A micro-valve includes an orifice plate including an orifice. The micro-valve further includes an actuating beam having a first end and a second end. The actuating beam also includes a base layer and a layer of piezoelectric material disposed on the base layer, a bottom electrode layer, and a top electrode layer. At an electrical connection portion of the actuating beam, the layer of piezoelectric material includes a first via, and a portion of the top electrode layer disposed within the first via, and a portion of the bottom electrode disposed beneath the first via. The actuating beam includes a base portion extending from the electrical connection portion and a cantilevered portion extending from the base portion. The cantilevered portion is movable in response to application of a differential electrical signal between the bottom electrode layer and the top electrode layer to one of open or close the micro-valve.

A system for controlled motion of circuit components to create reconfigurable circuits comprising: a support; a substrate operatively associated with the support; actuators operatively associated with the support configured to physically move circuit components and to move the circuit components into physical and electrical contact with the substrate; the substrate comprising at least one conductive segment arranged to electrically connect circuit components when electrical contacts of circuit components are placed in contact with at least one conductive segment; and control circuitry configured to control the first and second actuators to thereby position the circuit components relative to the substrate; whereby circuit function is determined by the selection of circuit components and the location and orientation of circuit components relative to the substrate and conductive segments to create a reconfigurable circuit.

Embodiments of the invention include a physiological sensor system. According to an embodiment the sensor system may include a package substrate, a plurality of sensors formed on the substrate, a second electrical component, and an encryption bank formed along a data transmission path between the plurality of sensors and the second electrical component. In an embodiment the encryption bank may include a plurality of portions that each have one or more switches integrated into the package substrate. In an embodiment each sensor transmits data to the second electrical component along different portions of the encryption bank. In some embodiments, the switches may be piezoelectrically actuated. In other embodiments the switches may be actuated by thermal expansion. Additional embodiments may include tri- or bi-stable mechanical switches.

An artificial tongue is provided. The artificial tongue includes tongue tissue formed by a bioprinting process, an antenna embedded within the tongue tissue and configured to wirelessly receive power from an external device, a processor embedded within the tongue tissue and operatively coupled to the antenna, and a piezoelectric element embedded within the tongue tissue and operatively coupled to the processor. The piezoelectric element is configured to deform in response to an applied electric bias, and the processor is configured to cause the electric bias to be applied to the piezoelectric element based on the power received by the antenna.

A cantilever fan including a blade and a blade permanent magnet. The blade is clamped at one end to a base and has a distal end which is free to oscillate with distal end having the largest swept displacement of any portion of the blade. The blade extends from the clamped end to the distal end. The blade permanent magnet is attached only to the blade at a point along the blade's length and is free to move with the blade. The fan includes a stationary permanent magnet attached only to the base. The respective locations and relative orientation of the blade permanent magnet and stationary magnet result in a repulsive magnetic force between the blade permanent magnet and stationary magnet. The fan is configured so that the repulsive force increases as the blade's deflection brings the blade permanent magnet closer to the stationary magnet.

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.

The embodiment of the present disclosure provides an acoustic output device, which includes a first vibration element, a second vibration element, and a piezoelectric element. The first vibration element is physically connected to a first position of the piezoelectric element, and the second vibration element is connected to a second position of the piezoelectric element at least through an elastic element. The piezoelectric element drives the first vibration element and the second vibration element to vibrate in response to an electric signal, and the vibration generates two resonance peaks within the audible range of the human ear.

The present disclosure is of a piezoelectric speaker. The piezoelectric speaker includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements and a vibration transmission plate. Each piezoelectric element is configured to generate vibration based on an audio signal. The vibration transmission plate includes a plurality of elastic rods and a mass block, and each elastic rod connects the mass block and one of the plurality of piezoelectric elements. The mass block simultaneously receives the vibration of the plurality of piezoelectric elements and generates at least two resonance peaks in a frequency range of 20 Hz-40000 Hz.

Provided are a piezoelectric element having high stability, which operates with high efficiency, and a method for manufacturing the piezoelectric element. The piezoelectric element (10) has a laminate structure in which a first electrode (14), a first piezoelectric film (16), a second electrode (18), an adhesion layer (20), an interlayer (22), a third electrode (24), a second piezoelectric film (26), and a fourth electrode (28) are laminated in this order on a silicon substrate (12). The interlayer (22) is formed of a material different from that of the second electrode (18) and has a thickness of 0.4 μm to 10 μm. A device having a diaphragm structure or a cantilever structure is formed by removing a part of the silicon substrate (12). The respective layers (14 to 28) laminated on the silicon substrate (12) can be formed using a thin film formation method represented by a vapor phase epitaxial method.

A MEMS device having a body with a first and a second surface, a first portion and a second portion. The MEMS device further has a cavity extending in the body from the second surface; a deformable portion between the first surface and the cavity; and a piezoelectric actuator arranged on the first surface, on the deformable portion. The deformable portion has a first region with a first thickness and a second region with a second thickness greater than the first thickness. The second region is adjacent to the first region and to the first portion of the body.