The mechanical pre-stressing in ultrasonic piezotransducers

Composed piezotransducers submitted to mechanical pre-stressing present shifts on resonance and anti-resonance frequencies. Changes on characteristic parameters of the ceramic and in the coupling between the parts of the transducer can be the causes for this behavior. In applications where the level of pre-stressing is low (up to 50 MPa) the parameters of the ceramic are not altered, therefore, the shifting on frequencies are attributed to coupling between parts. This paper describes a mathematical model to explain this effect based on difference of effective cross-section between transducers parts under pre-stressing. The results show a proportional relation between pre-stressing and effective coupling of the parts.     

The resonance frequencies on mechanically pre-stressed ultrasonic piezotransducers

The piezotransducers employed in high power ultrasound are composed of piezoelectric ceramics and metallic pieces. These transducers are mechanically pre-stressed in order to avoid the ceramic fractures when high voltage is applied under resonance. The resonance and anti-resonance frequencies are shifted depending on the level of applied mechanical pre-stressing. This paper discusses some causes of this shifting on a experimental study. The discussion takes into account the variations on characteristic parameters of the ceramics and the acoustic coupling between parts of the transducer.     

预应力对熔石英损伤的影响

采用ANSYS进行形变-应力模拟。对不同应力状态下的熔石英表面进行三倍频激光损伤测试,结果发现,预加压应力为0~50 MPa时损伤阈值有明显提高的趋势,用应力耦合作用对此给出了解释:0~50 MPa的预加压应力可以降低和抵消激光辐照产生的张应力破坏,大于50 MPa预应力的耦合作用会使得该处机械性能下降,另外,损伤增长在预应力存在时更容易发生。因此,0~50 MPa预加压应力时的表面预应力可以提高熔石英的抗激光辐照能力。     

Characteristics of backing impacts on the performance of the thickness mode piezoelectric transducer

The impacts of the thickness, the specific acoustic impedance and the mechanical loss factor of the backing on the performance of the thickness mode piezoelectric transducer are systemically studied, which are focused on the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient and the mechanical quality factor near the center frequency. The results show that with contin?uous increasing of the backing thickness, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient and the mechanical quality factor are found rapidly declined by oscillation way. With the increase of the difference value of the acoustic impedance between the backing material and the piezoelec?tric material, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient deceases and the mechanical quality factor increases. Under condition that the thickness of the piezoelectric material is fixed, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient is found declined with the increase of the mechanical loss factor by monotonous way. The mechanical quality factor has minimum value and the electric characteristic curve tends to be smooth in a given frequency range. The equivalent circuit theory result is in good agreement with the ones by finite element method and the experimental results. The work mentioned above provides a theoretical guidance for the design and experimental fabrication of the thickness mode piezoelectric transducer.     

背衬参数对厚度模压电换能器特性的影响

系统研究了厚度模压电换能器的背衬厚度、声阻抗率及机械损耗因子对换能器振动性能影响,重点分析了在所关心频率附近的有效机电耦合系数和机械品质因数。计算结果表明,随着背衬厚度增大,换能器的有效机电耦合系数和机械品质因数均震荡减小;背衬声阻抗率与压电片声阻抗率差值增大,换能器有效机电耦合系数减小,机械品质因数增大;保持压电片厚度不变,增大背衬的机械损耗因子,换能器有效机电耦合系数单调减小,机械品质因数有极小值,在给定频率范围内电特性曲线趋于光滑。用有限元方法验证了等效电路计算方法的正确性,并对比了换能器的测试结果和计算结果。计算所得规律为厚度模压电换能器的设计和实验制作提供了理论依据。      

High-Speed Quantum Transducer with a Single-Photon Emitter in a 2D Resonator

Quantum transducers can transfer quantum information between different systems. Microwave–optical photon conversion is important for future quantum networks to interconnect remote superconducting quantum computers with optical fibers. Here, a high-speed quantum transducer based on a single-photon emitter in an atomically thin membrane resonator, that can couple single microwave photons to single optical photons, is proposed. The 2D resonator is a freestanding van der Waals heterostructure (which may consist of hexagonal boron nitride, graphene, or other 2D materials) that hosts a quantum emitter. The mechanical vibration (phonon) of the 2D resonator interacts with optical photons by shifting the optical transition frequency of the single-photon emitter with strain or the Stark effect. The mechanical vibration couples to microwave photons by shifting the resonant frequency of an LC circuit that includes the membrane. Thanks to the small mass of the 2D resonator, both the single-photon optomechanical coupling strength and the electromechanical coupling strength can reach the strong coupling regime. This provides a way for high-speed quantum state transfer between a microwave photon, a phonon, and an optical photon.     

