A PZT material with high d(31) was developed and the processing of a bending type multilayer actuator by stacking and co-firing platinum electroded tape cast layers was investigated. The thermocompression step, as well as the binder burnout heating profile, proved to be critical and a tempering process was introduced that prevents the microcracks formation during densification. All the processing steps were optimized and prototype actuators made of 11 layers, each layer being 50 mum thick, were fabricated. The final microstructure was studied as well as the no-load deflection at increasing driving voltage. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.