Naval Device Applications of Relaxor Piezoelectric Single Crystals

This SBIR Proposal addresses the Navy’s vision for the Next Generation Countermeasure (NGCM) by demonstrating the feasibility of a 3-inch diameter ADC MK4. Image Acoustics, an innovator in transducer design with seventeen U.S. patents, has teamed with Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems (UEOS), the current supplier of all expendable acoustic countermeasures to the U.S. Navy, to offer a solution that combines a unique new 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 translate to dramatic improvements in bandwidth, transmit voltage response and resonant frequency, respectively. These improved material properties are essential to solving the ADC MK4 acoustics problem in a 3-inch diameter form factor. Because lower operating bands require larger diameters, our team will focus the Phase I effort on Channel 1, which represents the biggest design challenge. Image Acoustics will design and model a 3-inch diameter single crystal Trioid transducer (based on Patent No. 4,742,499 by Image Acoustics) to meet the ADC MK4 requirements in the Channel 1 frequency band, while UEOS will fabricate and test the design to demonstrate the feasibility of a practical device.