Deposition, characterization and optimization of zinc oxide thin film for piezoelectric cantilevers

► Various ZnO films with preferred ZnO(0 0 2) orientation were deposited at room temperature. ► The influence of different deposition conditions on the crystalline quality and microstructure of ZnO film were investigated. ► The ZnO film based piezoelectric micro cantilever was fabricated and its dynamic performance was measured. ► The d31 of ZnO film deposited under best sputtering condition is −3.21 pC/N.