Abstract:The overflow ring transducer is an efficient horizontal omnidirectional acoustic transducer that is widely used in underwater detection and communication fields. Compared with piezoelectric ceramics, piezoelectric single crystals have higher piezoelectric coefficient and transduction efficiency, but due to process limitations, they have only been used in a limited number of applications. Through theoretical analysis of the resonant frequency, transmit voltage response, and receiving sensitivity of the overflow ring transducer, it is shown that piezoelectric single crystal with high piezoelectric constant can improve the transmission and reception performance of the overflow ring transducer. An alternating arrangement of piezoelectric units and aluminum alloy units is used to fabricate overflow ring transducers made of piezoelectric single crystals and piezoelectric ceramics. A process for electrode treatment using magnetron sputtering and conductive adhesive is proposed to solve the problem of electrode loss during assembly. The acoustic performance of the two piezoelectric material overflow ring transducers is tested, and the results show that the transmit voltage response and receiving sensitivity of the piezoelectric single crystal overflow ring transducer are more than 3 dB higher than those of the piezoelectric ceramic transducer on average.