Method for manufacturing a piezoelectric ceramic body

1. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric ceramic body comprising:

mixing a ceramic powder, polymer binder and surfactant to form a slip mixture with a solids loading by weight: casting said slip mixture into a mold;

setting the slip mixture in said mold to form a green body separating said green body from said mold;

cutting said green body to form a cut green body with an array comprising a plurality of micron-size ceramic elements and separations; and

sintering said cut green body to form a densified sintered body.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said ceramic powder comprises at least 90% of the slip mixture by weight percent.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said ceramic powder comprises at least 95% of the slip mixture by volume percent.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising grinding said ceramic powder so that said ceramic powder has a particle size range from 0.2 .mu.m to 1.6 .mu.m after said grinding.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said ceramic powder is a piezoelectric or electrostrictive ceramic powder.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said piezoelectric ceramic powder is selected from the group consisting of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), lead niobium titanate (PNT), lead scandium niobium titanate (PSNT), (PMN), lead titanate, and barium titanate.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said polymer binder is an epoxy polymer.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said epoxy polymer is a two-part epoxy resin.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said slip further comprises a dispersant.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said setting step comprises curing said slip mixture in said mold to a temperature of 100° C. to 140° C. for a sufficient time to form said green body.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said cutting step comprises dicing said green body with a dicing machine.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said micron-size ceramic elements have dimensions of 150 μm-325 μm in height, 35 μm-65 μm in width, and 25 μm-50 μm element-to-element separation.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein further comprising a bisquing treatment to remove said polymer binder from said cut green body, wherein said cut green body is heated to a sufficient temperature for a sufficient time to burn out said binder.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein said bisquing treatment further comprises heating said cut green body to a temperature between 60° C. to 750° C.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said sintering step further comprises heating said body to a temperature between 1000° C. to 1100° C. for a time between 1 hour to 2 hours.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein said sintering step further comprises heating said body to a sufficient temperature for a sufficient time to densify said sintered ceramic body to at least 95% of the theoretical density.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of encasing said sintered ceramic body in a polymer material to fill said separations and form a ceramic-polymer composite.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein said micron-size ceramic elements have dimensions of 200 μm-300 μm in height, 50 μm-65 μm in width, and 20 μm-35 μm element-to-element separation.

19. A method of manufacturing a piezoelectric ceramic composite for a device, comprising: mixing a piezoelectric ceramic powder, organic binder, and surfactant to form a slip wherein said slip has a solids loading of at least 90% by weight; casting said slip into a mold to form a green body; separating said green body from said mold; cutting said green body to form a cut green body with an array of micron-sized ceramic elements and separations; bisquing said cut green body to burn out said organic binder; sintering said cut green body to form a sintered ceramic body; and encasing said sintered ceramic body in a polymer material to form a ceramic-polymer composite.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising grinding said ceramic powder so that said ceramic powder has a particle size range from 0.2 .mu.m to 1.6 .mu.m after said grinding.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein said piezoelectric ceramic powder is selected from the group consisting of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), lead niobium titanate (PNT), lead scandium niobium titanate (PSNT), (PMN), lead titanate, and barium titanate.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein said polymer binder is a two-part epoxy resin.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein said slip further comprises a dispersant.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein said setting step comprises curing said slip mixture in said mold at temperature of 110° C. to 130° C. for time between 12 to 24 hours to form said green body.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein said bisquing step further comprises heating said cut green body to a temperature between 130° C. to 750° C. for a time between 60 hours to 68 hours.

26. The method of claim 19 , wherein said sintering step further comprises heating said body to a temperature between 1000° C. to 1100° C. for a time between 1 hour to 2 hours.

27. The method of claim 19 , wherein said sintering step further comprises heating said body to a sufficient temperature for a sufficient time to densify said sintered ceramic body to 97% to 99% of the theoretical density.

28. The method of claim 19 further comprising the step of machining said composite to expose at least one surface of said sintered ceramic body.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising the step of forming contacts to said composite to provide electrical connectivity to the sintered ceramic body.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising the step of addressing the sintered ceramic body with electrical components to form a device.