Single Crystal 1-3 Composite Projectors for MCM Applications

Current piezoelectric ceramic composites used for mid-range (100-200 kHz) for ASW and MCM applications have a number of drawbacks including size, bandwidth, and stress rods. Single crystal PMN-PT has an inherently higher stress limit than ceramics, though until recently techniques of dicing the material did not allow this limit to be reached. With new techniques, dynamic stresses of 50 MPa are possible, potentially providing up to 14 dB higher source level than PZT with a much wider bandwidth. The higher stress limit could also eliminate the necessity of the stress rod, simplifying fabrication and cost. TRS and Penn State ARL will design and fabricate a composite PMN-PT single crystal, and test it under both low and high field conditions.