Input impedance matching of acoustic transducers operating at off-resonant frequencies

The input impedance matching technique of acoustic transducers at off-resonant frequencies is reported. It uses an inherent impedance property of transducers and thus does not need an external electric matching circuit or extra acoustic matching section. The input electrical equivalent circuit includes a radiation component and a dielectric capacitor. The radiation component consists of a radiation resistance and a radiation reactance. The total reactance is the sum of the radiation reactance and the dielectric capacitive reactance. This reactance becomes zero at two frequencies where the impedance is real. The transducer size can be properly chosen so that the impedance at one of the zero-crossing frequencies is close to 50 Ω, the output impedance of signal generators. At this off-resonant operating frequency, the reflection coefficient of the transducer is minimized without using any matching circuit. Other than the size, the impedance can also be fine tuned by adjusting the thickness of material that bonds the transducer plate to the substrates. The acoustic impedance of the substrate and that of the bonding material can also be used as design elements in the transducer structure to achieve better transducer matching. Lead titanate piezoelectric plates were bonded on Lucite, liquid crystal polymer (LCP), and bismuth (Bi) substrates to produce various transducer structures. Their input impedance was simulated using a transducer model and compared with measured values to illustrate the matching principle.