Integrated transparent surface acoustic wave technology for active de-fogging and icing protection on glass

Fundamentals of Monitoring Condensation and Frost/Ice Formation in Cold Environments Using Thin-Film Surface-Acoustic-Wave Technology

“…As shown in this figure, when the temperature is gradually decreased, the frequency of the SAW devices is increased; e.g., the resonant frequency of the SAW device increases with a decrease of the temperature. The calculated TCF value is at about −248.9 ppm/°C for this ZnO/Al SAW device, which shows a reading similar to that reported in ref for a similar SAW device. However, a turning point is observed (e.g., with a maximum value of the frequency marked with a circle in Figure a) at ∼2–5 °C.…”

“…As seen from Table , ultrasonic and acoustic wave technologies are two promising candidates to monitor ice/frost formation in a cold environment, and they are commonly based on monitoring of the vibration frequencies with the capability of ice thickness measurement. ,, Another key advantage of these techniques is that they can also be used as active deicing or antiicing methods. For example, recent studies clearly show that, for ice mitigation, surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) devices can generate both acoustic wave vibrations and thermal effects on the device surface, , thus offering great potential for both antiicing and deicing with a reasonably high efficiency. − Therefore, it could be applied as one of the appropriate techniques for effectively tackling icing issues on structural surfaces. However, the conventionally used bulk piezoelectric ceramic-based ultrasonic or SAW devices have critical issues such as brittleness of the piezoelectric substrates (especially at high acoustic wave powers or large mechanical forces), rigidity, and noncompatibility with structural surfaces or microelectrics-based mass production technologies.…”