Patent ID: 7569977

Claim:
A piezoelectric element comprising: a substrate defining a longitudinal axis and respective top and bottom faces, and opposed first and second ends extending in a relationship generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the substrate; a first layer of conductive material on one of said top and bottom faces of said substrate extending on said substrate in the same direction as said longitudinal axis of said substrate and including a wrap-around end extending around said first end of said substrate and terminating on the other of said to and bottom faces; at least a second layer of conductive material on the other of said top and bottom faces of said substrate extending on said substrate in the same direction as said longitudinal axis of said substrate and including a first end spaced from said wrap-around end of said first layer of conductive material and a second end adjacent said second end of said substrate; the piezoelectric element being characterized in that said second layer of conductive material includes one or more laser cuts defined in one of the first and second ends of said second layer of conductive material for setting the capacitance of the piezoelectric element, said one or more laser cuts being oriented in a direction generally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the substrate.