A PZT microactuator such as for a hard disk drive has a restraining layer bonded on its side that is opposite the side on which the PZT is mounted. The restraining layer comprises a stiff and resilient material such as stainless steel. The restraining layer can cover most or all of the top of the PZT, with an electrical connection being made to the PZT where it is not covered by the restraining layer. The restraining layer reduces bending of the PZT as mounted and hence increases effective stroke length, or reverses the sign of the bending which increases the effective stroke length of the PZT even further. The restraining layer can be one or more active layers of PZT material that act in the opposite direction as the main PZT layer. The restraining layer(s) may be thinner than the main PZT layer.

A method for manufacturing an imaging module, including: providing a first substrate and bonding a first dielectric layer on the first substrate; patterning the first dielectric layer to form at least one first bump and at least one second bump which are mutually independent, wherein a region surrounded by the at least one second bump defines a location region of the moved element; providing a piezoelectric element, adhering one end of the piezoelectric element to the first bump through a first adhesion material and making the other end of the piezoelectric element at least partially located above the second bump; adhering the moved element to the second bump through a second adhesion material; and debonding to remove the first substrate.

A multilayer component is disclosed. In an embodiment, a multilayer component includes a main body having a plurality of alternately arranged ceramic layers and inner electrodes and at least two outer electrodes for electrically contacting the inner electrodes, wherein the at least two outer electrodes have a different polarity, and wherein the outer electrodes have a different geometric shape and/or a different size and/or a different arrangement at an outer surface of the main body for identifying the different polarity.

A multi-layer piezoelectric microactuator assembly has at least one poled and active piezoelectric layer and one poled but inactive piezoelectric layer. The poled but inactive layer acts as a constraining layer in resisting expansion or contract of the first piezoelectric layer thereby reducing or eliminating bending of the assembly as installed in an environment, thereby increasing the effective stroke length of the assembly. Poling only a single layer would induce stresses into the device; hence, polling both piezoelectric layers even though only one layer will be active in use reduces stresses in the device and therefore increases reliability.

An imaging assembly for an intraluminal device is provided. In one embodiment, the imaging assembly includes: an array of ultrasound transducer elements spaced apart by air kerfs; a plurality of buffer elements surrounding the array of ultrasound transducer elements, wherein the plurality of buffer elements are spaced apart by gaps; and a sealing material filling portions of the gaps between the plurality of buffer elements.

A piezoelectric actuator (1) includes: a piezoelectric element (3); and a first frictional portion (10) and a second frictional portion (12) that are disposed on one principal surface (2d) of the piezoelectric element (3). The first frictional portion (10) is disposed at a position other than the antinodes of the piezoelectric element (3) at which a distance from one of the end surfaces (2a) is less than ⅓ L, where L represents a length in the longitudinal direction of the piezoelectric element (3). The second frictional portion (12) is disposed at a position other than the antinodes of the piezoelectric element (3) at which a distance from the other of the end surfaces (2b) is less than ⅓ L.

A ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body and first and second outer electrodes. The first and second outer electrodes respectively include first and second resin-containing electrode layers and first and second Ni plating layers. The first and second Ni plating layers are respectively provided on the first and second resin-containing electrode layers. When a thickness of the first or second Ni plating layer is t1 and a distance by which a portion of the first or second Ni plating layer that is in contact with the second principal surface extends in the length direction is t2, t2/t1 is less than about 1.

A sensor for obtaining downhole data includes a first piezoelectric layer. The sensor also includes a second piezoelectric layer having a trench extending a depth below a surface of the second piezoelectric layer. The sensor also includes an electrode positioned within the trench. The first piezoelectric layer is directly coupled to the second piezoelectric layer.

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing an ultrasonic transducer assembly comprising an ultrasonic transducer chip having a main surface comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements and a plurality of first contacts for connecting to said ultrasound transducer elements, a contact chip having a further main surface comprising a plurality of second contacts, a backing member comprising ultrasound absorbing and/or scattering bodies, said backing member comprising a first surface on which the transducer chip is mounted and a second surface on which the contact chip is mounted. A flexible interconnect extends over said backing member from the main surface to the further main surface, the flexible interconnect comprising a plurality of conductive tracks, each conductive track connecting one of said first contacts to a second contact. An ultrasound probe including such an assembly, an ultrasonic imaging system including such an ultrasound probes and manufacturing methods of such an assembly and probe are also disclosed.

Even with the occurrence of misalignment of inner electrodes in a ceramic collective board, a multilayer electronic component is made in which inner electrodes are disposed at suitable positions. Disclosed herein are descriptions of a first-stage ceramic collective board and a second-stage ceramic collective board used for manufacturing a multilayer electronic component. The present disclosure further describes a manufacturing method for the second-stage ceramic collective board and a manufacturing method for a multilayer electronic component.