Primary Level Hydrophone Calibration System Based on PC Oscilloscope

Primary level “hydrophone calibration system” for calibrating hydrophones in the frequency range from a few to hundreds kilohertz under free-field conditions is presented. “Open architecture system” has been developed on the basis of conventional laboratory equipment, namely, signal generator, power amplifier, and digital PC-oscilloscope. Concept of design, measurement flowchart and results of validation with uncertainty budget of measurements are presented. The system covers wide frequency range of underwater applications and also presents low-cost solution enabling to reach sufficient level required for primary calibration according to standards.     

Errors and uncertainties in the measurement of ultrasonic wave attenuation and phase velocity

This paper presents an analysis of the error generation mechanisms that affect the accuracy of measurements of ultrasonic wave attenuation coefficient and phase velocity as functions of frequency. In the first stage of the analysis we show that electronic system noise, expressed in the frequency domain, maps into errors in the attenuation and the phase velocity spectra in a highly nonlinear way; the condition for minimum error is when the total measured attenuation is around 1 Neper. The maximum measurable total attenuation has a practical limit of around 6 Nepers and the minimum measurable value is around 0.1 Neper. In the second part of the paper we consider electronic noise as the primary source of measurement error; errors in attenuation result from additive noise whereas errors in phase velocity result from both additive noise and system timing jitter. Quantization noise can be neglected if the amplitude of the additive noise is comparable with the quantization step, and coherent averaging is employed. Experimental results are presented which confirm the relationship between electronic noise and measurement errors. The analytical technique is applicable to the design of ultrasonic spectrometers, formal assessment of the accuracy of ultrasonic measurements, and the optimization of signal processing procedures to achieve a specified accuracy.     

Extending the frequency range of the National Physical Laboratory primary standard laser interferometer for hydrophone calibrations to 80 MHz

A method for the primary calibration of hydrophones in the frequency range up to 60 MHz is described. The current National Physical Laboratory (NPL) primary standard method of calibrating ultrasonic hydrophones from 500 kHz to 20 MHz is based on optical interferometry. The acoustic field produced by a transducer is detected by an acoustically transparent but optically reflecting pellicle. Optical interferometric measurements of pellicle displacement at discrete frequencies in tone-burst fields are converted to acoustic pressure, and the hydrophone for calibration is substituted at the same point, allowing sensitivity in volts per pascal to be obtained directly. For calibrations up to 60 MHz, the interferometer is capable of measuring the displacement of the pellicle as a function of frequency in a harmonically rich nonlinear field up to and including the 12th harmonic of the shocked field generated by a 5 MHz focusing transducer, allowing hydrophones to be calibrated by substitution in the same field. Sources of uncertainty in the new method have been investigated. Best combined random and systematic uncertainties at the 95% confidence level for the new method are 7% at 20 MHz, 11% at 40 MHz, and 16% at 60 MHz.     

VHF and UHF Attenuation Measurements to 140 dB

A system has been assembled for rapid comparison of production step attenuators, with a reference attenuator using direct substitution at spot frequencies in the VHF and UHF range. The total attenuation range for such tests is 140 dB, with a basic resolution of ±0.01 dB and with maximum errors of ±0.08 dB, attributable, primarily, to reflection inaccuracies. Simplified methods for measurement to 110 dB at any selected frequency are described, as well as additional refinements permitting spot frequency measurements to 170 dB. The basic equipment required for these measurements is a well-shielded signal source generating in excess of 100 mW, and a low-noise narrow-band receiver with provision for locking the signal frequency to the center of the receiver passband.     

