The absolute sensitivity of a piezocomposite transducer

Abstract

In common with all measurement systems, the absolute sensitivity of a piezoelectric receiving transducer is a measure of the thermal noise power. For all purely electronic devices such as transistors, diodes and capacitors it is possible to produce low noise designs. So, from an electrical engineering perspective it would seem reasonable to ask the following question. Is it possible to construct two piezoelectric receiving transducers which have the same structure bur choose the materials in such a way that one device is a low noise version of the other? In this paper it will be shown that, in the electrical sense, there is no such thing as a low noise transducer. Although the theory has a special significance for structured piezocomposites, it applies to all piezoelectric receiving transducers and is not restricted to piezocomposites.