<title>Material challenges for transducer designers in the 21st century</title>

Abstract

The modern U.S. Navy is rapidly evolving to meet the challenges of operating in the littorals. This focus changes the rules, especially to the designers of sonar systems that now need to aggressively engage quiet diesel electric submarine threats and neutralize sophisticated underwater mines. These new responsibilities dictate that new concepts be developed. To meet these new demands on the sonar system, transducer designers are being tasked to design transducers and to utilize new materials to address performance requirements that were never even imagined a decade ago. Sensor needs are no longer limited to pressure types but now have to sense velocity or acceleration. Sources are challenged to both frequency extent and power levels. The need to physically move sources off of submarines and surface combatants and onto vehicles with limited energy capabilities prompt the challenge of efficient bandwidth and high coupling. These are the needs of the 'next Navy'; the needs of the 'Navy after next' will present an even more demanding scenario. The future will demand revolutionary technology at the micro level with devices utilizing new power sources and new materials.