Patent ID: 7019438

Claim:
A piezoelectric/electrostrictive film device comprising a ceramic substrate, and a piezoelectric/electrostrictive actuator including a laminate formed by sequentially layering at least one lower electrode, at least one piezoelectric/electrostrictive layer, and at least one upper electrode on said substrate, said at least one piezoelectric/electrostrictive layer covering an upper surface of said at least one lower electrode and a lower surface of said at least one upper electrode and including a protruded portion protruding beyond edges thereof; wherein said protruded portion of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layer is coupled to said substrate via a coupling member, such that said coupling member completely couples at least an entire lower portion of said protruded portion of said piezoelectric/electrostrictive layer to said substrate; and wherein a flexural displacement of said device is substantially the same as, and a resonant frequency of said device is at least 3% larger than, that of a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film device comprising the same materials and the same configuration as said device but not including said coupling member.