Laser Doppler vibrometry for evaluating the piezoelectric coefficient d33 on thin film

The problem of electromechanical film characterization, and, in particular, the determination of the piezoelectric activities of thin films deposited on substrates, is of fundamental importance in the development of structures for microelectromechanical system (MEMS) applications. The design and the architecture of the piezoelectric MEMS are directly related to the mechanical and the piezoelectric performances of the material. In this article, we present and compare some results obtained on different experimental setup for the determination of the d(33) coefficient. We have optimized the experimental conditions using a laser Doppler vibrometer. The main problem is the contribution of the bending effect of the substrates on the d(33) coefficient, which is an intrinsic property of the film. We show that the d(33) values are directly related to parameters such as the top electrode diameter and the substrate holder. The results are in agreement with those obtained with the conventional double beam interferometer used to account for substrate bending. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.