Design and modeling of inversion layer ultrasonic transducers using LiNbO3 single crystal

Using inversion domain engineering controlled by heating temperature, the LiNbO(3) (LNO) piezoelectric plate with both odd and even-order thickness-extensional modes can be excited simultaneously. Therefore, the inversion layer ultrasound transducer is expected to be capable of operating over a wider frequency range. In this paper, the electrical impedance and the acoustic characteristics of LiNbO(3) (LNO) inversion layer transducer have been studied by finite element modeling (FEM). The transducer designed for this study uses a 36 degrees rotated Y-cut LiNbO(3) thin plate with an active element thickness of approximately 100 microm. First the electrical and elastic properties of the 36 degrees rotated Y-cut LNO were obtained by transforming a basic piezoelectric matrix for Z-cut LNO. In order to validate the FEM using the transformed properties several pieces of pure and 50% inversion layer LNO were tested on the electrical impedance analyzer. The modeled impedance characteristics were consistent with the measured data. Next the model was used to design 50-60 MHz transducers using pure and 30% inversion LNO. Two lambda/4 matching layers and a Tungsten loaded epoxy backing were used in these designs. The modeled results show that an over 90% bandwidth transducer can be made with proper matching and 30% inversion layer.     

Optimization of the piezoelectric transducer response by means of electrical correcting circuits

A method of shortening the transient response of a piezoelectric transducer is described. It can be applied to thickness mode piezoelectric transducers of arbitrary electromechanical coupling. The system incorporates electrical correcting circuits and can produce a transient response with a duration much shorter than the transit time of an ultrasonic wave travelling through the piezoelectric plate.     

Design of a self-calibrating simulated acoustic emission source

The use of conical piezoelectric transducers as point acoustic sources has been investigated. It has been shown that transducers based on a design originally developed at the National Institute for Standards and Technology in the USA can be used as point transmitters over the frequency range of interest in acoustic emission measurements (100 kHz to around 1 MHz). They should, therefore, be suitable for use in experiments to calibrate structures so that acoustic emission source strengths can be determined. It has also been shown that measurements of the response of the transmitting transducer backing can be used to assess the coupling efficiency, and hence to remove concerns about inconsistent coupling affecting the calibration measurements. The results indicate that the variation of the backing response with coupling is due to a shift in the resonance frequencies of the transducer with the mechanical load impedance. If other transducers can be shown to behave in a similar fashion this effect could be used to measure coupling in standard acoustic emission and ultrasonic transducers.     

变厚度聚焦换能器对声焦域轴向长度影响的研究*

针对不同厚度的病变组织,改变声焦域轴向长度能提高高强度聚焦超声在临床治疗过程中的安全性和有效性。基于多频超声波叠加原理,该文提出了变厚度(多频)聚焦换能器,并设计了两种类型变厚度聚焦换能器。根据瑞利积分法推导了变厚度聚焦换能器声场,计算和分析了变厚度聚焦换能器的声焦域轴向长度,并与等厚度(单频)聚焦换能器声焦域轴向长度进行对比。结果显示,变厚度聚焦换能器中心到边缘的厚度变化趋势与声焦域轴向长度变化相关,中间薄两边厚换能器声焦域轴向长度缩短,中间厚两边薄换能器声焦域轴向长度变长,且实验验证了理论的正确性。研究结果可为变厚度聚焦换能器声场研究和高强度聚焦超声的临床治疗提供参考。     

双激励全波长压电陶瓷超声换能器工作特性分析

对由两个半波长夹心式压电陶瓷换能器级联而成的双激励全波长压电陶瓷超声换能器进行了研究,给出了这种换能器优值的相关参量表达式,通过数值计算分析了该换能器的结构和材料参数对其特性的影响。研究结果表明,当两组压电陶瓷堆分别位于各自所在半波长换能器的位移节点,或者在压电陶瓷片数量确定情况下两组压电陶瓷堆的片数相同时,换能器均能得到最大的优值;在相当大的范围内增加压电陶瓷片的数量,换能器的优值稍有降低,但力因子迅速增大;金属块材料对换能器的优值影响甚微。可见双激励全波长换能器能在不明显降低换能器综合性能的情况下有效增加压电陶瓷的体积,因而可大幅提高换能器的功率容量和负载能力,更适用于大功率重负载的场合。      

Operating characteristics analysis of a dual-excited full-wavelength piezoceramic ultrasonic transducer

A dual-excited full-wavelength piezoceramic ultrasonic transducer as a cascade of two half-wavelength sandwich piezoceramic transducers is studied.The relevant parameters' expressions of the figure of merit N for the transducer are derived,and the effects of the structure and material parameters of the transducer on its characteristics are further analyzed by numerical calculation.The results show that when the two piezoceramic stacks are respectively located at the displacement nodes of their own half-wavelength transducers,or the two piezoceramic stacks have the same number of pieces in the case of a certain number of piezoceramic pieces,the figure of merit of the transducer can reach a maximum.With increasing of the number of piezoceramic pieces in a fairly large range,the figure of merit of the transducer slightly decreases,but the force factor of the transducer increases rapidly.The metal materials of the transducer have little effect on its figure of merit.Thus it can be seen that the dual-excited full-wavelength transducer can effectively increase the volumes of the piezoceramic stacks in the case of that the transducer's comprehensive performance has only a little bit of degradation,so it's power capacity and load capability can be dramatically improved,which means the transducer is more suitable for high power and heavy load applications.     

