High frequency piezoelectric MEMS ultrasound transducers

Ioanna G. Mina, Hyunsoo Kim, Insoo Kim, Sung Kyu Park, Kyusun Choi, Thomas N. Jackson, Richard L. Tutwiler, Susan Trolier-McKinstry

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

54 Scopus citations

Abstract

High-frequency ultrasound array transducers using piezoelectric thin films on larger structures are being developed for high-resolution imaging systems. The increase in resolution is achieved by a simultaneous increase in operating frequency (30 MHz to about 1 GHz) and close coupling of the electronic circuitry. Two different processing methods were explored to fabricate array transducers. In one implementation, a xylophone bar transducer was prototyped, using thin film PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PZT) as the active piezoelectric layer. In the other, the piezoelectric transducer was prepared by mist deposition of PZT films over electroplated Ni posts. Because the PZT films are excited through the film thickness, the drive voltages of these transducers are low, and close coupling of the electronic circuitry is possible. A complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transceiver chip for a 16-element array was fabricated in 0.35-pm process technology. The ultrasound front-end chip contains beam-forming electronics, receiver circuitry, and analog-to-digital converters with 3-Kbyte on-chip buffer memory.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number4430019
Pages (from-to)2422-2429
Number of pages8
JournalIEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control
Volume54
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2007

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Instrumentation
  • Acoustics and Ultrasonics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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