AN ACOUSTIC-ELECTROMAGNETIC PIEZOELECTRIC WAVE-GUIDE COUPLER

Theory and experiment are presented for a device which couples travell ing waves in an electrical transmission line with flexural waves in an elastic beam. Coupling of the two wave types is achieved using a segm ented piezoelectric layer adhered to the beam and connected to the tra nsmission line. The key design parameter is the non-dimensional coupli ng length. A simple expression for calculating its magnitude is derive d. For the design used, this length was predicted to be four wavelengt hs. Experiments yielded a similar value.