Abstract: Provided is a piezoelectric element including: an electrode portion including a piezoelectric layer and an electrode layer that are laminated; and a non-electrode portion that is in contact with the electrode portion and includes a piezoelectric layer without an electrode layer, in which the non-electrode portion includes a region having a density smaller than a density of the piezoelectric layer of the electrode portion.

Abstract: Provided is a piezoelectric element including: an electrode portion including a piezoelectric layer and an electrode layer that are laminated; and a non-electrode portion that is in contact with the electrode portion and includes a piezoelectric layer without an electrode layer, in which the non-electrode portion includes a region having a density smaller than a density of the piezoelectric layer of the electrode portion.

Abstract: A protective film structure of a metal member for use in an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor or the like, the protective film structure including a first coating layer of faultless aluminum oxide formed by direct anodic oxidation of a base-material metal of an aluminum alloy; and a second coating layer formed on the first coating layer and made of yttrium oxide by a plasma spraying method.

Abstract: Multifunction production equipment enabling a plurality of processes in which deposition of reaction products on the inner wall of the processing chamber of equipment for producing a semiconductor or a flat-plate display, metal contamination due to corrosion of the inner wall, or the like, and fluctuation of the process due to discharged gas are suppressed, and a protective film structure for use therein. On the surface of a metal material, a first coating layer having an oxide coating of 1? thick or less formed as an underlying layer by direct oxidation of a parent material, and a second coating layer of about 200 ?m thick are formed. With such an arrangement, corrosion resistance against irradiation with ions or radicals can be imparted to a second layer protective film, and the effect of a protective layer for preventing corrosion of the surface of parent metal caused by diffusing molecules or ions into the second layer protective film can be imparted to the first layer oxide film.

Abstract: A corrosion-resistant member used in a corrosive environment includes a substrate, and a ceramic sprayed film, which covers a part or all of the substrate surface and has relative density of 80% or greater. Maximum diameter of voids existing in the ceramic sprayed film surface is 25 ?m or less. This corrosion-resistant member is obtained by using Y2O3 as a material having a bulk density of at least 1.5 g/cm3 and dried to a moisture content of 1 mass percent or less and spraying plasma on the substrate with an output power of 40 to 110 kW by a spraying device including two anode torches.

Abstract: In a stage member for use in an exposure apparatus, a honeycomb structural body has walls that are extended in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the stage member and that surround square shaped prismatic spaces, so as to accomplish a high resistance and a high resonant frequency with respect to torsional vibration. The honeycomb structural body of the stage member is preferably made of a ceramic material.

Abstract: Disclosed is a cleaning method of a ceramic member, which permits removing with a high accuracy the contaminants from a ceramic member contaminated with the contaminant. The cleaning method comprises the steps of processing the contaminated ceramic member with an alkaline chemical liquid having a pH value not smaller than 10 in the presence of an ultrasonic wave, processing the ceramic member processed with the alkaline chemical liquid with a prescribed acidic chemical liquid in the presence of an ultrasonic wave, and heating the ceramic member processed with the acidic chemical liquid under temperatures not lower than 1,000° C.

Abstract: Disclosed is a cleaning method of a ceramic member, which permits removing with a high accuracy the contaminants from a ceramic member contaminated with the contaminant. The cleaning method comprises the steps of processing the contaminated ceramic member with an alkaline chemical liquid having a pH value not smaller than 10 in the presence of an ultrasonic wave, processing the ceramic member processed with the alkaline chemical liquid with a prescribed acidic chemical liquid in the presence of an ultrasonic wave, and heating the ceramic member processed with the acidic chemical liquid under temperatures not lower than 1,000° C.

Abstract: An electrically conductive ceramics comprises a compound containing at least one element belonging to the Group 3A of the periodic table and TiO2−x (0<x<2) in a range such that the TiO2−x (0<x<2) accounts for 1 to 60 wt % of the total amount of the ceramics, and at least part of the compound and the TiO2−x form a composite oxide.

Abstract: A diamond tool which generates little vibrations, can be used in high temperature environments and can be produced with excellent yield has at least a shank portion (2) in contact with a diamond chip (1) and formed from a reaction-sintered silicon carbide material having a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of the diamond chip by using a diamond granule, and a method for producing the diamond tool which comprises contacting a diamond chip with an ingredient layer mixed with a diamond granule and a carbonaceous source, placing a metallic silicon powder on the surface of the layer, and then reaction-sintering it in vacuum or in a non-oxidizing atmosphere by heating, thereby forming a reaction-sintered silicon carbide material having a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of a diamond chip, at least, in the shank portion at which a diamond chip is in contact.