Trends in electromechanical transduction
Ilene J. Busch‐Vishniac · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1998
Electromechanical transducers (sensors and actuators) are devices which link electrical and mechanical energy domains. Ideal sensors are transducers in which the state of a system is monitored without being affected. Ideal actuators are transducers in which a system state is imposed, regardless of the load imposed. In recent years there has been growing attention on electromechanical transducers for a number of reasons: they are becoming more common in consumer items instead of being limited to laboratory equipment and industrial facilities; the demands placed on transducers, particularly with regard to size, speed, cost, and sensitivity, are becoming progressively harder to meet; the applications arenas for transducers are expanding to new domains; there is a push for miniaturization of sensors and actuators; more attention is being focused on actuators, as they are very difficult to design; and the time from discovery of new materials and techniques to the application in transducers is shrinking significantly. These trends, supported with reviews of research in the area, will be examined. Repercussions of these trends, current and in the near future, will also be discussed.