Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
In this study, the use of a fiber optic technique for the measurement of the piezoelectric properties of ferroelectric bulk and thin film samples was investigated. The strain and piezoelectric properties (namely the d33 coefficients) were measured using the MTI-2000 Fotonic Sensor, which uses the principle of the optical lever to resolve very small changes in sample displacement (1 Å). Using this technique, we were able to detect the very small strains associated with the converse piezoelectric effect for PVDF films and bulk PZT samples, and correlate the results with data acquired from direct piezoelectric effect measurement. Comparison of the data sets prove that the optical lever would be a useful optical technique for measuring of the d33 values of ceramic thin films, such as BaTiO3, ZnO, and PZT.