A signal processing technique for measurement of multimode waveguide signals: An application to monitoring of reaction bonding in silicon nitride

A system that uses ultrasonic techniques to monitor the reaction bonding of silicon nitride is described. Reaction bonding of silicon nitride takes place in a nitrogen atmosphere at temperatures up to 1400°C. As with many sensors used in hostile environments, it is difficult to design the ultrasonic sensor in a way that provides optimal clarity of the signal. The sensing system must be designed within the physical limitations on access to the furnace. Ultrasonic probes that accommodate limited access to the silicon nitride sample have been designed and ultrasonic signals acquired during processing, albeit with significant noise and complexity in the signal. Signal processing techniques are used which make it possible to measure changes in phase velocity and attenuation during reaction bonding. Because of variability in the measured velocity and attenuation, the method of signal processing presented is applicable to those cases where it is not possible to redesign the probe for optimal clarity of the ultrasonic signal. This technique demonstrates the potential to perform measurements using signals that would have been considered intractable in the past. Data obtained from ultrasonic monitoring are suitable for use as input to a manufacturing process control feedback loop.     

Calibration of hydrophones based on reciprocity and time delay spectrometry

A brief survey is given of the calibration methods for hydrophones in the ultrasonic frequency range. The methods presently used in the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, West Germany, for hydrophone calibrations in the frequency range from 1 to 15 MHz are the primary subject of concern. These methods are the two-transducer reciprocity method for the calibration at discrete frequencies, the time-delay-spectrometry substitution method for quasifrequency continuous calibrations, and the two-transducer reciprocity method with time-delay spectrometry, also for quasi-frequency continuous calibration. Compared with the calibration at discrete frequencies, the expenditure of time for a calibration is considerably reduced in the case of the last-mentioned method. The influencing parameters which affect the evaluation of the measurement uncertainty are briefly discussed for the calibration methods applied at the PTB.     

Measurement of Broadband Temperature-Dependent Ultrasonic Attenuation and Dispersion Using Photoacoustics

The broadband ultrasonic characterization of biological fluids and tissues is important for the continued development and application of high-resolution ultrasound imaging modalities. Here, a photoacoustic technique for the transmission measurement of temperature-dependent ultrasonic attenuation and dispersion is described. The system uses a photoacoustic plane wave source constructed from a polymethylmethacrylate substrate with a thin optically absorbent layer. Broadband ultrasonic waves are generated by illuminating the absorbent layer with nanosecond pulses of laser light. The transmitted ultrasound waves are detected by a planar 7-μm high-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer. Temperatureinduced thickness changes in the Fabry-Perot interferometer are tracked to monitor the sample temperature and maintain the sensor sensitivity. The measured ?6-dB bandwidth for the combined source and sensor is 1 to 35 MHz, with an attenuation corrected signal level at 100 MHz of ?10 dB. The system is demonstrated through temperature-dependent ultrasound measurements in castor oil and olive oil. Power law attenuation parameters are extracted by fitting the experimental attenuation data to a frequency power law while simultaneously fitting the dispersion data to the corresponding Kramers-Kr?nig relation. The extracted parameters are compared with other calibration measurements previously reported in the literature.     

A nonlinear propagation model-based phase calibration technique for membrane hydrophones

A technique for the phase calibration of membrane hydrophones in the frequency range up to 80 MHz is described. This is achieved by comparing measurements and numerical simulation of a nonlinearly distorted test field. The field prediction is obtained using a finite-difference model that solves the nonlinear Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation in the frequency domain. The measurements are made in the far field of a 3.5 MHz focusing circular transducer in which it is demonstrated that, for the high drive level used, spatial averaging effects due to the hydrophone's finite-receive area are negligible. The method provides a phase calibration of the hydrophone under test without the need for a device serving as a phase response reference, but it requires prior knowledge of the amplitude sensitivity at the fundamental frequency. The technique is demonstrated using a 50-microm thick bilaminar membrane hydrophone, for which the results obtained show functional agreement with predictions of a hydrophone response model. Further validation of the results is obtained by application of the response to the measurement of the high amplitude waveforms generated by a modern biomedical ultrasonic imaging system. It is demonstrated that full deconvolution of the calculated complex frequency response of a nonideal hydrophone results in physically realistic measurements of the transmitted waveforms.     

