An adaptive resonant filter

A solid-state adaptive (analog storage) device with stable electrical characteristics is described and demonstrated. The device is a resonant bandpass electronic filter with adaptable voltage gain; that is, the voltage gain-frequency transfer characteristic can be "set" to different values of attenuation by the application of an adapt signal and will retain that "setting" after the adapt signal has been removed. Ferroelectric materials are used as the dielectric in a filter structure composed of two capacitors bonded together so that resonant mechanical vibrations established in one (the input resonator) are coupled to the other (the output resonator). Converse and direct piezoelectric effects generate the mechanical vibrations and the output voltages, respectively. Ferroelectric effects in either capacitor provide the analog storage capabilities. The acoustical coupling mechanism employed in the device design results in electrically stable device characteristics. Previous ferroelectric adaptive devices used unstable field effect coupling mechanisms which led to unacceptable device performance. Experimental adaptive resonant filters fabricated with ceramic lead zirconate-lead titanate material compositions are discussed. These filters have electronic Q values near 100 at resonant frequencies in the range 10
²
to 10
⁷
Hz. The voltage gain-frequency characteristic has a maximum value at resonance of about 0 to +10 dB. Application of a voltage adapt pulse (100 to 300 volts) of low energy (mJ) to either side of the filter can adapt the entire gain characteristic by any value between 0 and about -60 dB within an arbitrary switching time (limited to a practical range of roughly 10
⁺³
to 10
^-4
seconds) as determined by the pulse amplitude. Voltage gain settings are electrically stable and can be reproduced by the same or an equivalent sequence of adapting pulses.