The objective of this research program is to improve high temperature piezoelectric aluminum nitride (AlN) sensor technology to make it useful for instrumentation and health monitoring of current and future electrical power generation equipment. The program will extend the temperature range of the sensor from approximately 700 degrees C to above 1000 degrees C, and ultrasonic coupling to objects at these temperatures will be investigated and tailored for use with the sensor. The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) AlN deposition process was successfully transferred from film production on tungsten carbide substrates to titanium alloy and silicon carbide (SiC) substrates in the first year of the program, and additional substrates were evaluated. In the second year of the program, additional substrate research was performed with the goal of improving the performance of using SiC substrates. While greatly improved bandwidth was achieved, sensor survival at elevated temperature remains problematic. The elevated temperature coupling work continued with significant experimentation. Molten glasses were found to work within a limited temperature range, but metal foils applied with heat and pressure were found to have superior performance overall. The final year of the program will be dedicated to making further advances in AlN/ substrate behavior, and the design and implementation of a sensor demonstration experiment at very high temperature in a simulated industrial application.
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