The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 11, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 12, 1999
Hong Qiu, Nagano, JP;
Koji Sumi, Nagano, JP;
Masato Shimada, Nagano, JP;
Tsutomu Nishiwaki, Nagano, JP;
Masanori Okuyama, Osaka, JP;
Zhi Quiang Wei, Osaka, JP;
Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A piezoelectric actuator, made of a substrate and a piezoelectric film layer resistant to erosion is provided. The area of the piezoelectric actuator can be enlarged, and has a flat top surface. The present invention further provides an ink jet printing head, a printer, a method for manufacturing a piezoelectric actuator, and a method for manufacturing an ink jet printing head. The piezoelectric actuator includes a piezoelectric film disposed between a lower electrode and an upper electrode. Columnar crystal grains of piezoelectric ceramic which compose the piezoelectric actuator are random-oriented in a film thickness direction, and have a mean diameter in the range of 100 nm to 15,000 nm. The method for manufacturing the actuator includes the step of forming precursor films, which are composed of metal and oxygen, over a lower electrode, providing a hydrothermal treatment by dipping the precursor films in an alkaline solution, which as 2 M[mol/l] or less, more preferably 0.1 M[mol/l] or less, concentration of a given alkaline solute, and promoting the crystallization under certain conditions.