Hybrid transducer

Abstract

An embodiment of the invention is directed to a hybrid geometry type acoustic transducer. A hybrid geometry type acoustic transducer as embodied herein leverages different type transducer physical configurations. More specifically, embodiments of the hybrid transducer combine specific features of traditional Tonpilz resonators and PZT-composite transducers to exploit the beneficial characteristics of both. The outward construction of an embodied hybrid transducer mimics a Tonpilz resonator incorporating a headmass and a tailmass sandwiching a piezoelectric active material. However, rather than using a conventional ceramic ring stack or plate form of active material, a layer of diced or “pillared” active material is provided between the headmass and the tailmass with no filler material other than a gas, such as air, for example, or others, or a vacuum environment. Acoustic projectors constructed using this invention benefit with higher bandwidth and efficiency due to coupling loss that is lower than in prior designs. Likewise, when a hydrophone is constructed using aspects of this invention, exceptional hydrophone figure of merits are obtained. A method for making a hybrid transducer is described.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.