Abstract
PZT thick films were prepared using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process with special emphasis placed on the powder packing behavior on silicon substrates. The suspending medium used was an ethanol solution containing an appropriate amount of HCl to introduce surface charges to the Pb(Zr, Ti)O3 particles, which were deposited on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates under a constant electrical field. It was found that the deposited microstructure gradually changed across the film thickness: large particles were initially deposited, followed by the deposition of small particles. Such a phenomenon was explained by using the Derjauin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory which considers a particle size effect on the surface charge responsible for the EPD process.
