Synthesis of PbTiO3 Nanotubes by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition

We report on the synthesis of PbTiO3 nanotubes by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). Single-crystal ZnO nanorods grown on SiO2/Si by a self-assembly process using MOCVD were used as a positive template. Subsequently, the ZnO nanorods were uniformly covered with PbTiO3 by MOCVD. Then, ZnO was etched away using HCl and PbTiO3 nanotubes were obtained. The diameters and wall thicknesses of typical PbTiO3 nanotubes were 100-250 and 40-100 nm, respectively. Ferroelectricity in the PbTiO3 nanotubes was confirmed by piezoresponse force microscopy, which also revealed that PbTiO3 nanotubes exhibited large effective piezoelectric coefficients of 150-200 pm/V and a large electrically induced strain of similar to 0.8% of the diameter. (C) 2009 The Japan Society of Applied Physics