The characterization of permanent acoustic bonding agents

Permanent acoustic bonding agents are important for affixing transducers to acoustic materials. They are used for electronic, industrial, medical, and research applications. An important research aspect has been the characterization of permanent and nonpermanent bonding materials. The work reported here characterizes the transfer efficiency of selected permanent bonding agents in the frequency region from 200 MHz to 800 MHz using two fused quartz blocks with zinc oxide transducers formed at each end and the bond material sandwiched between the two blocks. The transfer efficiency is compared to an optical bond condition without the presence of the bond material. The permanent bonding materials studied were epoxy type compounds with the best exhibiting transfer efficiencies within a few dB of the optically bonded blocks.