Nonlinear characterization with burst excitation of 1-3 piezocomposite transducers

Ultrasonic transducers made with 1-3 connectivity piezocomposites are frequently used in Medical applications and nondestructive testing. When the transducer is used for special applications as, for instance air-coupled transmission, it is necessary to compensate for the high difference of acoustic impedance between transducer and medium using high amplitude pulses to generate high acoustic signal. Thus, the nonlinear behavior of the transducer must be taken into account in similar application conditions. The newly developed method, which performs the nonlinear characterization with burst signal excitation near the thickness resonance frequency, is based on the measure of the current as well as the vibration velocity of the piezocomposite transducer. The current of the stationary response is measured before the end of the burst signal excitation. Burst excitation enables us to measure the nonlinear characterization without producing overheating in the transducers. The amplitude level dependence of mechanical losses tandelta(m) and the stiffness increases |Deltac/c(0)| have been studied, as well as the velocity dependence of a point of the transducer, measured with a laser vibrometer. In this method, the power level applied to the transducers can be higher than other nonlinear measurement methods, providing measurements of high accuracy.     

Effect of surface acoustic waves on the catalytic decomposition of ethanol employing a comb transducer for ultrasonic generation

The effect of surface acoustic waves, generated on a silver catalyst using a comb transducer, on the catalytic decomposition of ethanol is examined. The comb transducer employs purely mechanical means for surface acoustic wave (SAW) transduction. Unlike interdigital SAW transducers on piezoelectric substrates, the complicating effects of heat generation due to electromechanical coupling, high electric fields between adjacent electrodes, and acoustoelectric currents are avoided. The ethanol decomposition reactions are carried out at 473 K. The rates of acetaldehyde and ethylene production are retarded when acoustic waves are applied. The rates recover to varying degrees when acoustic excitation ceases.     

Factors in the design of ultrasonic probes

This paper attempts to demonstrate the comprehensive way in which the Unit Impulse Response technique can be used to evaluate and calibrate thickness mode piezoelectric transducers and the ultrasonic probes made from these transducers. Two commonly used piezoelectric materials were compared in the form of batches of disc transducers at several different frequencies and diameters.At higher system gains spurious signals associated with transverse mode resonances seriously reduced the discrimination of the probe. These spurious effects were fully investigated and explained.The effects of backing; quarter-wavelength matching into water; and electrical tuning, were measured and explained.Other methods of measuring the transducer parameters based on frequency response analysis were considered.     

Piezoelectric transducer vibrations in a one-dimensional approximation

Summary The theory of piezoelectric transducer vibrations, which may be treated as onedimensional, is developed in detail for thin discs vibrating in a pure thickness extensional mode. An effort has been made to obtain relations of general validity, which include losses, and which are in a simple explicit form convenient for practical calculations. The behaviour of transducers is discussed with special attention to their characteristics at the two fundamental frequencies, the so-called parallel and series resonances. Several peculiarities occur when transducers are coupled to media with considerably different acoustic impedances. These peculiarities are discussed and illustrated by numerical results for quartz and PZT 4 piezoelectric discs radiating into water, air and liquid hydrogen. The application of the theory to different types of vibrations is briefly illustrated for thin bars vibrating longitudinally. Short discussions are included on compound transducer systems, and on the properties of thin discs as receivers.     

Study on the radial composite piezoelectric ceramic transducer in radial vibration

A new type of radial composite piezoelectric transducer in radial vibration is developed and analyzed. The radial composite transducer consists of a piezoelectric ceramic thin ring polarized in the thickness direction and a metal thin circular ring. They are connected together and excited to vibrate in the radial direction. The radial vibrations of a piezoelectric ceramic thin ring and a metal thin circular ring are analyzed, respectively. Their radial electro-mechanical equivalent circuits are obtained. Based on the electro-mechanical equivalent circuits and using the boundary conditions between the piezoelectric ceramic thin ring and the metal thin circular ring in the radial direction, the electro-mechanical equivalent circuit of the radial composite piezoelectric transducer is derived out and the resonance frequency equation is obtained. The relationship between the resonance frequency and the geometrical dimensions of the transducer is analyzed. Some radial composite piezoelectric transducers are designed and manufactured. The resonance frequencies and the anti-resonance frequencies, the electro-mechanical equivalent circuit parameters are measured. The effective electro-mechanical coupling coefficient and the mechanical quality factor are calculated. It is illustrated that the measured radial resonance frequencies are in good agreement with the theoretical results from the resonance frequency equation.     

