The present invention relates to a transparent optical device element comprising a microlens and a method of providing stress and thermal compensation and tuning mechanical strength and curvature of a tunable microlens.

A method for manufacturing a PMUT device including a piezoelectric element located at a membrane element is provided. The method includes receiving a silicon on insulator substrate having a first silicon layer, an oxide layer, and a second silicon layer. Portions of a first surface of the second silicon layer are exposed by removing exposed side portions of the first silicon layer and corresponding portions of the oxide layer, and a central portion including the remaining portions of the first silicon layer and of the oxide layer is defined. Anchor portions for the membrane element are formed at the exposed portions of the first surface of the second silicon layer. The piezoelectric element is formed above the central portion, and the membrane element is defined by selectively removing the second layer and removing the remaining portion of the oxide from under the remaining portion of the first silicon layer.

A method for manufacturing a PMUT device including a piezoelectric element located at a membrane element is provided. The method includes receiving a silicon on insulator substrate having a first silicon layer, an oxide layer, and a second silicon layer. Portions of a first surface of the second silicon layer are exposed by removing exposed side portions of the first silicon layer and corresponding portions of the oxide layer, and a central portion including the remaining portions of the first silicon layer and of the oxide layer is defined. Anchor portions for the membrane element are formed at the exposed portions of the first surface of the second silicon layer. The piezoelectric element is formed above the central portion, and the membrane element is defined by selectively removing the second layer and removing the remaining portion of the oxide from under the remaining portion of the first silicon layer.

A wafer-level chip-scale package includes a body, a conductive via passing through the body, a contact bump formed at a lower portion of the body and in electrical connection with a lower end of the conductive via, a piezoelectric substrate directly bonded to an upper end of the conductive via, and a cavity defined between a portion of the body and the piezoelectric substrate.

Compact and power efficient acoustically actuated magnetoelectric antennas for transmitting and receiving very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic waves utilize magnetoelectric coupling in a magnetic/piezoelectric heterostructure to provide voltage control of magnetization in transmission mode and magnetic control of electric polarization in receiving mode. The magnetoelectric antennas provide a power efficiency enhanced by orders of magnitude compared to magnetically or mechanically switching the magnetization. The antennas can be used in groups or arrays and can be combined to form VLF communication systems.

The invention is directed to a piezoelectric composite comprising (a) a polymer matrix; and (b) a plurality of coated piezoelectric filler particles that are dispersed in the polymer matrix. Further, each of the plurality of coated piezoelectric filler particles comprises a piezoelectric material having at least a portion of its outer surface coated with a polymeric material that has at least one polar functional group. The invention is further directed towards films containing such piezoelectric composites and methods of preparing such films.

A method for producing a liquid discharge apparatus includes: forming a first electrode on a film formed on a substrate, forming a piezoelectric part on the first electrode, forming a second electrode on the piezoelectric part, forming a metal part on the film by a metal material except for gold, and forming a gold trace on the metal part to connect to the first electrode.

A wafer-level chip-scale package includes a body, a conductive via passing through the body, a contact bump formed at a lower portion of the body and in electrical connection with a lower end of the conductive via, a piezoelectric substrate directly bonded to an upper end of the conductive via, and a cavity defined between a portion of the body and the piezoelectric substrate.

A semiconductor integrated circuit constituting a part of a sensor signal processing apparatus for processing sensor signal output from a sensor includes: a first terminal where one end of a vibrator externally attached to the semiconductor integrated circuit is connected and a second terminal where the other end of the vibrator is connected; and an oscillation circuit oscillating the vibrator connected via the first and second terminals, wherein the oscillator circuit intermittently oscillating the vibrator based on control signal, wherein a first period where the oscillation circuit oscillates the vibrator and a second period where the oscillation circuit does not oscillate the vibrator are alternately switched, wherein, during the first period, potentials of the first and second terminals are alternately switched complementarily to high level and low level, and wherein, during the second period, the potentials of the first terminal and the second terminal are fixed to the low level.

A method of fabricating a base plate for piezoelectric actuation, comprises providing a plate having a major surface, striking a first removable portion of the plate in a first direction substantially normal to the major surface to shear the first removable portion relative to the plate by a shear distance that is less than the plate thickness. Striking the first removable portion in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction to reduce the shear distance by a reduction in shear that is less than the plate thickness. Leaving it the first removable portion in place rather than removing. Alternately, the removable portion may be created by lancing one or more portions spanning at least one opening through a base plate adjacent a first side of at least one opening and adjacent a second side of the at least one opening.