PI Ceramic
THE SPECIALISTS FOR PIEZO TECHNOLOGYPIEZO TECHNOLOGYFrom the Material to the Piezo Transducer
Research, Development, and Production of Piezo Ceramic Components

The Piezoelectric Effect is the Basis for Sensors and Actuators
The mechanical force on a piezo element results in a measurable charge transfer. Conversely, the piezoceramic expands when an electrical field is applied.
This makes it possible to manufacture sensors with a bandwidth of several
kilohertz, which can be used in a variety of different ways. Vibrations, structure
deformations, and also changes in force in the millinewton range can bedetected. Ultrasonic transducers work at frequencies of up to a few megahertz.
In the case of actuator engineering, the short response time of a few microseconds is decisive. Piezo actuators achieve kilohertz frequencies and at thesame time, generate high forces. Particularly for precision positioning, thepiezoelectric principle is the basis for a positioning accuracy that is even lower
than the nanometer range.
Production Know-How and Process Control
The design of a piezoelectric solution begins with the development and preparation of the piezoelectric materials. Piezo components are manufactured
using pressing technology, are sintered, and equipped with electrical contacts.
Polarization ensures the piezoelectric properties.
A core technology at PI Ceramic is the production of the PICMA® actuators.
Tapes of a few 10 µm with screen-printed electrodes are sintered together.
These „co-fired“ all-ceramic insulated multilayer actuators are parti­cularlyreliable.

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Automated processes optimize throughput and quality

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A Reliable Partnerfor Industry and ResearchLeaders in Piezo Technology for Individual Solutions

Flexible Adjustment of Actuators & Components
PI Ceramic is one of the world‘s leading manufacturers of piezo technology
and an important development and production site of the PI Group. The fast
and flexible adaptation of standard products to special areas of application is
one of the core skills.
All process steps to the production and subsequent processing such as gluing
and contacting the piezo elements take place in-house. This enables flexible
adaptation of product, manufacturing, and test parameters for fast prototyping
and, for later series in medium to large quantities up to some 1,000,000 p­ ieces
per year. Automated processes secure the constant high quality and keep
costs low.
Piezo ceramics canbe directly integrated
on a printed circuitboard, conveniently
contacted with flexible boards, or fully
capsulated inside ahousing supplied by
the customer

OEM Solutions and Application-Oriented Advice
The piezo specialists at PI Ceramic give extensive advice on system design toachieve optimum performance. Adaptation to the respective application
includes selecting the optimum piezo material, shaping and contacting.
PI Ceramic also supports during integration of the piezo elements with bothadvice and specific mechanical design. PI Ceramic takes care of all work steps
reliably during the electrical and mechanical assembly.
PI Ceramic also offers specialized control electronics for piezo actuators ranging from laboratory devices to miniaturized OEM formats.

From piezo ceramic powder
to sophisticated multi-axis
nanopositioning devices:
PI Ceramic plays an important role in PI’s strategy ofvertical integration

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PIEZO TECHNOLOGYProduct Overview

PIEZOELECTRIC COMPONENTSn Various different versions in many different geometries

such as disks, plates, tubes, customized shapesn High resonant frequencies to 20 MHz

OEM ADAPTATIONSn Piezo transducers for ultrasonic applicationsn Assembly of complete transducer components
n 2D or line arrays

DURAACT PIEZO PATCH
TRANSDUCERS
n Actuator or sensor, structural health monitoringn Bendable and robust, preloaded due to lamination

CONTROL ELECTRONICSn Different performance classes
n OEM modules and benchtop devices

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PICMA® MULTILAYERPIEZO ACTUATORSn Low piezo voltage to 120 V
n High stiffnessn Travel ranges to 100 µm

PICA HIGH-LOAD ACTUATORSn Travel ranges to 300 µm
n Forces to 100 kN

PICMA® MULTILAYER
BENDING ACTUATORSn Bidirectional displacement to 2 mm
n Low operating voltage to 60 V
n Contractors, variable contours

PIEZO ACTUATORS WITH
CUSTOMIZED EQUIPMENTn For use in a harsh environmentn Position and temperature monitoringn For cryogenic temperatures

5PIEZO TECHNOLOGYApplications and Solutions
From Noncontact Measuring Technology to Production in Mechanical Engineering

