Ultrasonic transducers and ultrasonic sensors are devices that generate or sense ultrasound energy. They can be divided into three broad categories: transmitters, receivers and transceivers. Transmitters convert electrical signals into ultrasound, receivers convert ultrasound into electrical signals, and transceivers can both transmit and receive ultrasound.

In a similar way to radar and sonar, ultrasonic transducers are used in systems which evaluate targets by interpreting the reflected signals. For example, by measuring the time between sending a signal and receiving an echo the distance of an object can be calculated. Passive ultrasonic sensors are basically microphones that detect ultrasonic noise that is present under certain conditions.

The design of transducer can vary greatly depending on its use: those used for medical diagnostic purposes, for example the range-finding applications listed above, are generally lower power than those used for the purpose of changing the properties of the liquid medium, or targets immersed in the liquid medium, through chemical, biological or physical (e.g. erosive) effects. The latter class include ultrasonic probes and ultrasonic baths, which apply ultrasonic energy to agitate particles, clean, erode, or disrupt biological cells, in a wide range of materials; See Sonication.

Applications and performance

Ultrasound can be used for measuring wind speed and direction (anemometer), tank or channel fluid level, and speed through air or water. For measuring speed or direction, a device uses multiple detectors and calculates the speed from the relative distances to particulates in the air or water. To measure tank or channel liquid level, and also sea level (tide gauge), the sensor measures the distance (ranging) to the surface of the fluid. Further applications include: humidifiers, sonar, medical ultrasonography, burglar alarms, non-destructive testing and wireless charging.

Systems typically use a transducer which generates sound waves in the ultrasonic range, above 18 kHz, by turning electrical energy into sound, then upon receiving the echo turn the sound waves into electrical energy which can be measured and displayed.

This technology, as well, can detect approaching objects and track their positions.

Ultrasound can also be used to make point-to-point distance measurements by transmitting and receiving discrete bursts of ultrasound between transducers. This technique is known as Sonomicrometry where the transit-time of the ultrasound signal is measured electronically (ie digitally) and converted mathematically to the distance between transducers assuming the speed of sound of the medium between the transducers is known. This method can be very precise in terms of temporal and spatial resolution because the time-of-flight measurement can be derived from tracking the same incident (received) waveform either by reference level or zero crossing. This enables the measurement resolution to far exceed the wavelength of the sound frequency generated by the transducers.