An actuator device includes: an actuator including first contacts arranged in a first direction; and a wire member including second contacts and joined to the actuator. The second contacts are arranged in the first direction and respectively connected to the first contacts. Each of particular contacts as the first contacts or the second contacts has a protruding and recessed portion including: at least two protrusions; and a recess between the at least two protrusions. The particular contacts include: at least one central-region contact disposed on a central region in the first direction; and at least one end-region contact disposed nearer to an end region than to the central region in the first direction. The protruding and recessed portion of each of the at least one central-region contact is different in shape from the protruding and recessed portion of each of the at least one end-region contact.

Disclosed herein are monitoring systems and sensors for physiological measurements. The sensors can be multi-element piezo sensors capable of generating multiple electrical signals, whereby the monitoring systems can receive the multiple electrical signals to analyze the user's vital signs along multiple regions of the user's body. In some examples, the piezo sensor can include one or more corrugations, such as peaks and valleys, to create localized regions with increased mechanical response to force. The sensitivity and resolution of the piezo sensor can be enhanced by further locating electrode sections at the corrugations, where the electrode sections can be electrically isolated and independently operable from other electrode sections. Traces electrically connecting an electrode section to, e.g., an off-panel controller can be routed over and/or around other electrode sections by including an insulator to electrically insulate from the other electrode sections, or by using vias to route through one or more layers.

The piezoelectric body is configured to have a layered structure such that a plurality of unit layers are stacked in a film thickness direction, and each of the unit layers is formed of a first layer on which the displacement is relatively easy to occur, and a second layer which has a high concentration of Zr as compared with the first layer. In addition, when composition ratio Ti/(Zr+Ti) of Zr to Ti in each of the first layer and the second layer is set as Cr1 and Cr2, the composition ratio of each layer is adjusted so as to satisfy the following conditions (1) to (3):
0.41?Cr1?0.81(1)
0.1?Cr1?Cr2?0.3(2)
Cr1>Cr2(3).

An inkjet printing head includes a piezoelectric element having a lower electrode, a piezoelectric film formed above the lower electrode, and an upper electrode formed above the piezoelectric film, a hydrogen barrier film covering an entirety of a side surface of the upper electrode and the piezoelectric film, and an interlayer insulating film that has an opening at an upper surface center of the upper electrode, is laminated on the hydrogen barrier film, and faces the entirety of the side surface of the upper electrode and the piezoelectric film across the hydrogen barrier film.

Provided is a display device containing a crystalline piezoelectric polymer layer having a helical chiral polymer (A) that has a weight average molecular weight of from 50,000 to 1,000,000 and has optical activity, an optical compensation layer satisfying the following expression (1), and a linear polarizer. In expression (1), Xc represents a degree of crystallinity (%) of the crystalline piezoelectric polymer layer obtained by a DSC method; MORc represents a standardized molecular orientation of the crystalline piezoelectric polymer layer measured by a microwave transmission molecular orientation meter when a reference thickness is 50 ?m; d represents a thickness (?m) of the crystalline piezoelectric polymer layer; and Rth represents a phase difference (nm) in a thickness direction of the optical compensation layer at a wavelength of 550 nm.
|0.06?Xc?MORc?d+Rth|?500Expression (1):

A composite structure for an acoustic wave device comprising a heterostructure includes: a useful layer of piezoelectric material, having a first face and a second face, the first face being arranged at a first bonding interface on a support substrate having a coefficient of thermal expansion less than that of the useful layer, wherein the composite structure further comprises a functional layer, an entire surface of which is arranged at a second bonding interface on the second face of the useful layer and having a coefficient of thermal expansion less than that of the useful layer. Methods are used for producing such a composite structure.

A method for forming deformation crystal twins in piezoelectric materials is disclosed. The method includes obtaining a crystalline piezoelectric material and deforming the crystalline piezoelectric material using a load. The method also includes heating the deformed crystalline piezoelectric material in an oxidative atmosphere to a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time to form a plurality of deformation crystal twins in the crystalline piezoelectric material. The method also includes allowing the crystalline piezoelectric material to cool to room temperature, and removing the load that induces the deformation of the crystalline piezoelectric material. Additionally, the deformation of the crystalline piezoelectric material is achieved by at least one of the following: compressing, stretching, shearing, torsion, and bending of the crystalline piezoelectric material. Further, the shearing creates a shear plane that acts as a twin boundary, which separates a plurality of deformation crystal twins with non-uniform orientation.

There is provided a laminated substrate with a piezoelectric thin film, comprising: a substrate; an electrode film formed on the substrate; and a piezoelectric thin film formed on the electrode film, wherein the piezoelectric thin film is made of an alkali niobium oxide represented by a composition formula of (K.sub.1?xNa.sub.x) NbO .sub.3 (0<x<1), having a perovskite structure, and oriented preferentially in (001) plane direction, and contains a metallic element selected from a group consisting of Mn and Cu at a concentration of 0.2 at % or more and 0.6 at % or less.

An ultrasonic piezoelectric transducer device includes a transducer array consisting of an array of vibrating elements, and a base to which the array of vibrating elements in the transducer array are attached. The base include integrated electrical interconnects for carrying driving signals and sensed signals between the vibrating elements and an external control circuit. The base can be an ASIC wafer that includes integrated circuitry for controlling the driving and processing the sensed signals. The interconnects and control circuits in the base fit substantially within an area below the array of multiple vibrating elements.

A piezoelectric thin film is manufactured by sequentially executing: a step of coating a substrate by applying a coating solution containing an organic solvent and a piezoelectric thin film precursor to form a coating layer; a step of evaporating the organic solvent from the coating layer in a windless environment to obtain a dried coating layer containing the piezoelectric thin film precursor; and a step of heating the dried coating layer to form a piezoelectric thin film from the dried coating layer containing the piezoelectric thin film precursor.