Researchers Solve Long-Standing Piezoelectric Material Challenge

A new technique developed by researchers enables the restoration of crucial properties in piezoelectric materials at room temperature, streamlining repairs and extending the lifespan of ultrasound and sonar devices.

Heat and pressure can degrade the properties of piezoelectric materials essential for advanced ultrasound and sonar technologies. Traditionally, repairing this damage has involved disassembling the devices and exposing the materials to even higher temperatures. Now, researchers have developed a technique to restore these properties at room temperature, simplifying the repair process and paving the way for new ultrasound technologies.

Piezoelectric materials have many applications, including sonar technologies and devices that generate and sense ultrasound waves. But for these devices to efficiently generate sonar or ultrasound waves, the material needs to be “poled.”