Naval Device Applications of Relaxor Piezoelectric Single Crystals

This SBIR Proposal addresses the need for a compact, low frequency, broadband, towed high power source for active detection and localization capability on U.S. Navy surface ships. Image Acoustics, an innovator in transducer design with seventeen U.S. patents, has teamed with Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems (UEOS), the prime contractor on the recent and successful Detection, Classification and Localization Demo (Contract No. N00024-05-C-6105), to offer a solution that combines a unique new Trioid transducer design with the improved material properties of single crystal. Single crystal’s higher electromechanical coupling, higher piezoelectric d constant and lower modulus than conventional piezoelectric ceramic translates to dramatic improvements in bandwidth, transmit voltage response and resonant frequency, respectively. These improved material properties are critical to meeting the goals for acoustic performance and size. Phase I of this research and development project will demonstrate the feasibility of a practical device and will include transducer design, computer modeling and the fabrication and test of a scaled experimental prototype.