Patent ID: 7427820

Claim:
A piezoelectric/electrostrictive film element in which a lower electrode and an auxiliary electrode, a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film, and an upper electrode are sequentially arranged in layers on a substrate formed from ceramics and having a thin-walled diaphragm portion and a thick-walled portion provided around the periphery of the thin-walled portion, wherein the lower electrode is continuously formed in a region ranging from a portion of the thick-walled portion located on one side of the thin-walled diaphragm portion to the thin-walled diaphragm portion; the auxiliary electrode is continuously formed in a region ranging from a position on the thin-walled diaphragm portion, the position being separated from the lower electrode, to a portion of the thick-walled portion located on the other side of the thin-walled diaphragm portion; the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film is formed in such a manner as to overlie the lower electrode and the auxiliary electrode; and the upper electrode is electrically connected to the auxiliary electrode through a plurality of mutually independent paths.