Provided is a piezoelectric ceramics having a gradual change in piezoelectric constant depending on an ambient temperature. Specifically, provided is a single-piece piezoelectric ceramics including as a main component a perovskite-type metal oxide represented by a compositional formula of ABO.sub.3, wherein an A site element in the compositional formula contains Ba and M.sub.1, the M.sub.1 being formed of at least one kind selected from the group consisting of Ca and Bi, wherein a B site element in the compositional formula contains T1 and M.sub.2, the M.sub.2 being formed of at least one kind selected from the group consisting of Zr, Sn, and Hf, wherein concentrations of the M.sub.1 and the M.sub.2 change in at least one direction of the piezoelectric ceramics, and wherein increase and decrease directions of concentration changes of the M.sub.1 and the M.sub.2 are directions opposite to each other.

There is provided a piezoelectric actuator, including: a vibration plate; a first piezoelectric body; a second piezoelectric body; a first electrode disposed on a first surface of the first piezoelectric body; a second electrode disposed on a second surface of the second piezoelectric body; an intermediate electrode disposed on an intermediate surface of the first piezoelectric body and overlapping with the first and second electrodes; an intermediate trace connected to the intermediate electrode on the intermediate surface and drawn out to one side in a first direction beyond the first piezoelectric body and the second piezoelectric body; a first trace overlapping with the intermediate trace in the thickness direction and being conducted with the intermediate trace; and a second trace overlapping with the intermediate trace in the thickness direction and being conducted with the intermediate trace.

A piezoelectric actuator comprises a substrate, an insulator layer on the substrate, and a piezo actuator stack on the insulator layer. The piezo actuator stack comprises an insulator-adjacent electrode on the insulator layer. A piezo layer having a tapered sidewall resides on a portion of the insulator-adjacent electrode. An insulator-distal electrode on the piezo layer having a taper-adjacent edge offset from an intersection of the tapered sidewall of the piezo layer and the insulator-adjacent electrode.

The invention relates to a method for transferring at least one layer of material, comprising: producing first and second separating layers (108, 110), one against the other, on a first substrate (104); producing the layer to be transferred on the second separating layer (110); securing the layer to be transferred to a second substrate (106), forming a stack of different materials; and performing mechanical separation at the interface between the separating layers; in which the materials of the stack are such that the interface between the first and second separating layers has the weakest adhesion force, and the method comprises a step reducing an initial adhesion force of the interface between the first and second separating layers.

A lead-free piezoelectric material includes perovskite-type metal oxide containing Na, Nb, Ba, Ti, and Mg and indicates excellent piezoelectric properties. The piezoelectric material satisfies the following relational expression (1): 0.430≤a≤0.460, 0.433≤b≤0.479, 0.040≤c≤0.070, 0.0125≤d≤0.0650, 0.0015≤e≤0.0092, 0.9×3e≤c−d≤1.1×3e, a+b+c+d+e=1, where a, b, c, d, and e denote the relative numbers of Na, Nb, Ba, Ti, and Mg atoms, respectively.

A wafer level ultrasonic chip module includes a substrate, a composite layer, a conducting material, and a base material. The substrate has a through slot that passes through an upper surface of the substrate and a lower surface of the substrate. The composite layer includes an ultrasonic body and a protective layer. A lower surface of the ultrasonic body is exposed from the through slot. The protective layer covers the ultrasonic body and a partial upper surface of the substrate. The protective layer has an opening, from which a partial upper surface of the ultrasonic body is exposed. The conducting material is in contact with the upper surface of the ultrasonic body. The base material covers the through slot, such that a space is formed among the through slot, the lower surface of the ultrasonic body and an upper surface of the base material.

A diaphragm for a piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) is presented having resonance frequency and bandwidth characteristics which are decoupled from one another into independent variables. Portions of at least the piezoelectric material layer and backside electrode layer are removed in a selected pattern to form structures, such as ribs, in the diaphragm which retains stiffness while reducing overall mass. The patterned structure can be formed by additive, or subtractive, fabrication processes.

A piezoelectric thin film contains a lower layer and a first piezoelectric layer stacked on the lower layer. The first piezoelectric layer contains a tetragonal crystal 1 of a perovskite-type oxide. A (001) plane of the tetragonal crystal 1 is oriented in a normal direction dn of a surface of the first piezoelectric layer. A spacing of (100) planes of the tetragonal crystal 1 is a1. A spacing of (100) planes of a crystal contained in the lower layer is aL. A lattice mismatch rate between the first piezoelectric layer and the lower layer is 100×(aL−a1)/a1. The lattice mismatch rate is 3.0 to 12.1%. A rocking curve of diffracted X-rays of the (001) plane of the tetragonal crystal 1 is measured in an out-of-plane direction of the surface of the first piezoelectric layer. A FWHM of the rocking curve is 1.9 to 5.5°.

A piezoelectric element in which a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer, and a second electrode are stacked on a substrate is provided. The piezoelectric element is a piezoelectric element in which the first electrode, the piezoelectric layer, and the second electrode are stacked in order on the substrate and includes an orientation control layer that is provided between the piezoelectric layer and the first electrode and that controls orientation of the piezoelectric layer and a titanium layer that is provided between the first electrode and the orientation control layer and that contains at least Ti.

A fluid driving device includes a vibration unit, a signal transmission layer, a piezoelectric element, and a plane unit. The signal transmission layer includes a first conductive zone and a second conductive zone. The piezoelectric element includes a first electrode and a second electrode electrically isolated from each other. The first electrode of the piezoelectric element is electrically connected to the first conductive zone of the signal transmission layer, and the second electrode of the piezoelectric element is electrically connected to the second conductive zone of the signal transmission layer. The plane unit has at least one hole. The signal transmission layer, the piezoelectric element, and the plane unit are located at one side of the vibration unit and sequentially stacked with each other.