Thin-film Piezoelectric-material Element, Method of Manufacturing the Same, Head Gimbal Assembly and Hard Disk Drive

A thin-film piezoelectric-material element comprising:

• a laminated structure part comprising a lower electrode film, a piezoelectric-material film laminated on the lower electrode film and an upper electrode film laminated on the piezoelectric-material film;
• a lower piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material;
• an upper piezoelectric-material protective-film being formed with alloy material,
• a surface layer insulating film, which are disposed on the side surfaces of the laminated structure part, the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film and on the top-surface of the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film, and which a through hole is formed;
• and
• a lower electrode pad being directly in contact with an exposed surface, of the lower electrode film, exposed inside the through hole,
• wherein the piezoelectric-material film comprising:
• a film-size larger than the upper electrode film;
• and
• a riser end-surface and a step-surface, formed on a top-surface of the upper electrode film side,
• wherein the riser end-surface connects smoothly with a peripheral end-surface of the upper electrode film and vertically intersects with the top-surface of the piezoelectric-material film,
• wherein the step-surface intersects vertically with the riser end-surface,
• wherein the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film are formed to sandwich the laminated structure part, respectively in the lower side of the lower electrode film and the upper side of the upper electrode film,
• wherein the lower piezoelectric-material protective-film and the upper piezoelectric-material protective-film are formed with alloy material including Fe as main ingredient and having Co and Mo, by Physical Vapor Deposition.