Abstract: A quartz crystal resonator that includes an AT-cut quartz crystal blank including a first main surface and a second main surface that face each other and each of which has long sides extending in an X-axis direction of the quartz crystal blank and short sides extending in a Z?-axis direction of the quartz crystal blank, and a first side surface and a second side surface that are located adjacent to the long sides of the first main surface and the second main surface; a first excitation electrode and a second excitation electrode; and an extension electrode that extends from the first main surface to the second main surface along the first side surface and that is electrically connected to the first excitation electrode. Each the first and second side surfaces have a first m-plane face and a second m-plane face.

Abstract: An AT-cut crystal resonator plate includes: a vibrating part having a rectangular shape in plan view that is disposed on a center of the AT-cut crystal resonator plate and that has excitation electrodes respectively formed on a first and a second main surfaces; a cut-out part having a rectangular shape in plan view that is formed along an outer periphery of the vibrating part; an external frame part having a rectangular shape in plan view that is formed along an outer periphery of the cut-out part; and a connecting part that connects the vibrating part to the external frame part and that extends, in a Z? axis direction of the vibrating part, from one end part of a side of the vibrating part along an X axis direction. The connecting part includes wide parts whose widths gradually increase only toward the external frame part.

Abstract: A resonator that includes a vibrating portion that has a piezoelectric film, and a lower and upper electrodes that face each other with the piezoelectric film interposed therebetween. Moreover, a holding portion is provided at least around a maximum displacement region of the vibrating portion and has an insulating film. A holding arm connects the vibrating portion and the holding portion, and include a conductive portion that is in contact with the insulating film of the holding portion in at least a region that faces the maximum displacement region of the vibrating portion. In addition, the conductive portion is electrically connected to the lower electrode or the upper electrode or is grounded.

Abstract: A device comprises a plurality of electroactive material actuator units arranged as a linear set. Data for controlling the driving of the individual units is provided on a data line, and data line connections are made between each adjacent pair of electroactive material actuator units. The electroactive material actuator units are controlled in dependence on received data from the data line. This provides a reduced complexity of the wiring when multiple actuators need to be addressed and controlled in small application environments.

Abstract: A flow energy harvesting system including a nozzle-diffuser defining a spline-shaped flow channel and a flow energy harvesting device in the spline-shaped flow channel of the nozzle-diffuser. The spline-shaped flow channel includes a converging portion, a diverging portion, and a constriction section between the converging and diverging portions. The flow energy harvesting device includes a flextensional member having a frame and a cantilever extending outward from the frame, and a stack of piezoelectric elements housed in an interior cavity defined in the frame. The cantilever is a non-piezoelectric material. The frame of the flextensional member is in the converging portion and the cantilever is in the constriction section of the spline-shaped flow channel. The frame is configured to deform and elongate the piezoelectric elements to generate a current based on the piezoelectric effect when a fluid flows through the spline-shaped flow channel and generates unbalanced forces on the cantilever due.

Abstract: A device may include an inner layer comprising a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) material. The device may also include a first interface layer, disposed on a first side of the inner layer, and a second interface layer, disposed on a second side of the inner layer. The first interface layer and the second interface layer may comprise a mixture of PVDF material and a scavenger component.

Abstract: A single frequency control device incorporating a high frequency resonator, a low frequency resonator and a temperature sensing element, the latter thermally coupled closely to the said resonators to facilitate temperature sensing with higher resolution and accuracy. Additional benefits offered by the structure include smaller size and lower cost.

Abstract: A multi-layer piezoelectric ceramic component includes: a piezoelectric ceramic body having a cuboid shape, having upper and lower surfaces facing in a thickness direction, first and second end surfaces facing in a length direction, and a pair of side surfaces facing in a width direction, and including first and second regions; first internal electrodes in the first region; second internal electrodes in the second region; third internal electrodes in the first and second regions; a first terminal electrode formed on the first end surface and electrically connected to the first internal electrodes; a second terminal electrode formed on the first end surface and electrically connected to the second internal electrodes; and a third terminal electrode formed on the second end surface and electrically connected to the third internal electrodes, the first, second, and third internal electrodes each having a width equal to a distance between the pair of side surfaces.

Abstract: A quartz crystal device includes a crystal element, a container, a conductive adhesive having flexibility, first pillow portions, and a second pillow portion. The first pillow portions hold the crystal element floated from an inner bottom surface of the container at the proximities of the two positions. The second pillow portion opposes the crystal element at a proximity of a second side. The second side opposes the first side of the crystal element. A height of the first pillow portion is represented as h and a length of the first pillow portion in a direction perpendicular to the first side is represented as X1, where the h is 20 ?m to 50 ?m and the X1 is 150 ?m or less. The conductive adhesive covers at least a top surface and a side surface of the first pillow portion. The side surface is in a center side of the crystal element.

Abstract: The resonator includes a vibrating portion that has three or more vibrating arms each having a fixed end and an open end and at least two vibrating arms undergoing out-of-plane bending in different phases. Moreover, the resonator includes a first base portion having a first front end connected to the fixed ends and a first rear end facing the first front end, a second base portion having a second front end facing the first rear end and a second rear end facing the second front end, and a connecting portion connected between a vicinity of a center of the first rear end and a vicinity of a center of the second front end, a holding portion that is provided in at least a part of a periphery of the vibrating portion, and a holding arm that is provided between the vibrating portion and the holding portion.