Minimizing the Effects of Reflections by Using a Virtual Pulse Method, for Free-Field Reciprocity Calibration

The National Metrology Institute of Japan has developed a free-field reciprocity calibration system for type WS3 microphones as acoustic standards in the airborne ultrasonic range between 20 and 100 kHz, because numerous instruments radiate airborne ultrasound. Precise calibration of these microphones requires minimizing the influence of sound reflected from the objects such as absorbing wedges and supporting rods within the acoustic chamber. To minimize this influence, we applied the virtual pulse method, which is a signal processing technique used in the audible frequency to airborne ultrasonic range. Experimental and analytical results validated this method. Use of this method in the calibration of type WS3 microphones will decrease the calibration uncertainty in the free-field sensitivity level.     

Primary calibration of ultrasonic hydrophone using optical interferometry

A primary calibration method for ultrasonic hydrophones which uses a Michelson interferometer to determine the particle displacement in an ultrasonic field is discussed. The acoustic pressure is derived from this measurement and used to determine the free-field sensitivity of a hydrophone in the frequency range 0.5-15 MHz. The random uncertainty of the method is typically 1%, whereas the systematic uncertainty varies from 2.3 to 6.6% over the frequency range. To obtain this accuracy, the performance of the system has been carefully examined and appropriate correction factors derived. The greatest difficulty in the method lies in determining the frequency response of the optical detection system, and two different approaches have been used to measure this response. Several acoustical effects have also been studied and the calibration procedure modified to take account of them. The calibration results are in agreement with those of other methods and with the theoretically predicted frequency response of a hydrophone. The method has been used to determine the temporal stability of a hydrophone over a period of two years.     

Application of time-delay spectrometry for calibration of ultrasonic transducers

Time-delay spectrometry (TDS) can conveniently be used for calibration and performance evaluation of piezoelectric electroacoustic transducers. The main emphasis of the work reported here is an experimental evaluation of the TDS technique. The TDS concept is introduced through a theoretical analysis. The experimental evaluation is carried out using specially designed measurement methods and instrumentation which uses a spectrum analyzer as the central analog signal processing unit. The optimal performance of the TDS measurement systems is analyzed in terms of relevant instrumentation parameters. The advantages and disadvantages of TDS, including practical performance limitations, are discussed, along with the measurement uncertainties of the method. It is shown that TDS in the frequence range covering both underwater acoustics and medical ultrasonics applications offers a viable alternative to other calibration techniques, such as those based on a gated burst measurement system.     

Long-Term Stability of the NIST Standard Ultrasonic Source

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Ultrasonic Source (SUS) is a system comprising a transducer capable of output power levels up to 1 W at multiple frequencies between 1 MHz and 30 MHz, and an electrical impedance-matching network that allows the system to be driven by a conventional 50 Ω rf (radio-frequency) source. It is designed to allow interlaboratory replication of ultrasonic power levels with high accuracy using inexpensive readily available ancillary equipment.The SUS was offered for sale for 14 years (1985 to 1999). Each system was furnished with data for the set of calibration points (combinations of power level and frequency) specified by the customer. Of the systems that had been ordered with some calibration points in common, three were returned more than once to NIST for recalibration. Another system retained at NIST has been recalibrated periodically since 1984. The collective data for these systems comprise 9 calibration points and 102 measurements spanning a 17 year interval ending in 2001, the last year NIST ultrasonic power measurement services were available to the public.These data have been analyzed to compare variations in output power with frequency, power level, and time elapsed since the first calibration. The results verify the claim, made in the instruction sheet furnished with every SUS, that “long-term drift, if any, in the calibration of NIST Standard Sources is insignificant compared to the uncertainties associated with a single measurement of ultrasonic power by any method available at NIST.”     

