High Acoustic Impedance and Attenuation Backing for High-Frequency Focused P(VDF-TrFE)-Based Transducers.

Backing materials with tailored acoustic properties are beneficial for miniaturized ultrasonic transducer design. Whereas piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) films are common elements in high-frequency (>20 MHz) transducer design, their low coupling coefficient limits their sensitivity. Defining a suitable sensitivity-bandwidth trade-off for miniaturized high-frequency applications requires backings with impedances of >25 MRayl and strongly attenuating to account for miniaturized requirements. The motivation of this work is related to several medical applications such as small animal, skin or eye imaging. Simulations showed that increasing the acoustic impedance of the backing from 4.5 to 25 MRayl increases transducer sensitivity by 5 dB but decreases the bandwidth, which nevertheless remains high enough for the targeted applications. In this paper, porous sintered bronze material with spherically shaped grains, size-adapted for 25-30 MHz frequency, was impregnated with tin or epoxy resin to create multiphasic metallic backings. Microstructural characterizations of these new multiphasic composites showed that impregnation was incomplete and that a third air phase was present. The selected composites, sintered bronze-tin-air and sintered bronze-epoxy-air, at 5-35 MHz characterization, produced attenuation coefficients of 1.2 and >4 dB/mm/MHz and impedances of 32.4 and 26.4 MRayl, respectively. High-impedance composites were adopted as backing (thickness = 2 mm) to fabricate focused single-element P(VDF-TrFE)-based transducers (focal distance = 14 mm). The center frequency was 27 MHz, while the bandwidth at -6 dB was 65% for the sintered-bronze-tin-air-based transducer. We evaluated imaging performance using a pulse-echo system on a tungsten wire (diameter = 25 µm) phantom. Images confirmed the viability of integrating these backings in miniaturized transducers for imaging applications.

Acoustic Distortion Ratio Enhancement Using Multiple Pulse-Echo Method (MPEM) for Evaluation of B/A Nonlinear Parameter.

In this article, we report on the analysis of the extended acoustic signature obtained from the pulse-echo method to evaluate the B/A nonlinear parameter in fluids. In the known form of the method, the first acoustic tone burst from the reflector is used for the parameter measurement. The multiple pulse-echo method (MPEM) makes use of several tone bursts coming from the reflector back wall. The distortion ratio can be increased when the source frequency is tuned to a reflector resonance. The repercussion of this increase in the measurement of the nonlinear parameter B/A is investigated. As a practical result, this work suggests that the fluid volume required for the measurement can be reduced.

Efficient algorithm for discrimination of overlapping ultrasonic echoes.

We propose a method to identify the different echoes of an overlapped ultrasonic signal. This method is based on an iterative algorithm that compares the experimental signal to a realistic dictionary of trial functions and allows identification of one overlapped echo at each iteration. Adding physical parameters to the dictionary such as sample attenuation and ultrasound beam diffraction allows the method to be applied to various materials and sample geometries. Measurements at 500kHz and 5MHz on a ABS material and a copper plate are reported. The effectiveness and the robustness of the method are studied as a function of time delay between the different echoes. We show that taking into account the experimental set-up and material properties in the development of the dictionary are critical to identifying a round-trip signal when overlapping occurs.

Layer contributions to the nonlinear acoustic radiation from stratified media.

This study presents the thorough investigation of the second harmonic generation scenario in a three fluid layer system. An emphasis is on the evaluation of the nonlinear parameter B/A in each layer from remote measurements. A theoretical approach of the propagation of a finite amplitude acoustic wave in a multilayered medium is developed. In the frame of the KZK equation, the weak nonlinearity of the media, attenuation and diffraction effects are computed for the fundamental and second harmonic waves propagating back and forth in each of the layers of the system. The model uses a gaussian expansion to describe the beam propagation in order to quantitatively evaluate the contribution of each part of the system (layers and interfaces) to its nonlinearity. The model is validated through measurements on a water/aluminum/water system. Transmission as well as reflection configurations are studied. Good agreement is found between the theoretical results and the experimental data. The analysis of the second harmonic field sources measured by the transducers from outside the stratified medium highlights the factors that favor the cumulative effects.

Ultrasonic self-calibrated method applied to monitoring of sol-gel transition.

In many industrial processes where online control is necessary such as in the food industry, the real time monitoring of visco-elastic properties is essential to ensure the quantity of production. Acoustic methods have shown that reliable properties could be obtained from measurements of velocity and attenuation. This paper proposes a simple, real time ultrasound method for monitoring linear medium properties (phase velocity and attenuation) that vary in time. The method is based on a pulse echo measurement and is self-calibrated. Results on a silica gel are reported and the importance of taking into account the changes of the mechanical loading on the front face of the transducer will be shown. This is done through a modification of the emission and reception transfer parameters. The simultaneous measurement of the input and output currents and voltages enables these parameters to be calculated during the reaction. The variations of the transfer parameters are in the order of 6% and predominate other effects. The evolution of the ultrasonic longitudinal wave phase velocity and attenuation as a function of time allows the characteristic times of the chemical reaction to be determined. The results are well correlated with the gelation time measured by rheological method at low frequency.

Nonlinear constant evaluation in a piezoelectric rod from analysis of second harmonic generation.

The design of transducers requires a clear understanding of their electromechanical behavior. This involves precise linear modeling as well as characterization. With the development of novel techniques such as harmonic imaging as well as high-power applications, nonlinear aspects must also be taken into account. In this study, harmonic generation in the mechanical displacement of a piezoceramic rod under high sinusoidal electric fields was measured. Theoretically, the nonlinearity can come from various sources: dielectric, mechanical, and electromechanical. The nonlinearity coming from external sources being eliminated or taken into account, it is shown here that the analysis, over a wide frequency range, of 2 parameters related to the harmonic distortion enables the respective identification of these sources and, at the same time, the evaluation of third-order constants of the material.