Development of anticavitation hydrophone using a titanium front plate: Effect of the titanium front plate in high-intensity acoustic field with generation of acoustic cavitation

Novel anticavitation hydrophones were fabricated by depositing a hydrothermally synthesized lead zirconate titanate polycrystalline film at the back of a titanium front plate. These anticavitation hydrophones were not damaged by the measurement of the acoustic field formed by a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) device. Their sensitivity was improved by approximately 20 dB over that of the conventional anticavitation hydrophone by modifying their basic structure and materials. The durability of the anticavitation hydrophone that we fabricated was compared by exposing it to a high-intensity acoustic field at the focal point of the HIFU field and in the water tank of an ultrasound cleaner. Therefore, the effect of the surface of the titanium front plate on acoustic cavitation was investigated by exposing such a surface to the high-intensity acoustic field. We found that the fabricated anticavitation hydrophone was robust and was not damaged easily, even in the focused acoustic field where acoustic cavitation occurs. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics