1-3 Composites - Material of Choice for High End Ultrasound Transducer

1-3 Piezo Composites have become the material of choice for many high performance ultrasound transducers since they were invented by R.E. Newnham and L.E. Cross in the late 1970's .  A variety of piezo composite materials can be made by combining piezo ceramic elements with a passive polymer such as epoxy or active polymer. Piezo composites are classified according to their connectivity (such as 2-2, 1-3, 0-3 etc.,). Connectivity is defined as the number of dimensions through which the material is continuous. It is conventional for the first digit to refer to the piezoelectrically active phase.


1-3 piezo composites advantages over standard bulk piezo ceramics are in general:  

• lower acoustic impedances, from 8MRayl to 26MRayl
• high coupling coefficients of typically 0.61 to 0.75
• high bandwidth and lower Qm

Product Parameter:
 

Application:

• Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound
• Non-Destructive Testing (NDT)
• SONAR, underwater high performance applications
• Flow Control and Air Ultrasound