Piezoelectric crystal composite for high frequency ultrasound application

Electromechanical coupling coefficient of piezoelectric materials determines the energy conversion efficiency between electrical and acoustic energies and vice versa. A high electromechanical coupling coefficient is essential to the performance of an ultrasound transducer. High frequency piezoelectric single crystal 1-3 composite was fabricated using etch-and-fill method. Crystal composite has superior piezoelectric properties compared to the monolithic single crystals. In addition, piezoelectric composites using PMN-PT binary crystal and PIN-PMN-PT ternary crystal were fabricated, with coupling coefficient greater than 0.8. Ternary piezoelectric crystals PIN-PMN-PT have improved thermal and electrical stability compared to the binary PMN-PT. Such improvements are useful especially for high frequency applications.