In-situ post-annealing technique for improving piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity of Li-doped ZnO thin films prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering system

Li-doped zinc oxide (L0.03Z0.97O) thin films are deposited onto Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates via the radio frequency magnetron sputtering method. The structure evolution with annealing temperature of the predominantly (002)-oriented Li-doped ZnO (LZO) films after in-situ post-annealing process is determined. The largest values of the piezoelectric coefficient (d33) and the remnant polarization (Pr) (22.85 pm/V and 0.655 μC/cm2, respectively) are obtained for LZO films post-annealed at 600 °C, which can be attributed to the predominant (002)-oriented crystalline structure, the release of intrinsic residual compressive stress, and less non-lattice oxygen.