FLOW METERING, DETECTION OF FILL LEVEL OR
FAULTS IN HOMOGENOUS MEDIA

Air bubble detectors check for smooth
flow during dialysis and transfusions(Image: Sonotec)

Measuring flow volumes is the basis for smooth control of processes such as
those in modern building technology where the consumption of water, warm
water, and heating energy is acquired. Even industrial automation, especiallythe chemical industry uses ultrasonic technology to acquire volume flow.
Instead of weighing the quantity of the substance, continuous volumemeasure­ment takes place to control the overall process. The flow velocity andthe concentration of certain substance can be acquired and it is even pos­sible­­to measure gas quantities with ultrasonic techniques. Fill level and distancesensors work according to the same principle.

STRUCTURALMONITORING
Piezo transducers are used for condi­tion monitoring and adaptive systems.
They generate and acquire surface
waves that detect changes in structurebe­fore financial damage occurs.

Piezo sensors monitor
structures at locations
which are difficult to accesssuch as offshore, pipelines
or wind turbines(Image: istock)

PRODUCTION PROCESSES IN INDUSTRY
The reliability of PI piezo actuators is required in many fields: In the semiconductor industry, precision mechanics and production as well as for switching
applications and valve control, e.g., in automotive industry. It is used in processing thanks to its high forces during out-of-round turning. This also includes
piezo actuators used in active vibration absorption, nanotechnology, metrology, optics, and interferometry.
Vibrating piezo actuators reduce processingtimes for high-precision micro-sized holes(Image: ICT-IMM)

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PUMPING, DOSING,DISPENSING
Nanoliter dosing with jet technology inbiotechnology to printing tiles or apply­ing adhesive in microsystem techno­
logy: PICMA® piezo actuators are suit­able for use in station­ary and port­able
devices due to their reliability, flexible
piezo voltage, and compact dimensions.
Precision dosing of droplets and printing microarrays thanks to highly dynamic
piezo-based pipetting technology (Image: Biofluidix, Bernd Müller Fotografie)

GENERATING ULTRA­SONIC OSCILLATIONS
Very different applications make use ofultrasound. For example, high-power
applications such as bonding tech­niques for wire bonding in the semiconductor industry and ultrasonic welding
systems. Piezo elements are even at theheart of many devices in medical technology and generate ultrasound for surgical scalpels, instruments for removing
plaque or for sonophoresis and ultra­
sonic therapy. Signal generators andsonars work with piezo ultrasound.
Piezoelectric sound trans­ducers monitor the doors in the Airbus A380 (Image: Airbus, Holmco)
Wireless monitoring of the fetal heartbeat with combined ultrasonic sensor and receiver
makes pregnancies safer and less stressful (Image: Philips)
The finest and particularly homogenous aerosols are created with the help of ultrasound(Image: Pari Pharma GmbH)PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES
Research and development of new solutions for current and future applications is taking place in many fields of industry. For example, users expect
haptic feedback not only from displays but also from new surfaces that aredesigned to be multi­functional. Adaptive systems such as focusing systems
adapt their function to the changing ambient conditions. Piezo elements canensure a decentralized energy supply to sensors or radio transmitters at­locations that are difficult to access (Energy Harvesting).
Multifunctional surfaces supply perceptible
signals as feedback for the user (Image: istock)

PIEZO TECHNOLOGY7

Headquarters

Subsidiaries

GERMANY

USA (East) & CANADA

USA (West) & MEXIKOPI Ceramic GmbH
Lindenstrasse
Lederhose
Phone +49 36604 882-0
Fax		 +49 36604 882-4109
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www.piceramic.com

PI (Physik Instrumente) L.P.
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Irvine, CA 92620
www.pi-usa.us

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Auf der Roemerstrasse 176228 Karlsruhe
Phone +49 721 4846-0
Fax		 +49 721 4846-1019
info@pi.ws
www.pi.ws
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Freiburger Strasse 30
EschbachPhone +49 7634 5057-0
Fax +49 7634 5057-99
info@pimicos.com
www.pi.ws

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IMG17E PI Ceramic Product Overview 08/2016. 3,5. Subject to change without notice. © Physik Instrumente (PI) GmbH & Co. KG 2016

PIEZO TECHNOLOGY