| abstract |
A piezoelectric ceramic compatibly represents both an excellent piezoelectric constant and an excellent mechanical quality factor. The piezoelectric ceramic contains a metal oxide expressed by general formula (1) shown below and Mn by not less than 0.04 weight parts and not more than 0.36 weight parts relative to 100 weight parts of the metal oxide in terms of metal. The piezoelectric ceramic includes a plurality of first crystal grains having a perovskite structure and a plurality of second crystal grains existing at grain boundaries between the first crystal grains. The second crystal grains contain at least a metal oxide expressed by general formula (2) shown below:n n(Ba 1-x Ca x ) a (Ti 1-y Zr y )O 3 (1)n nwhere 0.09≦x≦0.30, 0.025≦y≦0.085 and 0.986≦a≦1.020;n n(Ba 1-v Ca v ) b (Ti 1-w Zr w ) c O d (2)n nwhere 0≦v≦1, 0≦w≦1, 1≦b≦6, 2≦c≦19, b+2c−1≦d≦b+2c and b<c where b, c and d are integers. |