High sensitive magnetic transducer consisting of PZT, Terfenol-D and ultrasonic horn with high Q value

This paper presents a new magnetoelectric (ME) composite transducer consisting of a magnetostrictive Terfenol-D plate, multiple piezoelectric PZT plates and an ultrasonic horn. The energy of the vibrating wave induced from the magnetostrictive Terfenol-D plate can be converged by using an ultrasonic horn and the more vibrating energy can convert into electric energy through PZT plates at positions with a higher vibrating magnification. The composite structure with a high-Q ultrasonic horn can decrease the energy loss and gather up the energy at resonance. A higher ME voltage coefficient may be obtained by an ultrasonic horn with a higher quality (Q) value. The composite with multiple PZT plates electrically connected in series/parallel exhibits a higher ME voltage coefficient than the previous laminate composite of PZT and Terfenol-D plates. We demonstrate that the composite of several PZT plates, a Terfenol-D plate and an ultrasonic horn substrate has a significantly enhanced ME voltage coefficient and sensitivity relative to the prior sandwiched laminate composite configurations.