Electroacoustic Device

Abstract

Electroacoustic device (5) comprising: an ultrasonic wave transducer (15) comprising a piezoelectric substrate (10) and first (30) and second (35) electrodes in contact with the piezoelectric substrate, and a carrier (10), the transducer being attached to the carrier and acoustically coupled to the carrier, and the first and second electrodes being sandwiched, at least partly, between the piezoelectric substrate and the carrier, the device being configured to generate an ultrasonic surface wave (W) propagating through the carrier at a distance from the transducer when an electric current passes through the first and second electrodes.

Claims

1-21. (canceled)

22. An electroacoustic device comprising: a support; and an ultrasonic wave transducer acoustically coupled to the support and configured to generate guided waves that transform into ultrasonic surface waves within the support and at a distance from the transducer, the ultrasonic wave transducer comprising: a piezoelectric substrate; and first and second electrodes sandwiched between the piezoelectric substrate and the support, wherein the ultrasonic surface waves have a fundamental frequency of between 10 MHz and 1000 MHz.

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the first and second electrodes directly contact the support or contact an intermediate layer disposed between the support and the first and second electrodes.

24. The device of claim 22, wherein a thickness of the piezoelectric substrate is greater than the fundamental wavelength of the ultrasonic guided waves.

25. The device of claim 22, wherein portions of the first and second electrodes protrude from the support.

26. The device of claim 22, further comprising a protective member disposed on the piezoelectric substrate.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the ultrasonic wave transducer is disposed in a chamber defined in the protection member and the support.

28. The device of claim 22, further comprising an adhesive layer connecting the piezoelectric substrate to the support.

29. The device of claim 22, wherein the support comprises: a motor vehicle surface; a visor of a headset; a window of a building; a sensor; a lens of an optical device; or a protection element of an optical device.

30. An electroacoustic device comprising: a support; and an ultrasonic wave transducer acoustically coupled with, and protruding from, an edge of the support, the ultrasonic wave transducer comprising: a piezoelectric substrate disposed on the substrate; and first and second electrodes disposed on a portion of the piezoelectric substrate that extends from the edge of the support, wherein the ultrasonic wave transducer is configured to generate ultrasonic surface waves that propagate through the support, beginning at distance from the ultrasonic wave transducer, when an electric current is applied to the first and second electrodes.

31. The device of claim 30, further comprising an adhesive layer connecting the piezoelectric substrate to the support.

32. The device of claim 30, further comprising a protection member disposed on the piezoelectric substrate.

33. The device of claim 30, wherein the ultrasonic wave transducer is disposed in a chamber defined in the protection member and the support.

34. The device of claim 30, wherein the support comprises: a motor vehicle surface; a visor of a headset; a window of a building; a sensor; a lens of an optical device; or a protection element of an optical device.

35. A method of using an ultrasonic transducer to displace a liquid disposed on a support, the method comprising: providing an electroacoustic device comprising: a support; and an ultrasonic wave transducer acoustically coupled to the support and configured to generate guided waves that transform into ultrasonic surface waves within the support and at a distance from the transducer, the ultrasonic wave transducer comprising: a piezoelectric substrate; and first and second electrodes sandwiched between the piezoelectric substrate and the support; providing an electric current to the ultrasonic transducer to generate ultrasonic surface waves that propagate at a distance from the ultrasonic transducer; and propagating the ultrasonic surface waves to displace a droplet of the liquid on the support, the droplet having diameter of less than or equal to 5 mm.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the droplet has a diameter of 1 mm or less.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the droplet has a diameter of 0.1 mm or less.

38. The method of claim 35, wherein a fundamental frequency of the guided wave and/or the fundamental frequency of the surface wave is between 0.1 MHz and 1000 MHz.

39. A method of using an electroacoustic device of claim 22, the method comprising: generating ultrasonic surface waves using the ultrasonic wave transducer; and propagating the ultrasonic surface waves to a liquid disposed on the support at a distance from the transducer, such that the liquid is displaced on the support.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the displaced liquid is in the form of a sheet or a droplet having a diameter of 5 mm or less.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the drop having a diameter less than or equal to 1 mm or less.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the displaced liquid is in the form of a sheet or a droplet having a diameter of 0.1 mm or less.

43. A method of using an electroacoustic device of claim 22, the method comprising: providing electrical power to the ultrasonic wave transducer to generate ultrasonic surface waves that propagate in the support to a body disposed on the support at a distance from the transducer, and to heat the support, wherein the electrical power provided to the ultrasonic wave transducer is sufficient to: convert the body from a solid state to a liquid state; and/or maintain the body in the liquid state when the temperature of the support is lower than a melting temperature of the body.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising displacing the body in the liquid state on the support using the ultrasonic surface waves.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the body comprises water.

Description

[0108] The invention will be able to be better understood on reading the following detailed description, of nonlimiting exemplary implementations thereof, and on studying the attaching drawing, in which:

[0109] FIG. 1 represents schematically, and in cross-section, an example of electroacoustic device according to the invention,

[0110] FIG. 2 represents, in perspective, the wave transducer of the electroacoustic device illustrated in FIG. 1,

[0111] FIG. 3 represents another example of electroacoustic device according to the invention, and

[0112] FIG. 4 represents yet another example of electroacoustic device according to the invention.

[0113] The constituent elements of the drawing are not represented to scale in the interests of clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0114] FIG. 1 illustrates a first example of an electroacoustic device 5 according to the first aspect of the invention.

