Combinatorial synthesis of thin mixed oxide films and automated study of their piezoelectric properties

The development of an automated production of thin films and the characterization of their piezoelectric properties in high-throughput are described. A library of 50 undoped as well as doped lead zirconate titanate Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) coatings was produced by sol deposition. Afterwards, the piezoelectric properties of the library films were analyzed by automated atomic force microscopy employing the ultrasonic piezo-mode.