STM-BASED HYDROPHONE SENSORS

SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE (STM) TECHNOLOGY OFFERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO FABRICATE VERY SMALL INTEGRATED SENSORS THAT EXHIBIT HIGH SENSITIVITY, AS PROTOTYPES AT GOVERNMENT AND UNIVERSITY RESEARCH LABS HAVE DEMONSTRATED. CONTEMPORARY HYDROPHONES, WHICH TYPICALLY USE PIEZOELECTRIC OR FERROELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS, HOLD THE PROSPECTS FOR HAVING BOTH THEIR LOW-END FREQUENCY RESPONSE AND THEIR SENSITIVITIES INCREASED BY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE IF THEIR INTERNAL SENSING ELEMENTS ARE REPLACED WITH STM-BASED ELEMENTS - A SIGNIFICANT TECHNICAL EDGE FOR CRUCIAL NAVAL MONITORING EFFORTS. SRC PROPOSES THE UTILIZATION OF STMS AS THE CENTRAL ELEMENT OF A HYDROPHONE, WITH THE PROSPECTS OF SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER PERFORMANCE AND SMALLER PACKAGES COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL HYDROPHONES. THIS PROPOSAL WILL INVESTIGATE THE SUITABILITY OF STM-BASED MICROSENSORS FOR HYDROPHONE APPLICATIONS, WITH PARTICULAR CONCERN FOR BANDWIDTHS, SENSITIVITIES AND RESOLUTIONS. IN SHORT, THE PHASE I EFFORT WOULD CONSIST OF SYSTEM ANALYSIS, PRELIMINARY SENSOR AND PACKAGING DESIGNS, AND PROPOSED FABRICATION PROTOCOLS. SRC AND ITS ASSOCIATES HAVE EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND INTEGRATION OF MICROSESNSORS, MICROACTUATORS, AND UNDERWATER TELEROBOTICS. IN ITS PAST EFFORTS, SRC HAS EMPHASIZED INTEGRATED, COMPLETE SYSTEMS RATHER THAN ISOLATED DEMONSTRATIONS OF FEASIBILITY. AS A RESULT, THE PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT IS AIMED AT EXAMINING STM TECHNOLOGY AS A ROBUST, PRACTICAL APPROACH TO HYDROPHONIC SENSING.