Manufacturing of PMN/PT probes

As a monocrystal material, lead magnesium niobate/lead titanate (PMN-PT) is known for its outstanding piezoelectric properties. It constitutes a very promising basis for the development of highly sensitive ultrasonic probes. Early PMN-PT transducers have shown that significantly higher amplitudes and bandwidths are possible (see figures).

Together with IBULE Photonics from Korea, we have developed and characterized piezoelectric 1-3 composites based on PMN-PT monocrystals and used them for building phased-array ultrasonic probes. For this purpose, we conducted measurements on a titanium test specimen (see figure) with three diagonally arranged lateral drill holes (0.5 mm diameter each).

The new PMN-PT transducers are particularly suitable for applications where a low signal-to-noise ratio is to be expected due to geometric attenuation or long sound transmission paths. Their increased sensitivity and the probe’s shorter pulse duration have yielded very convincing results. In practice, this leads to a better signal-to-noise ratio and to an improved depth resolution of defects.