Movement amplifying actuation device (100) comprising at least two piezoelectric beams (101, 102, 103), one beam (101) being attached at a fixed point (111), and at least one hinge (131, 132) connecting a first beam (101, 102) and a second beam (102, 103) between them. Each hinge comprises: a first flexible portion connected to the first beam, a second flexible portion connected to the second beam, a first rigid portion connecting the first and second flexible portions, a second rigid portion capable of being positioned against a fixed point (112, 113), and third flexible portion connecting the second beam to the second rigid portion at a pivot point of said second beam such that the assembly formed by the second rigid portion and the second beam forms a lever around said pivot point. Said flexible and rigid portions form a single piece.

A light deflector includes a reflector having a reflecting surface; a first movable unit having one end coupled to the reflector; a second movable unit having one end coupled to the reflector, the reflector disposed between the first movable unit and the second movable unit; a first piezoelectric element on the first movable unit; a second piezoelectric element on the second movable unit; a first supporting part coupled to the other end of the first movable unit; a second supporting part coupled to the other end of the second movable unit; an input part configured to receive voltage to be applied to at least the second piezoelectric element; and a wire electrically connecting the second piezoelectric element and the input part through the reflector configured to transmit the voltage to the second piezoelectric element. A passage area is provided through which light reflected by the reflector passes.

A piezoelectric actuator includes a substrate, and a drive structure formed on the substrate, wherein the drive structure includes a piezoelectric thin film, and an average grain size of the piezoelectric thin film is smaller than or equal to 1 m.

A multi-axis MEMS assembly is configured to provide multi-axis movement and includes: a first in-plane MEMS actuator configured to enable movement along at least an X-axis; and a second in-plane MEMS actuator configured to enable movement along at least a Y-axis; wherein the first in-plane MEMS actuator is coupled to the second in-plane MEMS actuator.

A piezoelectric element includes: a Pt film for a lower electrode provided on a plane of a Si substrate; a PZT film provided on the Pt film; and a Pt film for an upper electrode provided on the PZT film. The PZT film includes a perpendicularly oriented part having a c-axis in a direction perpendicular to the Pt film, and an obliquely oriented part having a c-axis inclined with respect to the c-axis of the perpendicularly oriented part. The c-axis distribution of the obliquely oriented part is discrete with respect to the c-axis distribution of the perpendicularly oriented part.

An actuator includes a beam that supports an object to be driven, and a driving source that receives a driving signal and causes the object to rotate around a predetermined axis. The driving signal includes a sawtooth driving waveform, and a differential waveform of a falling section of the sawtooth driving waveform is formed of half sign waves having a wavelength that is a non-integral multiple of a ringing wavelength.

An optical scanning device includes: a pair of twist beams arranged on both sides of a mirror along a predetermined axis and configured to swing the mirror around the axis; a pair of connection beams connected to the respective twist beams; a piezoelectric sensor formed on the connection beams and configured to detect a displacement of the connection beams caused by a swing of the mirror around the axis; wherein the piezoelectric sensor includes a lower electrode; a piezoelectric thin film stacked on the lower electrode; and an upper electrode stacked on or above the piezoelectric thin film, wherein a bottom surface and a side surface of the piezoelectric thin film form a tilt angle , and wherein the tilt angle is greater than 0 and less than or equal to 50.

A light scanning apparatus includes a light source configured to intermittently emit light based on an irradiation timing signal; a mirror configured to reflect the light emitted by the light source; an actuator configured to cause the mirror to be deflected based on drive signals; a sensor configured to output a signal according to deflection of the mirror; an irradiation timing adjusting-unit configured to adjust the irradiation timing signal based on the output signal of the sensor; and an irradiation timing storage configured to store the adjusted irradiation timing signal.

A micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) device includes one or more slidable connection assemblies for releasably coupling the micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) device to a wafer from which the micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) device was made. The MEMS device may include a MEMS actuation core, and a MEMS electrical connector assembly electrically coupled to the MEMS actuation core configured to be electrically coupled to a printed circuit board.

An optical scanning device includes: a mirror that has an optical reflection surface; a mirror support unit configured to support the mirror; a pair of drive beams arranged on both sides of the mirror support unit and connected such that the mirror support unit is swingable; a drive source provided on the drive beams and configured to swing the mirror support unit, the drive source including a stack structure of a plurality of piezoelectric thin films; and a piezoelectric sensor formed on a connection beam connected to the drive source or the drive beams, a number of piezoelectric thin films included in the piezoelectric sensor being less than a number of the piezoelectric thin films included in the drive source.