A manufacturing a process is provided for the bulk manufacture of transducer arrays, including arrays having at least one 3D printed (or otherwise additive manufactured) acoustic matching layers. In certain implementations, the manufactured transducers include a composite-piezoelectric transducer on a de-matching layer. In one implementation, by producing multiple arrays at once on a common carrier, and by using direct-deposit additive processes for the matching layers, the described processes greatly reduce the number of parts and the number of manual operations.

An ultrasonic sensor includes: when two orthogonal axes are referred to as an X axis and a Y axis and a plane formed by the X axis and the Y axis is referred to as an XY plane, a substrate disposed across the XY plane; a plurality of spaces formed in the substrate in at least one direction of an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction; a vibrating plate that is provided on the substrate such that the spaces are closed and that has a first surface on the substrate side and a second surface facing the first surface; and a piezoelectric element that is provided at a portion on the second surface side of the vibrating plate that corresponds to the space, and that transmits/receives an ultrasonic wave. At least some of the spaces are arranged to form a zigzag shape.

A method of manufacturing bistable strips having different curvatures, each strip including a plurality of portion of layers of materials, wherein at least one specific layer portion is deposited by a plasma spraying method in conditions different for each of the strips.

A piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) device includes a substrate having an opening therethrough and a membrane attached to the substrate over the opening. A portion of the membrane that overlies the opening is divided into a plurality of cantilevers that are mechanically coupled so that the cantilevers resonate at a common frequency.

This piezoelectric wafer has: a piezoelectric vibration piece; a frame portion that supports the piezoelectric vibration piece; and a coupling portion that couples the piezoelectric vibration piece to the frame portion. A pair of first and second metal bumps is formed in juxtaposition on the piezoelectric vibration piece. The coupling portion has slits extending in its width direction except in a bridge, i.e., a part of the coupling portion in its width direction. An end in the width direction of the bridge is distantly spaced from the first and second metal bumps both in a direction perpendicular to the width direction of the coupling portion with no overlap with these metal bumps.

This piezoelectric wafer has: a piezoelectric vibration piece; a frame portion that supports the piezoelectric vibration piece; and a coupling portion that couples the piezoelectric vibration piece to the frame portion. The piezoelectric vibration piece is broken off at the coupling portion and separated from the piezoelectric wafer. On front and back surfaces of the coupling portion, grooved slits extending along a width direction of the coupling portion are formed except for parts of the coupling portion in the width direction. An electrode on at least one of front and back surfaces of the piezoelectric vibration piece is extracted to a frame-portion side of the piezoelectric wafer by way of the part of the coupling portion in the width direction.

A lower electrode and an adhesive layer made of an insulator are formed on a back surface on the ion implantation layer side of a piezoelectric single crystal substrate. A supporting substrate in which sacrificial layers made of a conductive material have been formed is bonded to the surface of the adhesive layer. By heating the composite body including the piezoelectric single crystal substrate, the lower electrode, the adhesive layer, and the supporting substrate, a layer of the piezoelectric single crystal substrate is detached to form a piezoelectric thin film. A liquid polarizing upper electrode is formed on a detaching interface of the piezoelectric thin film. A pulsed electric field is applied using the polarizing upper electrode and the sacrificial layers as counter electrodes. Consequently, the piezoelectric thin film is polarized.

There is provided a DSR speaker comprising at least a central moving element, a plurality of peripheral flexure benders, each flexure bender comprising at least a pair of electrodes and at least a piezoelectric material layer, the flexure benders being connected to said moving element and being configured to move said moving element along an axis perpendicular to a moving element surface, in response to an electrical stimulus applied to said electrodes, in order to produce sound, and at least a mechanical stopper which is configured to limit the motion of said moving element. Various manufacturing methods are also described.

Described herein are methods of constructing a part using metallic glass alloys, layer by layer, as well as metallic glass-forming materials designed for use therewith. Metallic glass meshes, metallic glass actuators, three dimensional metallic glass thermal history sensors, and methods of their manufacture are also disclosed.

There is provided a DSR speaker comprising at least a central moving element, a plurality of peripheral flexure benders, each flexure bender comprising at least a pair of electrodes and at least a piezoelectric material layer, the flexure benders being connected to said moving element and being configured to move said moving element along an axis perpendicular to a moving element surface, in response to an electrical stimulus applied to said electrodes, in order to produce sound, and at least a mechanical stopper which is configured to limit the motion of said moving element. Various manufacturing methods are also described.