An actuator includes: a diaphragm on a substrate having a pressure chamber, the diaphragm having a first surface defining a part of a wall of the pressure chamber; a piezoelectric element on a second surface of the diaphragm opposite to the first surface; a lead wire led out from the piezoelectric element to supply electric power to the piezoelectric element; and a moisture-proof film covering: the lead wire; and a part of the piezoelectric element overlapped with the lead wire.

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 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).

There is provided a head chip including: a first-nozzle; a second-nozzle; a first-pressure-chamber communicating with the first-nozzle; a second-pressure-chamber communicating with the first-nozzle; a third-pressure-chamber communicating with the second-nozzle; a fourth-pressure-chamber communicating with the second-nozzle; a first-piezoelectric-body generating a pressure in the first-pressure-chamber; a second-piezoelectric-body generating a pressure in the second-pressure-chamber; a third-piezoelectric-body generating a pressure in the third-pressure-chamber; a fourth-piezoelectric-body generating a pressure in the fourth-pressure-chamber; a first0individual-electrode coupled to the first-piezoelectric-body; a second-individual-electrode coupled to the second-piezoelectric-body; a third-individual electrode coupled to the third-piezoelectric-body; a fourth-individual-electrode coupled to the fourth-piezoelectric-body; a first-common-electrode commonly coupled to the first-piezoelectric-body and the third-piezoelectric-body; and a second-common-electrode that is independent of the first-common-electrode and is commonly coupled to the second-piezoelectric-body and the fourth-piezoelectric-body.

A nozzle plate defines at least one nozzle connected to the nozzle plate at a base, wherein the at least one nozzle has a height and a top having an inner width and an outer width, wherein a ratio of the height to the inner width is greater than 5, and wherein the nozzle plate comprises a borosilicate glass. The nozzle plate is formed via a method including providing a silicon wafer having a surface; providing a borosilicate glass wafer having a surface; etching the surface of the silicon wafer to form a plurality of trenches in the surface; anodically bonding the etched surface of the silicon wafer to the surface of the borosilicate glass wafer to form a two layer composite; heating the two layer composite at a temperature of at least about 750° C.; and releasing the silicon wafer from the borosilicate glass to form the nozzle plate.

A liquid ejecting head includes a pressure compartment forming substrate, a piezoelectric actuator, a sealing plate, and a flexible wiring board. A pressure compartment is formed in the pressure compartment forming substrate. The piezoelectric actuator is disposed over the pressure compartment. The sealing plate has an opening going from a first surface, which is farther from the pressure compartment, to a second surface, which is closer to the pressure compartment. The sealing plate is configured to cover the piezoelectric actuator located in a first direction with respect to the opening. The flexible wiring board is inserted in the opening and is electrically coupled to the piezoelectric actuator. A first opening width of the opening at the first surface in the first direction is greater than a second opening width of the opening at the second surface in the first direction.

A liquid ejecting head includes a piezoelectric element and a vibrating plate configured to vibrate in response to actuation of the piezoelectric element, the vibrating plate including a first layer that contains SiO.sub.2 and a second layer that contains ZrO.sub.2 and that is stacked on the first layer. The second layer contains a first impurity element different from Zr, and the concentration of the first impurity element at an interface in contact with the first layer in the second layer is higher than the concentration of the first impurity element in an internal region that is included in the second layer and that is contiguous from the interface to the surface of the second layer.

A method of forming a feature by dispensing a metallic nanoparticle composition from an ink-jet print head is disclosed. A jetting waveform is applied to piezoelectric actuator to dispense droplets of the metallic nanoparticle composition through nozzle opening. The droplets range in volume between 0.5 picoliter and 2.0 picoliter. The jetting waveform includes an intermediate contraction waveform portion, a final contraction waveform portion after the intermediate contraction waveform portion, and an expansion waveform portion after the final contraction waveform portion. During the intermediate contraction waveform portion, an applied voltage increases from an initial low voltage to an intermediate voltage and then is held at the intermediate voltage. During the final contraction waveform portion, the applied voltage increases from the intermediate voltage to maximum voltage and then is held at the maximum voltage. During the expansion waveform portion, the applied voltage decreases from the maximum voltage to a final low voltage.

A piezoelectric element including an electrode and a piezoelectric layer provided on the electrode and having a perovskite structure including lead, zirconium, and titanium is provided. A radial distribution function obtained from an extended X-ray absorption fine structure of an L3 absorption edge of lead in an X-ray absorption spectrum of the piezoelectric layer at an interface with the electrode satisfies a formula (1) below
A/B≤1  (1)
(in the formula (1), A represents an intensity of a peak attributable to oxygen atoms closest to lead atoms; and B represents an intensity of a peak attributable to oxygen atoms second closest to the lead atoms).

A method for producing a piezoelectric actuator including forming a vibration plate, forming a first electrode on the vibration plate, forming a piezoelectric layer on the first electrode, and forming a second electrode on the piezoelectric layer, wherein the forming the vibration plate has a single layer forming step including forming a metal layer containing zirconium by a gas phase method, and forming a metal oxide layer by firing the metal layer, the single layer forming step is repeated, thereby forming the vibration plate in which the metal oxide layers are stacked, and the metal oxide layer has a thickness less than 200 nm.