Abstract: A multilayer piezoelectric element includes a ceramic base body, a pair of external electrodes, multiple internal electrodes, and surface electrodes. The ceramic base body is formed by a piezoelectric ceramic. The pair of external electrodes cover a pair of end faces. The multiple internal electrodes are stacked inside the ceramic base body along a thickness direction crossing at right angles with a longitudinal direction, and connected alternately to the pair of external electrodes in the thickness direction. The surface electrodes are provided on a pair of principal faces, respectively, and are each connected to the external electrode different from the one to which the internal electrode adjacent in the thickness direction is connected. The pair of external electrodes have a higher porosity than the surface electrodes.

Abstract: An energy harvesting device for powering electronic devices such as wireless sensors and IoT devices is described. The device relies on nature's fundamental forces to convert kinetic energy to electrical energy, acting as power source; while accounting for the Casimir force. Nanotechnology and MEMS are used to fabricate the device embedding a mechanical oscillator, electronic circuitry, energy harvester, and transducer integrated in the same packaging. The device supports mechanism to excite and ignite the oscillatory behavior via RF signal from a remote signal source that synthesizes the RF signal on a fix or mobile platform. Additionally, solar and RF signals may be added constructively to boost the output power of the device. The device scales from micron size to blades and racks formed from arrays of the connected devices to increase the output power of the aggregate system to any desired level for powering home appliances or computer networks.

Abstract: An energy harvester apparatus, system and method. A cantilevered beam resonator includes a cantilever beam and a base defined by the ends of the cantilever beam. The cantilevered beam resonator further includes a piezoelectric transducer composed of one or more piezoelectric components. The piezoelectric transducer is generally mounted beneath the base of the cantilevered beam resonator. In some example embodiments, the piezoelectric component can be configured in a split electrode configuration composed of a single split arrangement or more than one split (e.g., two splits, three splits, four splits, and so on).

Abstract: A vibration device comprises a vibrating member having at least n (n?2) piezoelectric elements arranged on a vibrating plate, each of the piezoelectric elements being formed by using a lead-free piezoelectric material and electrodes, wherein if the temperature that maximizes the piezoelectric constant of the piezoelectric material of each of the n piezoelectric elements is expressed as Tm (m being a natural number between 1 and n), at least two of T1 through Tn differ from each other.

Abstract: The present invention provides a piezoelectric sensor that has elastic properties in a surface direction thereof, and can smoothly follow stretching of a body to be measured to accurately measure movement of the body to be measured, and detect movement in a surface direction of a surface of the body to be measured on which the piezoelectric sensor is disposed. The piezoelectric sensor of the present invention includes: a piezoelectric sheet including a porous synthetic resin sheet; a signal electrode layer that is layered on a surface of the piezoelectric sheet and contains conductive fine particles and a binder resin having elastic properties; and a ground electrode layer that is layered on another surface of the piezoelectric sheet and contains conductive fine particles and a binder resin having elastic properties.

Abstract: Provided is a self-resonance tuning piezoelectric energy harvester. The self-resonance tuning piezoelectric energy harvester includes a piezoelectric beam which extends along a horizontal direction, a fixing element which fixes two ends of the piezoelectric beam, and a mass which is connected to the piezoelectric beam movably along the piezoelectric beam, wherein the mass includes a through-hole through which the piezoelectric beam passes, and makes the movement through the through-hole. According to the principle of continuous movement to the resonance position, the mass of the self-resonance tuning piezoelectric energy harvester induces the piezoelectric beam to generate displacement to the maximum and maximize the electricity production capacity of the piezoelectric energy harvester.

Abstract: An electroactive device may include (1) an electroactive polymer element having a first surface and a second surface opposing the first surface, (2) a primary electrode abutting the first surface, and (3) a secondary electrode abutting the second surface. The electroactive polymer element may be transformed from an initial state to a deformed state and may achieve substantially uniform strain by the application of an electrostatic field produced by a potential difference between the electrodes. Various other devices, systems, and methods are also disclosed.

Abstract: A method for reducing switching losses and waveform distortion in a driver for a circuit with a capacitive load includes generating a variable pre-drive pulse to achieve zero voltage and zero-current switching of a high-side switch of the unfolding stage. A controller computes the variable pre-drive pulse with the controller, and a sense resistor in series with the power converter inductor detects a zero voltage switching condition point and/or a zero voltage switching condition point. The driver includes a power converter that receives an input voltage vin as input and generates a clean folded waveform as an output. An unfolding stage referenced to vin receives the clean folded waveform from the converter and unfolds the folded waveform into a full waveform.

Abstract: A RF antenna comprises a quartz resonator having electrodes disposed thereon with a magnetostrictive film disposed on the quartz resonator either on, partially under or adjacent at least one of the electrodes.

Abstract: A piezoelectric vibrator that includes a piezoelectric resonator, a substrate having opposite first and second principal surfaces, and an electrically conductive holding member holding the piezoelectric resonator on the first principal surface of the substrate such that the piezoelectric resonator is able to be excited. The electrically conductive holding member contains a first filler containing an electrically conductive material as a main component and a second filler containing an electrically insulating material as a main component and having a smaller Young's modulus than the first filler. In a plan view in a direction normal to the first principal surface of the substrate, the second filler is more densely disposed in an outer peripheral region of the electrically conductive holding member than in a central region of the electrically conductive holding member.