@article{PireddaStrojZissetal.2020, author = {Giovanni Piredda and Sandra Stroj and Dorian Ziss and Julian Stangl and Rinaldo Trotta and Javier Martin-Sanchez and Armando Rastelli}, title = {Micro-machining of PMN-PT crystals with ultrashort laser pulses}, series = {Applied Physics A}, volume = {125. Jg.}, number = {H. 3}, doi = {10.1007/s00339-019-2460-9}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Lead–magnesium niobate lead titanate (PMN-PT) has been proven as an excellent material for sensing and actuating applications. The fabrication of advanced ultra-small PMN-PT-based devices relies on the availability of sophisticated procedures for the micro-machining of PMN-PT thin films or bulk substrates. Approaches reported up to date include chemical etching, excimer laser ablation, and ion milling. To ensure an excellent device performance, a key mandatory feature for a micro-machining process is to preserve as far as possible the crystalline quality of the substrates; in other words, the fabrication method must induce a low density of cracks and other kind of defects. In this work, we demonstrate a relatively fast procedure for the fabrication of high-quality PMN-PT micro-machined actuators employing green femtosecond laser pulses. The fabricated devices feature the absence of extended cracks and well-defined edges with relatively low roughness, which is advantageous for the further integration of nanomaterials onto the piezoelectric actuators.}, language = {en} }