Multielement ring array based on minute size pmuts for high acoustic pressure and tunable focus depth

Eyglis Ledesma, Iván Zamora, Arantxa Uranga, Núria Barniol*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper presents a multielement annular ring ultrasound transducer formed by individual high-frequency PMUTs (17.5 MHz in air and 8.7 MHz in liquid) intended for high-precision axial focalization and high-performance ultrasound imaging. The prototype has five independent multielement rings fabricated by a monolithic process over CMOS, allowing for a very compact and robust design. Crosstalk between rings is under 56 dB, which guarantees an efficient beam focusing on a range between 1.4 mm and 67 µm. The presented PMUT-on-CMOS annular array with an overall diameter down to 669 µm achieves an output pressure in liquid of 4.84 kPa/V/mm2 at 1.5 mm away from the array when the five channels are excited together, which is the largest reported for PMUTs. Pulse-echo experiments towards high-resolution imaging are demonstrated using the central ring as a receiver. With an equivalent diameter of 149 µm, this central ring provides high receiving sensitivity, 441.6 nV/Pa, higher than that of commercial hydrophones with equivalent size. A 1D ultrasound image using two channels is demonstrated, with maximum received signals of 7 mVpp when a nonintegrated amplifier is used, demonstrating the ultrasound imaging capabilities.

Original languageEnglish
Article number14
Number of pages18
JournalSensors
Volume21
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jul 2021

Keywords

  • AlN
  • Annular array
  • PMUT-on-CMOS
  • PMUTs
  • Pulse-echo
  • Ring array
  • Ultrasound
  • Ultrasound imaging

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