A New actuator device is proposed using semiconductive ferroelectric ceramics. This device is a single-plate actuator capable of bending equivalently to a bimorph. A significant difference is simple structure named as a “monomorph” as compared with a multi-stacked type in the bimorph. The bend in the monomorph device is realized by non-uniform electric field distribution in the piezoelectric ceramics, through the semiconductor-metal contact effect (Schottky barrier). The monomorph has been demonstrated in the solid solutions PbZrO3-(K1/2Bi1/2)ZrO3 and BaTiO3-Dy2O3. Both systems reveal the tip deflectionof several hundred micrometers in a 0.5mm thick plate.
