Method for making piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composite transducers

A net-shape process for fabricating a piezoelectric or electrostrictive composite transducer exhibiting 1-3 or 2--2 connectivity and including a fully dense piezoelectric ceramic phase, said process comprising the steps of:

• preparing a homogeneous, granulated, thermoplastic powder/binder mixture comprising ceramic powder selected from the group consisting of strongly piezoelectric or electrostrictive ceramic materials and sufficient thermoplastic organic binder to render said mixture moldable by injection molding, said binder being selected to render said mixture thermoplastic during injection molding and to be nondestructively removed from said mixture by heating;
• forming a preform green body by injection molding said mixture in an injection molding apparatus comprising a preform mold which is a negative of said preform green body and cooling said green body in said preform mold sufficiently to be releasable from said preform mold as a self-supporting green body, wherein said green body comprises a planar ceramic base and a plurality of parallel ceramic elements integral with and extending perpendicularly from said base in a preselected array and fixedly supported in said array by said base, each of said elements having a shape selected from the group consisting of rod-like and lamellar;
• releasing said self-supporting green body from said preform mold;
• heating said released green body to a temperature of 300.degree.-700.degree. C. for a time sufficient to completely remove said binder from said green body;
• sintering said binder-removed body at a temperature and for a time sufficient to densify said binder-removed body to at least about 95% of theoretical density to produce a preform in which said elements are fully dense;
• encapsulating said fully dense elements in a polymeric material to form a 2-phase ceramic/polymer composite having upper and lower planar surfaces, said lower planar surface comprising said ceramic base;
• removing said ceramic base from said lower planar surface and exposing said fully dense elements at each of said upper and lower planar surfaces;
• and
• electroding said composite at said upper and lower surfaces such that electrodes establish electrical contact with opposing surfaces of each of said fully dense elements.