A piezoelectric driving element is a cantilever-type piezoelectric driving element in which one end which is a fixed end is fixed to a support base and another end which is a free end is driven. The piezoelectric driving element includes: a first piezoelectric body disposed on the fixed end side; and a second piezoelectric body disposed on the free end side with respect to the fixed end. Here, a thickness of the second piezoelectric body is set to be smaller than a thickness of the first piezoelectric body.

A piezoelectric driving element is a cantilever-type piezoelectric driving element in which one end which is a fixed end is fixed to a support base and another end which is a free end is driven. The piezoelectric driving element includes: a first piezoelectric body disposed on the fixed end side; and a second piezoelectric body disposed on the free end side with respect to the fixed end. Here, a thickness of the second piezoelectric body is set to be smaller than a thickness of the first piezoelectric body.

A process for preparing a porous ceramic body includes forming a green body with a mixture of ceramic material powder, binder material, and pore-forming particles. The process further includes extracting the binder material, decomposing the pore-forming particles, and removing residual organic materials from the green body at respective, progressively higher pre-firing temperatures. After these three stages, the green body is sintered at a still-higher temperature to form the porous ceramic body. Embodiments facilitate manufacturing and can render most or all surface grinding unnecessary, allowing electrode deposition directly onto substantially non-porous surfaces of the porous ceramic body that are naturally formed during sintering. Advantageously, the green body may be formed into net shape by injection molding the mixture that includes the pore-forming particles, and embodiments can result in porous ceramic bodies that are much thicker than currently available, with better structural integrity.

A process for preparing a porous ceramic body includes forming a green body with a mixture of ceramic material powder, binder material, and pore-forming particles. The process further includes extracting the binder material, decomposing the pore-forming particles, and removing residual organic materials from the green body at respective, progressively higher pre-firing temperatures. After these three stages, the green body is sintered at a still-higher temperature to form the porous ceramic body. Embodiments facilitate manufacturing and can render most or all surface grinding unnecessary, allowing electrode deposition directly onto substantially non-porous surfaces of the porous ceramic body that are naturally formed during sintering. Advantageously, the green body may be formed into net shape by injection molding the mixture that includes the pore-forming particles, and embodiments can result in porous ceramic bodies that are much thicker than currently available, with better structural integrity.

A method for fabricating a piezoelectric transducer includes depositing a layer of a piezoelectric material on a base using a depositor and applying an electric field to the layer of deposited piezoelectric material in defined locations using an electrode to sinter and pole the deposited piezoelectric material at those defined locations to form a layer of the piezoelectric transducer in a selected shape and with a selected dipole direction.

A method for fabricating a piezoelectric transducer includes depositing a layer of a piezoelectric material on a base using a depositor and applying an electric field to the layer of deposited piezoelectric material in defined locations using an electrode to sinter and pole the deposited piezoelectric material at those defined locations to form a layer of the piezoelectric transducer in a selected shape and with a selected dipole direction.

The invention relates to a ferroelectric, which has a piezoelectric material having a hafnium proportion of 2% or less, to the use of a ferroelectric of this type in energy generation and for implementation in memory, processor and sensor technologies, to the use of a ferroelectric, in which use energy demand is lowered by superconductivity, and to a method for producing a ferroelectric, in which method a sintering method is used.

A method of manufacturing a ceramic structure, a method of manufacturing a ceramic structure with multiple layers of ceramic material, and a method of manufacturing a piezoelectric ceramic structure. The method of manufacturing a ceramic structure includes the steps of: placing a sheet of ceramic material on a supporting platform, wherein the supporting platform is arranged to elevate the sheet of ceramic material from a base of the supporting platform by supporting only a first portion of the sheet of ceramic material; sintering the sheet of ceramic material; and during the step of sintering of the sheet of ceramic material, facilitating forming a curvature on the sheet of ceramic material at a second portion of the sheet of ceramic material which is not supported by the supporting platform.

Provided is a piezoelectric material which is free of lead, has small temperature dependence of a piezoelectric constant and has a satisfactory piezoelectric constant. The piezoelectric material includes: an oxide having a perovskite-type structure containing Ba, Ca, Ti, and Zr; Mn; Bi; and W, wherein a ratio of the sum of the Ba and the Ca with respect to the sum of the Ti and the Zr is 0.986 or more and 1.02 or less, and wherein, with respect to 100 parts by mass of the oxide, a content of the Mn is 0.040 part by mass or more and 0.360 part by mass or less, a content of the Bi is 0.050 part by mass or more and 0.240 part by mass or less, and a content of the W is 0.100 part by mass or more and 0.380 part by mass or less.

Provided is a piezoelectric material filler including alkali niobate compound particles having a ratio (K/(Na+K)) of the number of moles of potassium to the total number of moles of sodium and potassium of 0.460 to 0.495 in terms of atoms and a ratio ((Li+Na+K)/Nb) of the total number of moles of alkali metal elements to the number of moles of niobium of 0.995 to 1.005 in terms of atoms. The present invention can provide a piezoelectric material filler having excellent piezoelectric properties, and a composite piezoelectric material including the piezoelectric material filler and a polymer matrix.