Superheterodyne Measurement of Microwave Attenuation at a 10-kHz Intermediate Frequency

The excellent relative frequency stability of the output of two microwave oscillators phase-locked to a common reference signal permits the use of an audio intermediate frequency in the superheterodyne measurement of microwave attenuation. The phase-lock feature also permits the measurement of microwave phase at the audio frequency. The choice of the audio instead of the more conventional 30-MHz intermediate frequency is made on the basis of the low cost and convenient operation, for similar accuracy, of an audio ratio transformer and audio phase shifter in comparison with a 30-MHz cutoff attenuator and 30-MHz phase shifter. A measurement system of this type has been operated at frequencies ranging from 2.5 to 18 GHz. The basic reference signal for phase lock is fed into harmonic mixers associated with the signal source and local oscillator. The outputs of the harmonic mixers go to phase discriminators that control the microwave oscillator frequencies. The precision of measurement at a signal frequency of 10 GHz varies from ±0.0002 dB for an attenuation step of 10 dB or less, to ±0.001 dB for a 50-dB step.     

Fiber optic ultrasonic sensor using Raman-Nath light diffraction

A novel fiber optic ultrasonic sensor using the principle of Raman-Nath light diffraction has been developed. The sensor does not perturb the acoustic field and exhibits a wideband frequency response. In addition to the remote sensing of the field, it is suitable for measurements of both continuous and pulsed ultrasonic waves. The experimental results obtained with the sensor were compared to those measured using a calibrated PVDF needle hydrophone, showing excellent agreement. The sensor's frequency response in the range from 3 to 15 MHz, typical of that used in medical ultrasound imaging, was determined using the time delay spectrometry (TDS) technique. It appears that the fiber optic sensor provides a useful alternative to the widely used PVDF ultrasonic probes in specific applications where any perturbation between acoustic field and sensor is undesirable. Also, since the active element diameter of the sensor can be made comparable to the core diameter of an optical fiber, the fiber optic sensor minimizes the spatial averaging effects and offers significant improvement in comparison with the present state-of-the-art hydrophones which have a minimum diameter on the order of 300 μm     

Effects of frequency-dependent attenuation and velocity dispersion on in vitro ultrasound velocity measurements in intact human femur specimens

Numerous studies have shown that ultrasonic velocity measured in bone provides a good assessment of osteoporotic fracture risk. However, a lack of standardization of signal processing techniques used to compute the speed of sound (SOS) complicates the comparison between data obtained with different commercial devices. In this study, 38 intact femurs were tested using a through-transmission technique and SOS determined using different techniques. The resulting difference in measured SOS was determined as functions of the attenuation and the velocity dispersion. A numerical simulation was used to explain how attenuation and dispersion impact two different SOS measurements (group velocity, velocity based on the first zero crossing of the signal). A new method aimed at compensating for attenuation was devised and led to a significant reduction in the difference between SOS obtained with both signal processing techniques. A comparison between SOS and X-ray density measurements indicated that the best correlation was reached for SOS based on the first zero crossing apparently because it used a marker located in the early part of the signal and was less sensitive to multipath interference. The conclusion is that first zero crossing velocity may be preferred to group velocity for ultrasonic assessment at this potential fracture site.     

Accurate velocity measurements of AFM-cantilever vibrations by Doppler interferometry

Doppler velocimetry is widely used in the measurement of nanometre resonance vibrations of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). It has excellent sensitivity and precision, but typical engineering applications do not require traceability of these velocity measurements to the SI system. While Doppler velocimetry is, in principle, easy to make traceable to the velocity of light, in practice a frequency-to-voltage conversion in common commercial instruments breaks this traceability unless calibrated. Typically, though, calibration is performed at a much lower frequency than those typical of MEMS devices, without the guarantee that the calibration is applicable in this higher frequency regime.

