Wide-band piezoelectric polymer acoustic sources

The design of a wideband acoustic source made of the piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidine fluoride (PVDF) is described. The source was developed for the characterization and absolute calibration of ultrasonic hydrophone probes. Construction details are described and performance characteristics of the wideband PVDF transmitter, including its transmitting voltage response and directivity patterns, are compared with theoretical predictions in the frequency range up to 40 MHz. The Krimholtz-Leedom-Mattaei (KLM) model was used to examine the influence of the PVDF polymer film thickness, the backing acoustic impedance, the cable length, and the electrical source resistance on overall transmit transfer characteristics. A comparison is made with traditional piezoelectric ceramic acoustic sources, and it is shown that piezopolymer transmitters exhibit some improved properties and are well suited for certain ultrasound dosimetry applications. In particular, the polymer sources have been found useful in measurements based on swept-frequency excitation. Those measurements allow characterization of transmitters and receivers to be performed as a virtually continuous function of frequency.