[0115] It comprises a support 10 onto which a transducer 15 is fixed, by means of a layer of glue 20. The layer of glue acoustically couples the support to the transducer.

[0116] The transducer comprises a substrate 25 and first 30 and second 35 electrodes which coat a face 40 of the substrate.

[0117] The substrate is made of a piezoelectric material, for example of 128° Y-cut lithium niobate. It takes the form of a plate, the thickness e of which is greater than the wavelength of the wave generated by the transducer. Thus, the wave generated by the transducer is transmitted directly in the support and does not reach the face 45 of the substrate opposite that on which the support is mounted.

[0118] The first and second electrodes are sandwiched between the support and the substrate and are linked to a voltage generator 50 which powers them electrically. They are thus disposed facing the support, and are protected by the support, the substrate and the layer of glue.

[0119] The support in the example illustrated takes the form of a plate and has a top face 55 in contact with the outside environment 60. In the example illustrated, it is covered by a body 65 in the form of a film of water. The body 65 can be a drop or a sheet. For example, the sheet is formed by the clustering of drops, for example of rain, on the support.

[0120] To manufacture the device, the first and second electrodes can be formed by an evaporation or sputtering method and shaped by photolithography. Then can be made of chromium, or aluminum or of the combination of a bond coat such as titanium and a conductive layer such as gold. The duly covered substrate can then be glued onto the support. In order to facilitate the gluing operation, a self-supporting support is preferred,

[0121] As is illustrated in FIG. 2, the first 30 and second 35 electrodes form first 70 and second 75 combs. Each comb comprises a base 80, 85 and a row of fingers 90, 95, extending parallel to one another from the base. The first and second combs are interdigital.

[0122] Each of the fingers of the first comb, respectively of the second comb, has a. widthiequal to the fundamental wavelength of the ultrasonic surface wave divided by 4 and the spacing S between two successive fingers of a comb is equal to the fundamental wavelength of the ultrasonic surface wave divided by 4.

[0123] The spacing between the fingers determines the resonance frequency of the transducer which the person skilled in the art can easily determine An alternative voltage is applied by the generator 50 and can be amplified, such that the transducer generates art ultrasonic surface wave.

[0124] The alternating electrical powering of the first and second electrodes induces a. mechanical response from the piezoelectric material, which results in the generation of a guided surface wave G which propagates in the support in a direction of propagation P, notably toward the body disposed on the support.

[0125] For a configured transducer to generate a wave of predetermined fundamental frequency, the determination of the energy generated by the transducer that is sufficient to displace or melt the body and/or maintain it in the liquid state is easy for the person skilled in the art. Notably, the person skilled in the art can link the fundamental frequency of the ultrasonic guided wave to the frequency of the electrical signal to generate the wave. He or she can then vary the amplitude of the electrical signal so as to determine the sufficient electrical energy to be supplied to the transducer.

[0126] When the transducer is electrically powered by the voltage generator, it generates an ultrasonic wave. Since the first and second electrodes are sandwiched between the support and the substrate, the wave G generated by the transducer is guided and propagates at the interface between the support and the substrate, defined by the face of the substrate coated by the electrodes and by the face of the support. facing the electrodes. When the guided wave reaches the lateral end 98 of the substrate along its direction of propagation, it is transmitted in the support in the form of an ultrasonic surface wave W which propagates on the surface of the support. The transformation of the guided wave into a surface wave results from the absence of interface between two solids in the portion of the support not covered by the transducer. The surface wave then interacts with the body covering the support. For a liquid body, a transducer synthesizing a surface wave with a fundamental frequency lying between 0.1 MHz and 1000 MHz, preferably lying between 10 MHz and 100 MHz, for example equal to 40 MHz, is well suited to ensuring the displacement of a. film of water. In the variant in which the film of water is in the form of ice or of frost, it is also well suited to provoking the melting of the film of water, by the input of energy from the ultrasonic surface wave and by the transfer of the heat that it generates, notably by resistive heating of the electrodes,

[0127] The device illustrated in FIG. 3 differs from that illustrated in FIG. 1 in that it further comprises a protection member 100 which is superposed on the support and on the transducer. Together with the support, it defines a chamber 105 in which the transducer is housed. The transducer, and more particularly the substrate, is thus protected from the outside elements, such as precipitations and dust. The protection member is fixed onto the face 45 of the substrate not coated by the first and second electrodes. Since the substrate has a thickness greater than the wavelength of the guided wave, the protection member does not interact with the guided wave. The protection member can be made of an impact-resistant material, such as a metal or a thermoplastic. in the example illustrated, the protection member is at a distance from the support. Thus, it does not hamper the propagation of the ultrasonic surface wave in the support.

[0128] Finally, the device illustrated in FIG. 4 differs from the device illustrated in FIG. 1 in that it comprises a portion protruding from the edge of the support, and the first and second electrodes are disposed on a portion 108 of the piezoelectric substrate not superposed on the support. Since the first and second electrodes are at a distance from the support, it is easy to connect them electrically to the voltage generator.

[0129] When the substrate is powered electrically, the device generates a primary wave Q which propagates on the surface of the substrate then at the interface 110 between the substrate and the support. When the primary wave reaches the lateral end 98 of the substrate along its direction of propagation, it is transmitted in the support in the form of an ultrasonic surface wave which propagates on the surface of the support. As in the example of FIG. 1, the ultrasonic surface wave can induce the displacement of a liquid on the support.

[0130] Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments of the method, and notably to the examples, presented in the present description.