The present invention relates to an electrical component for a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device, in particular, but not limited to, an electromechanical actuator. In one aspect, the present invention provides an insulated electrical component for a microelectromechanical systems device comprising: i) a substrate layer comprising first and second sides spaced apart in a thickness direction; ii) one or more electrical elements arranged over the first side of the substrate layer, wherein each of the one or more electrical elements comprises: a) a ceramic member; and b) first and second electrodes disposed adjacent the ceramic member such that a potential difference may be established between the first and second electrodes and through the ceramic member during operation; iii) a continuous insulating layer, or laminate of insulating layers, arranged to overlie each of the one or more electrical elements arranged on the first side of the substrate layer; and iv) a passivation layer, or laminate of multiple passivation layers, disposed adjacent to, and at least partially overlying, each of the one or more electrical elements so as to provide electrical passivation between the first and second electrodes of each of the one or more electrical elements; wherein: a) the passivation layer, or at least an innermost layer of the laminate of multiple passivation layers which is disposed adjacent each of the one or more underlying electrical elements, is discontinuous; and/or b) the laminate of multiple passivation layers is recessed at a side which faces away from each of the underlying electrical elements, wherein a recess is provided in a region overlying each of the one or more electrical elements, such that the laminate of passivation layers is thinner in a thickness direction across the recess compared to other non-recessed regions of the laminate of passivation layers.

A piezoelectric device includes: a first electrode provided above a substrate; a piezoelectric layer provided above the first electrode; and a second electrode provided above the piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer includes a plurality of layers that includes a composite oxide of a Perovskite structure containing potassium, sodium, and niobium. The piezoelectric layer has a first region and a second region in a 3 μm×3 μm region of a plane perpendicular to a thickness direction of the piezoelectric layer. The first region is a region in which the ratio of an atomic concentration (atm %) of potassium with respect to the sum of the atomic concentration (atm %) of potassium and an atomic concentration (atm %) of sodium is 0.30 to 0.45, and the second region is a region in which the ratio is 0.55 to 0.75.

A piezoelectric element includes: a first electrode provided on a base; a piezoelectric layer provided on the first electrode and containing a complex oxide which has a perovskite structure and contains potassium, sodium, and niobium; and a second electrode provided on the piezoelectric layer, in which the first electrode contains platinum, the first electrode is (111) preferentially oriented, and a platinum atom contained in the first electrode is bonded to an oxygen atom at an interface between the first electrode and the piezoelectric layer.

A film structure includes a substrate (11) which is a silicon substrate including an upper surface (11a) composed of a (100) plane, an alignment film (12) which is formed on the upper surface (11a) and includes a zirconium oxide film which has a cubic crystal structure and is (100)-oriented, and a conductive film (13) which is formed on the alignment film (12) and includes a platinum film which has a cubic crystal structure and is (100)-oriented. An average interface roughness of an interface (IF1) between the alignment film (12) and the conductive film (13) is greater than an average interface roughness of an interface (IF2) between the substrate (11) and the alignment film (12).

A piezoelectric element according to the present disclosure includes: a first electrode; a piezoelectric layer formed at an upper part of the first electrode; and a second electrode formed at an upper part of the piezoelectric layer, in which the piezoelectric layer contains potassium, sodium, and niobium, and a Young's modulus of the piezoelectric layer measured by a nanoindentation method exceeds 130 GPa.

A piezoelectric thin film element contains an electrode layer (first electrode layer) and a piezoelectric thin film directly or indirectly stacked on the electrode layer. The piezoelectric thin film contains a tetragonal crystal 1 of a perovskite-type oxide and a tetragonal crystal 2 of a perovskite-type oxide. A (001) plane of the tetragonal crystal 1 is oriented in a normal direction of a surface of the electrode layer. A (001) plane of the tetragonal crystal 2 is inclined with respect to the (001) plane of the tetragonal crystal 1. A spacing of (001) planes of the tetragonal crystal 1 is c1. A spacing of (100) planes of the tetragonal crystal 1 is a1. A spacing of (001) planes of the tetragonal crystal 2 is c2. A spacing of (100) planes of the tetragonal crystal 2 is a2. c1/a1 is larger than c2/a2.

A droplet discharging head executes multi-path recording in which dot recording in one main scanning line is completed by n main scans when n is an integer of 2 or more. The droplet discharging head includes: a plurality of nozzles configured to discharge a liquid as droplets; a pressure chamber defining substrate defining a pressure chamber communicating with the nozzles; a piezoelectric element including a first electrode, a second electrode, and a piezoelectric layer containing a perovskite-type composite oxide containing K, Na, and Nb as a main component; and a vibration plate forming a part of a wall surface of the pressure chamber and configured to vibrate by driving of the piezoelectric element. The number of paths n in the multi-path recording, a piezoelectric constant d.sub.31 [m/v] of the piezoelectric element, and a ratio x of a Na molar fraction to a total value of a K molar fraction and the Na molar fraction in the piezoelectric layer satisfy a relationship represented by a formula (1).

The present invention provides a surface tension assisted film forming method to prepare a flexible, patterned piezoceramic composite for use in a variety of electronics. The present method allows tuning mechanical and piezoelectric properties of the resulting composite by simply adjusting one or few parameters used during the piezoceramic film forming and/or composite forming procedures in the absence of any complex transferring techniques that are commonly used in conventional methods. The present invention also allows customizing patterns (two-dimensional or three-dimensional) on the piezoceramic framework to result in a piezoelectric composite that is able to provide anisotropic piezoelectric responses to different loads whilst still having a constant electrical output over a long-time deformation.

The present invention provides a surface tension assisted film forming method to prepare a flexible, patterned piezoceramic composite for use in a variety of electronics. The present method allows tuning mechanical and piezoelectric properties of the resulting composite by simply adjusting one or few parameters used during the piezoceramic film forming and/or composite forming procedures in the absence of any complex transferring techniques that are commonly used in conventional methods. The present invention also allows customizing patterns (two-dimensional or three-dimensional) on the piezoceramic framework to result in a piezoelectric composite that is able to provide anisotropic piezoelectric responses to different loads whilst still having a constant electrical output over a long-time deformation.

A film structure (10) includes a substrate (11), a piezoelectric film (14) formed on the substrate (11) and containing first composite oxide represented by a composition formula Pb(Zr.sub.1-xTi.sub.x)O.sub.3, and a piezoelectric film (15) formed on the piezoelectric film (14) and containing second composite oxide represented by a composition formula Pb(Zr.sub.1-yTi.sub.y)O.sub.3. In the composition formulae, x satisfies 0.10<x≤0.20, and y satisfies 0.35≤y≤0.55. The piezoelectric film (14) has tensile stress, and the piezoelectric film (15) has compressive stress.