Frequency characteristics of receiving sensitivity and waveform of an anti-acoustic cavitation hydrophone

Abstract

Novel anti-cavitation hydrophones were fabricated by depositing a hydrothermally synthesized lead zirconate titanate polycrystalline film on the back of a titanium plate. These hydrophones were not damaged by the measurement of the acoustic field formed by a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) device. The hydrophones were designed using Mason’s equivalent circuit and by numerical simulation to improve their receiving characteristics for the measurement of the HIFU device. High receiving sensitivity with flat frequency characteristics was obtained by using a backing material with a specific acoustic impedance of about 20 × 106 kg/(m2 s) [Rayl]. We developed a new type of hydrophone using a tin and titanium rods as backing materials, which have specific acoustic impedances of 24 × 106 and 27 × 106 kg/(m2 s), respectively. The fabricated anti-cavitation hydrophone showed wide frequency characteristics of the receiving sensitivity. Furthermore, we observed the output waveform with distortion due to nonlinear propagation using the fabricated anti-cavitation hydrophone. This hydrophone was not damaged by exposure to a high-intensity acoustic field of an ultrasound cleaner under acoustic cavitation for duration of about ten times longer than the conventional commercial hydrophone.