MAPS

Piezoelectric PZT type lead ceramics, used in all medical ultrasonic transducers for their low-cost performance, will be banned in 2021 (EU Directive RoHS). It is imperative to define a replacement for the PZT. In recent years, two main families have been identified: one containing alkaline elements (KNN, NBT) and the other containing titaniates (BT, BCTZ). The high volatility Alkaline elements make it difficult to control the composition during the manufacture of the first, while BT-type titaniates are already commercially exploited. In the MAPS project, we propose to develop and To evaluate hundreds of BCTZ-type compounds doped using an original synthesis technique in order to identify the most effective dopings. The corresponding ceramics, with optimized electromechanical performance, will then be integrated into a demonstrator with a medical aim in order to evaluate their ultrasonic performance.