Ultrasonic transducer, method for operating an ultrasonic transducer, and method for measuring distance

An ultrasonic transducer comprising:

• an actuator;
• a damper;
• a detector;
• an adapter;
• and
• a membrane,
• wherein the actuator is configured to excite the membrane to emit an ultrasonic wave,
• wherein the damper is configured to dampen a ringing of the membrane occurring after excitation by a damping signal,
• wherein the detector is configured to detect an amplitude of the ringing of the membrane, and
• wherein the adapter is configured to determine the damping signal based on the detected amplitude of the ringing.

A method for operating an ultrasonic transducer, the method comprising:

• exciting, by an actuator, a membrane to emit an ultrasonic wave;
• damping, by a damper, an amplitude of a ringing of the membrane;
• detecting, by a detector, the amplitude of the ringing of the membrane at least at one timing after damping by the damper;
• and
• determining, by adaptor, an adapted damping signal based on the amplitude of the ringing detected by the detector.