BiFeO 3 was studied as an alternative environmentally clean ferro/piezoelectric material. 200-nm-thick BiFeO 3 films were grown on Si substrates with SrTiO 3 as a template layer and SrRuO 3 as bottom electrode. X-ray and transmission electron microscopy studies confirmed the epitaxial growth of the films. The spontaneous polarization of the films was ϳ45 C/cm 2 . Retention measurement up to several days showed no decay of polarization. A piezoelectric coefficient ͑d 33 ͒ of ϳ60 pm/ V was observed, which is promising for applications in micro-electro-mechanical systems and actuators.

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We report on the out-of-plane piezoelectric response (d33), measured via piezoresponse scanning force microscopy, of submicron capacitors fabricated from epitaxial PbZrxTi1−xO3 thin films. Investigations on 1 μm2 and smaller capacitors show that the substrate-induced constraint is dramatically reduced by nanostructuring. At zero field, the experimentally measured values of d33 for clamped as well as submicron capacitors are in good agreement with the predictions from thermodynamic theory. The theory also describes very well the field dependence of the piezoresponse of clamped capacitors of key compositions on the tetragonal side of the PbZrxTi1−xO3 phase diagram as well as the behavior of submicron PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (hard ferroelectric) capacitors. However, the field-dependent piezoresponse of submicron capacitors in compositions closer to the morphotropic phase boundary (soft ferroelectrics) is different from the behavior predicted by the theoretical calculations.