PMN-PT SINGLE CRYSTAL Its superiority, opportunity, obstacles and ALPINION's breakthrough Internal Research paper MEDICAL SYSTEMS

Background What is difference in PZT and PMN-PT Single crystal ceramic? In 1960, Clevite Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio, USA patented the use of the ferroelectric mixed-metal oxide ceramic known as PZT for use in acoustic transducers. It displays a superior electromechanical coupling coefficient, high dielectric constant and good thermomechanical stability, and so it has found wide use in speakers and transducers ever since. The very success of PZT has ended up becoming a limitation to further development in the acoustic transducer industry, since no viable alternative piezoelectric materials...

Advantage of PMN-PT single-crystal The net effects of replacing ceramic PZT with single-crystal PMN-PT in a transducer can be summarized as follows. First, less applied voltage is needed to make an acoustic signal, resulting in less waste heat and therefore fewer thermally limited modes of transducer operation. Second, the transmitted and received bandwidths are both wider, meaning that more detailed, lower-noise images can be collected with a simple,conventional array architecture. Simpler arrays reduce the anufacturing cost and complexity compared to PZT transducers that require more components...

There is no magic formula to ALPINION’s remarkable success in manufacturing affordable PMN-PT sonographic transducers; each challenge is met with a technique and specialized tool developed to overcome a particular manufacturing limitation. But where conventional transducer technologies are sufficient, the simplest and most efficient processes are employed. Because of the high cost of PMN-PT components, the prime focus is always on maximizing the yield at each fabrication step. The ALPINION believe that this strategy of “simplicity first, specialized processes where needed” has shown its value...