A novel ultrasonic clutch using near-field acoustic levitation

This paper investigates design, fabrication and drive of an ultrasonic clutch with two transducers. For the two transducers, one serving as a driving element of the clutch is connected to a driving shaft via a coupling, and the other serving as a slave element of the clutch is connected to a slave shaft via another coupling. The principle of ultrasonic levitation is first expressed. Then, a series-resonant inverter is used to generate AC voltages at input terminals of each transducer, and a speed measuring system with optic sensors is used to find the relationship between rotational speed of the slave shaft and applied voltage of each transducer. Moreover, contact surfaces of the two transducers are coupled by the frictional force when both the two transducers are not energized, and separated using the ultrasonic levitation when at least one of the two transducers is energized at high voltages at resonance.     

A novel ultrasonic clutch using near-field acoustic levitation

This paper investigates design, fabrication and drive of an ultrasonic clutch with two transducers. For the two transducers, one serving as a driving element of the clutch is connected to a driving shaft via a coupling, and the other serving as a slave element of the clutch is connected to a slave shaft via another coupling. The principle of ultrasonic levitation is first expressed. Then, a series-resonant inverter is used to generate AC voltages at input terminals of each transducer, and a speed measuring system with optic sensors is used to find the relationship between rotational speed of the slave shaft and applied voltage of each transducer. Moreover, contact surfaces of the two transducers are coupled by the frictional force when both the two transducers are not energized, and separated using the ultrasonic levitation when at least one of the two transducers is energized at high voltages at resonance.     

Determination of acoustic impedances of multi matching layers for narrowband ultrasonic airborne transducers at frequencies <2.5 MHz - Application of a genetic algorithm

The effective ultrasonic energy radiation into the air of piezoelectric transducers requires using multilayer matching systems with accurately selected acoustic impedances and the thickness of particular layers. One major problem of ultrasonic transducers, radiating acoustic energy into air, is to find the proper acoustic impedances of one or more matching layers. This work aims at developing an original solution to the acoustic impedance mismatch between transducer and air. If the acoustic impedance defences between transducer and air be more, then finding best matching layer(s) is harder. Therefore we consider PZT (lead zirconate titanate piezo electric) transducer and air that has huge acoustic impedance deference. The vibration source energy (PZT), which is used to generate the incident wave, consumes a part of the mechanical energy and converts it to an electrical one in theoretical calculation. After calculating matching layers, we consider the energy source as layer to design a transducer. However, this part of the mechanical energy will be neglected during the mathematical work. This approximation is correct only if the transducer is open-circuit. Since the possibilities of choosing material with required acoustic impedance are limited (the counted values cannot always be realized and applied in practice) it is necessary to correct the differences between theoretical values and the possibilities of practical application of given acoustic impedances. Such a correction can be done by manipulating other parameters of matching layers (e.g. by changing their thickness). The efficiency of the energy transmission from the piezoceramic transducer through different layers with different thickness and different attenuation enabling a compensation of non-ideal real values by changing their thickness was computer analyzed (base on genetic algorithm). Firstly, three theoretical solutions were investigated. Namely, Chebyshev, Desilets and Souquet theories. However, the obtained acoustic impedances do not necessarily correspond to a nowadays available material. Consequently, the values of the acoustic impedances are switched to the nearest values in a large material database. The switched values of the acoustic impedances do not generally give efficient transmission coefficients. Therefore, we proposed, in a second step, the use of a genetic algorithm (GA) to select the best acoustic impedances for matching layers from the material database for a narrow band ultrasonic transducer that work at frequency below the 2.5 MHz by considering attenuation. However this bank is rich, the results get better. So the accuracy of the propose method increase by using a lot of materials with exact data for acoustic impedance and their attenuation, especially in high frequency. This yields highly more efficient transmission coefficient. In fact by using increasing number of layer we can increase our chance to find the best sets of materials with valuable both in acoustic impedance and low attenuation. Precisely, the transmission coefficient is almost equal to unity for the all studied cases. Finally the effect of thickness on transmission coefficient is investigated for different layers. The results showed that the transmission coefficient for air media is a function of thickness and sensitive to it even for small variation in thickness. In fact, the sensitivity increases when the differences of acoustic impedances to be high (difference between PZT and air).