Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films are deposited on platinized silicon substrate by sol-gel process. The crystal structure and surface morphology of PZT thin films are characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. Depth-sensing nanoindentation system is used to measure mechanical characteristics of PZT thin films. X-ray diffraction analyses confirm the single-phase perovskite structures of all PZT thin films. Nanoindentation measurements reveal that the indentation modulus and hardness of PZT thin films are related with the grain size and crystalline orientation. The increases of the indentation modulus and hardness with grain size are observed, indicating the reverse Hall-Petch effect. Furthermore, the indentation modulus of (1 1 1)-oriented PZT thin film is higher than those of (1 0 0)and random-oriented films. The consistency between experimental data and numerical results of the effective indentation moduli for fiber-textured PZT thin films using Voigt-Reuss-Hill model is obtained. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.