Glass has an amazing span of functionalities, from visual aesthetics to electronic touch screens. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT), on the other hand, is the flagship piezoelectric. The potential of PZT, and other thin-film piezoelectric oxides, on glass has not yet been fully revealed. Main reasons are processing temperatures above 650 °C, which are beyond the usable range of commercial glasses and incompatibility of standard deposition technologies with large glass sheets.
In this contribution we will demonstrate that processing based on Chemical Solution Deposition can address these two issues. As the deposition method we chose inkjet printing, which is efficient in the ink-consumption and is appropriate for processing of large sheets. For thermal treatment we chose flash lamp annealing (FLA), which is a light-based annealing method. It allows for heating thin-film materials through absorption of high-intensity light, while keeping a transparent substrate cold. In FLA process large areas can be processed in a single exposure.
With the proper design of the inks, efficient inkjet printing of PZT can be performed. We printed 900 nm-thick and strongly {100} oriented thin-film structures on fused silica. With permittivity ε′ and piezoelectric coefficient e33,f values of 1000 and 7.7 C m-2, respectively, these films compete with spin-coated layers.
For FLA, we developed a process that enables macroscopic crystallization of amorphous layers on different glass. First, we demonstrate a fast process (several seconds per crystallization) on 1 µm-thick PZT thin films on fused silica, resulting in remanent polarization Pr, dielectric permittivity εr, and piezoelectric coefficient e33,f values of 12 μC cm-2, 450, and -5 C m-2, respectively. We demonstrate the universality of FLA process by crystallization of PZT films on alumina-borosilicate glass (AF32, Schott) and on soda-lime.
We show effectiveness of both approaches with fabrication of piezoelectric actuators for surface haptic devices. In both cases out-of-plane displacement above 1 μm at voltages below 70 V are achieved. The displacement is above the limit at which the texture rendering function can be induced in the devices.

Piezoelectrics integrated on glass will bring new functionalities, including advanced haptics and loudspeakers, which could be part of future flat panel displays, mobile phones, windows, etc. With its large piezoelectric coefficient and transparency, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) is widely used in industry and an obvious candidate for integration on glass. However, its major drawback is its crystallization temperature above 650 °C, beyond the processable limit of most commercial glasses.

Flash lamp annealing is a powerful tool to thermally treat samples through the absorption of broad-spectrum light. Due to its geometry, flash lamp annealing allows treatment of large area oxide thin films on temperature-sensitive substrates, which is particularly suited for industrial applications.

In this work, we will describe the process we established to crystallize PZT thin films (with morphotropic phase boundary composition) grown directly on various glasses, including alumina-borosilicate and soda-lime, through flash lamp annealing. The achieved films crystallize in perovskite phase and demonstrate macroscopic properties. They exhibit an in-plane permittivity of 450 with dielectric losses below 5 % and a remanent polarisation larger than 12 μC/cm². We also demonstrate a surface haptic device fabricated with a 1 μm-thick film (piezoelectric e₃₃,f of -5 C/m²) on alumina-borosilicate glass. With an ultrasonic surface deflection reaching 1.5 μm at 60 V, this device is sufficient for surface rendering applications.

Furthermore, we will discuss the implementation of this process on thinner and flexible glasses, such as Corning Willow glass.

Energy storage is the ability to collect and store energy for use at another time. Dielectric capacitors are good candidates for energy storage in pulsed systems. Among energy storage devices, dielectric capacitors have higher power density compared to batteries and are good candidates for energy storage in pulsed power systems. Different classes of dielectric materials result in different energy storage capabilities. The most promising are dielectric materials with slim and pinched polarization versus electric field (P–E) hysteresis loops. Such properties are obtained in (1–x)Pb(Fe0.5Nb0.5)O3–xBiFeO3 (PFN–100xBFO) solid solutions. Compared to bulk ceramics, thick films withstand higher electric fields, which makes them even more promising for energy storage applications. In this work, we investigated the energy storage properties of PFN–100xBFO bulk ceramics and thick films. PFN–100xBFO (x = 0–0.5) powders were prepared by mechanochemical synthesis, isostatically pressed into pellets and sintered in an oxygen atmosphere at 900 °C or 950 °C for 2 h. The best energy-storage properties were determined for the composition x = 0.3. The recoverable energy storage density (Urec) and efficiency (η) values were 1.0 J/cm3 and 91 % at 70 kV/cm, respectively. After that, thick films of the composition x = 0.3 were screen-printed on gilded Al2O3 substrates. The samples were sintered in an oxygen atmosphere at 800 °C, 850 °C and 930 °C for 2 h. The samples sintered at 800 °C withstood the highest electric fields and were selected for further investigation of the energy storage properties. The Urec value of the PFN–30BFO thick films reached 2.8 J/cm3 at 400 kV/cm and the η value was ~80 %. The samples were additionally cycled by an electric field and survived 10 million cycles. The achievement of good energy storage properties and fatigue resistance of the PFN–30BFO thick film samples shows the possibility for applications in energy storage systems.