An article composed of sintered particles is produced by depositing ligand-containing particles on a substrate, then scanning the substrate with an electron beam that generates sufficient surface and subsurface heating to substantially eliminate the ligands and melt or sinter the particles into a cohesive film with superior charge carrier properties. The particles are sintered or melted together to form a polycrystalline layer that is substantially ligand-free to form, for example, a film such as a continuous polycrystalline film. The scanning operation is conducted so as to heat treat a controllably localized region at and below a surface of the particles by selecting a rate of deposited energy at the region to exceed a rate of conduction away from the substrate.

The present invention relates to a stacked piezoelectric ceramic element and can provide a stacked piezoelectric ceramic element produced by stacking two or more ceramic green sheets, the stacked piezoelectric ceramic element having a structure in which a ceramic porous or defective part constituting the stacked piezoelectric ceramic element is impregnated with an organic resin, thereby improving waterproof performance capable of preventing the deterioration of insulation resistance in a highly humid environment.

The invention relates to a ceramic material, comprising lead zirconate titanate, which additionally contains K and optionally Cu. The ceramic material can be used in an electroceramic component, for example a piezoelectric actuator. The invention also relates to methods for producing the ceramic material and the electronic component.

The present invention provides a piezoelectric material not containing lead and potassium, having a high relative density, a high Curie temperature, and a high mechanical quality factor, and exhibiting good piezoelectricity. The piezoelectric material contains 0.04 percent by mole or more and 2.00 percent by mole or less of Cu relative to 1 mol of metal oxide represented by General formula (1) below.
((Na.sub.1-zLi.sub.z).sub.xBa.sub.1-y)(Nb.sub.yTi.sub.1-y)O.sub.3 (in Formula, 0.70≦x≦0.99, 0.75≦y≦0.99, and 0<z<0.15, and x<y)  General formula (1)

The present invention aims to provide an excellent piezoelectric composition and an excellent piezoelectric element if the piezoelectric properties especially a high spontaneous polarization and a sufficiently high resistivity, the low pollution, the environment and the ecology are considered. In the piezoelectric composition, the main component contains the substance represented by the following formula with a perovskite-typed structure, (Bi.sub.(0.5x+y+z)Na.sub.0.5x).sub.m(Ti.sub.x+0.5yMg.sub.0.5yAl.sub.z)O.sub.3. Wherein, 0.01≦x≦0.8, 0.2≦y≦0.8, 0.01≦z≦0.6, 0.75≦m≦1.0, and x+y+z=1.

An electronic component includes external electrodes formed on an external surface of a body to be electrically connected to internal electrodes, and containing metal particles and glass, wherein the metal particles include particles having a polyhedral shape.

A multilayer piezoelectric element includes a ceramic base body, a pair of external electrodes, multiple internal electrodes, and surface electrodes. The pair of external electrodes cover a pair of end faces and extend from the pair of end faces along a pair of principal faces and a pair of side faces. The multiple internal electrodes are stacked inside the ceramic base body along the thickness direction, and are connected alternately to one or the other of the pair of external electrodes along the thickness direction. The surface electrodes extend from the pair of external electrodes along the pair of principal faces, and are each divided in the longitudinal direction at a position near, of the pair of external electrodes, the external electrode to which the internal electrode adjacent to the principal face is connected.

A method for producing a ceramic multilayer element is disclosed. In an embodiment the method includes forming a plurality of multilayer segments in a green state, wherein each multilayer segment is formed by pressing together a plurality of ceramic layers in the green state and pressing together the multilayer segments in the green state to form a multilayer element that is in the green state. The method further includes sintering the multilayer element that is in the green state to form a ceramic multilayer element that includes the ceramic layers and electrode layers arranged one on top of another, wherein at least one or more of a temperature at which the multilayer segments are pressed together, a pressing force applied during the pressing of the multilayer segments, and/or a duration of the pressing of the multilayer segments are adjusted.

The present application relates to a method for producing ceramic multi-layer components (100), comprising the following steps: providing green layers (5) for the ceramic multi-layer components (100), stacking the green layers (5) into a stack and subsequently pressing the stack into a block (1), singulating the block (1) into partial blocks (3) each having a longitudinal direction (X), thermally treating the partial blocks (3) and subsequently machining surfaces of the partial blocks (3), wherein recesses (11) are produced on the surfaces of the partial blocks (3) during the machining, and singulating the partial blocks (3). The application further relates to a multi-layer component.

A connection method includes softening a resin film of a thermosetting resin by heating an element electrode of a piezoelectric body and a substrate electrode of a flexible cable to be connected to the piezoelectric body with the element electrode and the substrate electrode being pressed into contact with each other via the resin film; partially pushing out the molten resin film from an opposing position of the element electrode and the substrate electrode so as to bring a solder layer provided on the substrate electrode into contact with the element electrode; curing the resin film and melting solder in the solder layer by further raising a heating temperature; discharging excess solder in a direction defined by the cured resin film; and then solidifying the solder in the solder layer so as to solder the element electrode and the substrate electrode together.