0.37 C·m – 2, which is relatively large in comparison 
with the value reported previously for LN films [11, 12]. 
To get information about the anisotropy of the lon-
d 
d 
e 
f º 
pm 
a 
b 
c 
º 
pm 
 PIEZOELECTRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HETEROSTRUCTURES… J. NANO- ELECTRON. PHYS. 5, 04041 (2013) 
 
 
04041-3 
gitudinal piezoelectric coefficient dzz of LN thin films, 
the remnant piezoelectric loops were measured shown 
in Fig. 5. 
 
 
Fig. 4 – The mean PFM amplitude signals versus AC voltage 
for the LN thin film 
-40 -20 0 20 40
-400
-200
0
200
400
 
 
  LN/Si(100)
  LN/Si(111)
d
 e
ff zz
 (
a.
 u
.)
Bias Voltage (V)
 
Fig. 5 – REM piezoelectric hysteresis loops for the LiNbO3 
films with different orientations of Si substrate 
 
It is clear that the remnant piezoelectric response for 
the LN films synthesized on Si (111) is larger than for 
the films synthesized on Si (100). Accordance with to 
the imaging principle of the PFM, the value of dzz for 
grains with the polarization vector perpendicular to the 
film surface is higher than that for grains with the polari
zation vector deviating from the direction of the surface 
normal [13]. Therefore, the piezoelectric results shown in 
Fig. 4 and 5 suggest that the presence of differences in the 
values of piezoelectric modules (polarization vector) for LN 
thin films synthesized by varying the substrate orienta-
tion. 
 
4. CONCLUSIONS 
 
Piezoresponse force microscopy technique was used 
to investigate the local piezoelectric properties of the 
electro-optic LiNbO3 thin films. The piezoelectric re-
sponse of the films depends on the crystallographic ori-
entation of the silicon substrate. The piezoelectric coeffi-
cient (dzz) was determined to be 16 pm/V and 22 pm/V 
for LiNbO3/Si(100) and LiNbO3/Si(111) heterostruc-
tures, respectively. The polarization was estimated to be 
~ 0.37 C·m-2. These values are higher than previously 
reported values for LN films. The results indicate that 
one of the problems the solution of which is necessary 
for the creation of electro-optic lithium niobate thin 
films on dielectric layers, namely the high crystallo-
graphic orientation of the structure can be solved by 
means of RF sputtering technology. 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 
 
The research was financially supported by the Min-
istry of Education and Science of the Russian Federa-
tion using the equipment of Common-Use Scientific 
Center “Material Science and Metallurgy” at NUST 
“MISiS” and by the Program for Creation and Develop-
ment of the National University of Science and Technol-
ogy “MISiS”. DAK acknowledges German Academic Ex-
change Service (DAAD project A/12/00679) for financial 
support during his research stay at the University of 
Duisburg-Essen. 
 
 
REFERENCES 
 
1. О.D Volpian., A.I. Kuzmichev, Negative Refraction of 
Waves. Keeping to the Physics and Technology of Electro-
magnetic Metamaterials (Kiev: Avers: 2012). 
2. О.D. Volpian, S.I. Shkatula, M.D. Malinkovich, The De-
fense Industry - Scientific and Technical Progress Russia 
No4, 22 (2012). 
3. V. Bornand, B. Gautier, P. Papet, Mater. Chem. Phys. 86, 
340 (2004). 
4. R.N. Zhukov, A.S. Bykov, D.A. Kiselev, M.D. Malinkovich, 
Yu.N. Parkhomenko, J. Alloy. Compd. 586, S336 (2014). 
5. R.N. Zhukov, D.A. Kiselev, M.D. Malinkovich, 
Yu.N. Parkhomenko, E.A. Vygovskaya, O.V. Toropova, 
Russ. Microelectronics 41, 459 (2012). 
6. D.A. Kiselev, R.N. Zhukov, A.S. Bykov, M.D. Malinkovich, 
Y.N. Parkhomenko PIERS Proceedings, 520 (August 19 – 
23: Moscow: Russia: 2012). 
7. K.Ch. Chiu, T.H. Yang, J.M. Wu, Nanotechnology 24, 
225602 (2013). 
8. M.P. Shaskol'skaya, Acoustic Crystals: A Handbook. (Mos-
cow: Nauka: 1982). 
9. D. Mohanty, G.S. Chaubey, A. Yourdkhani, S. Adireddy, 
G. Caruntu, J.B. Wiley, RSC Advances 2, 1913 (2012). 
10. Piezoelectric Actuators and Ultrasonic Motors, Electronic 
Materials: Science & Technology, 1 (Ed. K. Uchino) (1996). 
11. D.G. Lim, B.S. Jang, S.I. Moon, C.Y. Won, J. Yi, Solid-
State Electron. 45, 1159 (2001). 
12. S.W. Jung, Y.S. Kim, S.H. Jeong, Y.I. In, K.H. Kim, K. No 
J. Korean Phys. Soc. 42, 1386 (2003). 
13. O. Auciello, A. Gruverman, H. Tokumoto, S.A. Prakash, 
S. Aggarwal, R. Ramesh, MRS Bull. 23, 33 (1998). 
 


https://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/bitstream/123456789/33668/1/Kiselev_Domain%20structure.pdf

Piezoelectric Characteristics of LiNbO3 Thin-film Heterostructures via Piezoresponse Force Microscopy

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Electronic Sumy State University Institutional Repository

SocioEconomic Challenges Journal (Sumy State University)