1 INTRODUCTION For some 30 years now, we have manufactured piezoelectric ceramics and marketed them under the trade

name PZT (Lead Zirconate Titanate) All these materials are compounds of lead zirconate and lead titanate manufactured by the most modern production methods. One of their principal advantages is that their properties can be optimized to suit specific applications by appropriate adjustment of the zirconate-titanate ratio. Piezoelectric ceramics are hard, chemically inert and completely insensitive to humidity or other atmospheric influences. Their mechanical properties resemble those of the better known ceramic insulators and they are manufactured by much the same processes. Piezoelectric components are ideal for all kinds of electromechanical transducers. Here are just some examples of the many applications you will find our PZT materials used in. Generators (conversion of mechanical into electrical energy) spark igniters solid-state batteries

PZT as a generator

Sonic and ultrasonic transducers (conversion of electrical into mechanical energy) sonic (< 20 kHz) - buzzers - telephone microphones - high-frequency loudspeakers ultrasonic echo-sounders measurement of distance in air - materials-testing equipment - atomizers - welding equipment - cleaning processes higher-frequency ultrasonic - medical applications - delay lines Sensors (conversion of mechanical force or movement into a (proportional) electric signal) acceleration sensor pressure sensor knock sensor (internal-combustion engines)

Actuators (conversion of electrical signals into a (proportional) mechanical displacement) low-power actuators in: - video cassette recorders (DTF) - pneumatic valves - reading aids for the blind

high-power actuators (HPAs) - hydraulic valves - fuel-injection valves - tool adjustment