Electrical excitation and optical detection of ultrasounds in PZT based piezoelectric transducers

Abstract

The displacement response of piezoelectric PZT thick films fabricated by means of electrophoretic deposition and laid down an alumina substrate is investigated using coherent optical detection. According to thickness properties determined by electrical impedance measurements, the film presents a resonance around 40 MHz. Other resonance peaks are observed that correspond to eigen modes of the film substrate couple structure. Uniformity of the response of the integrated structure is studied across the surface of the sample when excited by either a continuous or impulse electrical voltage. Results on the amplitude of the detected signal versus the frequency and the input excitation voltage are reported. The optical detection used in these experiments is complementary to conventional techniques of characterization of piezoelectric devices such as electrical impedance measurements and allows getting information on the displacement response of the device.