Investigation of local orientation and stress analysis of PZT-based materials using micro-probe polarized Raman spectroscopy

Investigation of crystallographic orientation and the related residual stress fields stored in piezoelectric sensor/actuator devices would improve reliability of industrial products and help to optimize the entire production process. Micro-probe Raman piezospectroscopy is a very attractive technique, yet not applied to lead zirconate titanate (PZT)-based materials, as the response is convoluted into contributions arising not only from stress, but also from crystallographic orientation. In this work, we have attempted to evaluate the correlation between Raman spectra and orientation in two differently doped lead zirconate titanate materials (PZT–LN and PZT–NSY), finding in the “softer” PZT a correlation between crystal orientation and Raman shift. We performed also some calibration experiments, and a piezospectroscopic (PS) coefficient has been retrieved in the “harder” PZT.