Transducer Manufacturing Technology

Our proprietary ultrasonic transducer stack formulations allows us to develop standard processes and tooling to support both one-time builds and high volume production. We have in-house 5-axis CNC machines which allow us to cut any shape on any ceramic surface, and create custom multi-element transducers. Additional key transducer manufacturing technologies and processes we incorporate include:

• Enhanced surface area adhesion
• Passivation and cleaning of harsh surfaces
• Plasma etching

Our manufacturing designs incorporate ceramics from the top 12 providers in the industry, and we keep a library of over 100 epoxies from leading vendors. Our facilities include a clean area, work stations for micro precision transducer assemblies, fume hood stations, and calibrated ovens. We also have access to offsite clean areas for our highest volume production runs.

Production Testing Capabilities

Our facilities include:

• Electrical impedance capture stations using HP 4194A Impedance Analyzers, custom piezoelectric material analysis, and multi-channel impedance plotting and analysis capabilities.
• Calibrated acoustic tank stations for beamplotting which includes 5-axis measurement capability, high resolution 20 MHz traceability, and high and low pressure measurement capability within a -6 dB pressure-squared field.
• Pulse-echo measurement station including flat or focused capability, Panametrics-NDT Pulser/Receiver, high throughput automation tooling and software, and multi-channel spectral plotting and analysis.
• Material acoustic characterization station including large frequency range calibrated source transducers, and the ability to gather velocity and attenuation measurements of large and small, liquid and solid samples.
• Radiation force balance station
• Waterproof transducer verification station
• MRI safe transducer verification
• Burn in test stations with custom verification software

Quality Standards

Sonic Concepts’ robust quality standards are reflected in low Returned Merchandise Authorization (RMA) rate.

Our products are generally shipped with electronic data and or required certification (e.g. Certificates of Calibration, Conformance, etc.)

All of our transducers are shipped with either a Test Report or Certificate of Analysis.  Test data typically includes electrical unmatched impedance and electrical matched impedance, measured in a wet anechoic environment.  These impedance tests are automated and are used as a final quality control check.  Other common tests include automated acoustic beamplot analysis, radiation force balance measurements of conversion efficiency and power linearity, and power transfer spectrum plots.

Manufacturing Facility

Located in Bothell, Wash., a hub for high technology and medical device development in the United States, our facility includes an engineering design center, prototype development and testing labs, and scalable-volume manufacturing areas.

Our on-site production facility includes a clean area, work stations for micro precision transducer assemblies, fume hood stations, and calibrated ovens. We also have access to offsite clean areas for our highest volume production runs.

Our test lab includes state-of-the-art acoustic test tank stations, where our engineers perform a variety of acoustic characterization, beam plotting, hydrophone calibration and other tests to ensure our products perform to the highest efficiencies.

Our machine shop houses machinery and equipment, including a 5-axis CNC, which allows us to develop high-precision tooling and to cut any shape on any ceramic surface.