The converse piezoelectric responses of (111)- and (001)-epitaxial tetragonal Pb(Zr0.35Ti0.65)O3 [PZT] films were compared to investigate the orientation dependence of the substrate clamping effect. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and piezoelectric force microscopy revealed that the as-grown (111)-PZT film has a polydomain structure with normal twin boundaries that are changed by the poling process to inclined boundaries, as predicted by Romanov et al. [Phys. Status Solidi A 172, 225 (1999)]. Time-resolved synchrotron XRD under bias voltage showed the negligible impact of substrate clamping on the piezoelectric response in the (111)-PZT film, unlike the case for (001)-PZT film. The origin of the negligible clamping effect in the (111)-PZT film is discussed from the viewpoint of the elastic properties and the compensation of lattice distortion between neighboring domains.

Self-assembled Pb(Zr,Ti)O 3 (PZT) nanorods were grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at an elevated oxygen pressure. PZT grew as a film in the initial growth stage and formed nanorods upon further deposition. The influence of the substrate temperature, target-substrate distance, and Pb composition of the targets on nanorod growth was investigated. It was found that the average radius of the PZT nanorods was larger at higher substrate temperatures and longer target-substrate distances, which can be explained respectively by the enhanced surface diffusion and shadowing effect of the PLD species. The results of this study can contribute to controlling the sizes of PZT nanorods to tune their piezoelectric response.

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