We present a method of traceable measurement of velocity in terms of the velocity of light, valid for the range of frequency and nanometre amplitudes typical of MEMS devices driven to resonance vibration. This is achieved by analysis of sideband amplitudes in the interference spectrum before demodulation of the Doppler signal. These sideband amplitudes can conveniently be measured using a benchtop spectrum analyser, a piece of widely available electrical test equipment. We illustrate the method with measurements on individual AFM cantilevers. In combination with cantilever calibration methods based on MEMS devices this method enables traceable calibration of those cantilevers employed for the measurement of pico- and nanonewton forces between individual biomolecules.     

水听器复数灵敏度的激光法校准

利用激光测振技术直接检测声场作用下的水介质质点振速,通过推算得到声场中该点声压的幅值和相位,从而可精确校准水听器的复数灵敏度.利用该技术,我们在10～100 kHz频段建立了一套水听器复数灵敏度的校准装置.本文简要介绍了装置的校准原理、方法以及各组成部分,并对Φ20球形水听器进行实验测试.结果表明,激光测振技术是一种有效的校准水听器复数灵敏度的方法,校准结果具有很高的精度.     

A Fiber Optic Ultrasonic System to Monitor the Cure of Epoxy

A fiber optic ultrasonic system is described which monitors the cure of an epoxy resin. Ultrasound is generated using a high-power optical fiber to deliver high-energy pulses of light to the prepared surface of an aluminum mold that contains the curing epoxy resin. The generated ultrasound is detected using a local fiber optic ultrasound sensor embedded in the curing epoxy resin. The system was used to measure the ultrasonic signal velocity and ultrasonic attenuation throughout the cure of a neat epoxy resin at room temperature. Similar measurements also were performed using a piezoelectric transducer for ultrasound generation and an embedded fiber optic sensor for detection, which provided verification of the results using the complete fiber optic system. The complete fiber optic system demonstrated adequate sensitivity throughout the entire cure to measure the ultrasonic signal velocity and ultrasonic attenuation.     

VHF/UHF range bioultrasonic spectroscopy system and method

A new system and method for characterizing biological tissues in vitro and liquids in the VHF and UHF ranges is described. Bulk acoustic properties such as the sound velocity, attenuation, acoustic impedance, and density are determined in reflection and transmission modes, with the biological tissue/liquid specimen sandwiched between the parallel surfaces of synthetic silica glass buffer rods having ZnO piezoelectric film transducers on their opposite ends. The method is an ultrasonic transmission line comparison method wherein the reference medium is distilled water, for which all acoustic properties are known. Measurement errors due to diffraction losses in the acoustic media and to mode conversion at the buffer/sample interfaces are corrected. Special techniques for achieving precise parallelism between the two rod surfaces, for movement to adjust the gap distance, and for signal processing are employed in order to obtain high measurement accuracy. Attenuation and reflection coefficients are determined using the gated pulse echo method. The sound velocity is determined with the gated pulse interference method by sweeping the ultrasonic frequency, or by changing the gap distance. Results of measurements on castor oil, cottonseed oil, silicone oil, and bovine liver, in the frequency range from 10 to 500 MHz, are presented and compared with results of earlier reports     

Ultrasonic phased-array scanner with digital echo synthesis for Doppler echocardiography

For the purpose of the quantitative assessment of subtle disease processes in the cardiovascular system an electronically steered sector scanner that combines echographic imaging and Doppler blood velocity measurements has been developed. The integrated operation of a fast Fourier transform (FFT) Doppler signal processor for the simultaneous blood velocity evaluation of 64 individual gates is among the specific design goals. The instrument incorporates an unusually high degree of digital signal processing, which allows for high integration density, easy manufacturing and high reliability in future designs. The complex Doppler spectra are determined for each of the 64 Doppler gates in real time, and the subsequent computation of the first moment provides a reliable estimate of the mean blood flow velocities at the respective locations. The instantaneous velocity profile along the Doppler beam is displayed together with the calculated volume flow rate and a range-selected complete frequency spectrum. Results of both in vitro and in vivo tests indicate that in the future, a higher degree of digital signal processing could be implemented in complex ultrasonic systems.