Patent ID: 8291558

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element, the method comprising: providing a piezoelectric/electrostrictive element having a lower electrode, a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film, and an upper electrode stacked in this order; subjecting the lower electrode, the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film and the upper electrode to a heat treatment to form the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element; subjecting the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element to a heat regeneration treatment at a temperature at least equal to a phase transition temperature of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film; allowing the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element to stand until a value of an electric constant of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film after the heat regeneration treatment has converged with a value of the electric constant of the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film prior to the heat regenerating treatment; and then subjecting the piezoelectric/electrostrictive film to a polarization treatment, wherein allowing the piezoelectric/electrostrictive element to stand until the value of the electric constant converges is performed after the heat regeneration treatment and before the polarization treatment.