0.5 Pb[Yb1/2Nb1/2]O3–0.5 PbTiO3 thin films were deposited on (111) Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by sol–gel processing using a thin Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 seed layer. X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy revealed that the films were strongly (111) oriented, mimicking the orientation of the (111) Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate. No pyrochlore phase was observed by x-ray diffraction and the films had a uniform grain size of about 50–60 nm. The dielectric permittivity and loss factor varied only slightly with frequency in the range of 100–10 000 Hz. At 1 kHz, the dielectric permittivity was 1025 and dielectric loss was 0.028. The films exhibited good ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. The remanent polarization (Pr) was 30 μC/cm2. The effective transverse piezoelectric e31,f coefficient (−4.8 C/m2) of the films was measured using a modified wafer flexure method.

( 1 − x ) Pb [ Yb 1 ∕ 2 Nb 1 ∕ 2 ] O 3 – x Pb Ti O 3 (PYbN–PT, x=0.5) oriented thin films were deposited onto LaNiO3 (LNO)∕Si substrates by sol-gel processing. Highly (001)-oriented LNO thin films were prepared by a simple metal-organic decomposition technique when sample annealed at 650°C using a rapid thermal annealing. The room-temperature resistivity of LNO thin films was 0.65mΩcm. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the films of PYbN–PT were highly (001) oriented along LNO∕Si substrates. No pyrochlore phase was observed by X-ray diffraction and films had a uniform grain size of about 80–120nm. At 1kHz, the dielectric permittivity was 920 and dielectric loss is about 0.035. The ferroelectric films displayed good P-E hysteresis characteristic and better temperature stabilization compared with the films that have low Curie temperature.

(1−x) Pb[Yb 1/2 Nb 1/2 ] O 3 –x PbTiO 3 (PYbN–PT, x=0.5) (001)-oriented thin films were deposited onto (111)Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by sol–gel processing. The crystallographic texture of the films was affected by heating rate, annealing temperature, and film thickness. The dielectric permittivity and loss factor varied only slightly with frequency in the range of 100 Hz–100 kHz. At 1 kHz, the dielectric permittivity of (001)-oriented films was 1030 and the dielectric loss was 0.03. Compared with (111)-oriented PYbN–PT films, (001)-oriented PYbN–PT films exhibited better piezoelectric properties. The effective transverse piezoelectric e31,f coefficient of the films were −8.2 C/m2 when films were poled at room temperature. Enhanced piezoelectric properties were observed by poling the films at higher temperatures. The transition temperature of the (001)-oriented PYbN–PT (50/50) films was around 360 °C.

(1−x) Pb [ Yb 1/2 Nb 1/2 ] O 3 –x PbTiO 3 (PYbN–PT, x=0.5) epitaxial thin films were deposited on (001) SrRuO3/(001) MgO substrates by sol-gel processing. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the films were pyrochlore-free (001) epitaxial films when crystallized at 750 °C for 1 min. The dielectric permittivity and loss factor varied only slightly with frequency in the range of 100 to 10 000 Hz. At 1 kHz, the dielectric permittivity was 870 and the dielectric loss was 0.03 at room temperature. Compared with (111) PYbN–PT films, (001) PYbN–PT films exhibited better ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties. The remanent polarization (Pr) was 37 μC/cm2. The effective transverse piezoelectric e31,f coefficient of the films were −10.2 C/m2 when films were poled at room temperature. Enhanced piezoelectric properties were obtained using unique two-step method poling the PYbN–PT films at higher temperatures.