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One shortcoming of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) for commercial use is the weak output power relative to traditional ultrasonic transducers. Recently, we reported an annular CMUT cell with an improved transmit efficiency over a conventional circular cell in air. Extending this paper, we designed and fabricated a nine-element concentric CMUT array to enhance the transmit power and offer depth focusing. The proposed 200-kHz array has an aperture diameter of 2.13 cm and a fill factor of 81%. A pillar-free etching process was developed to create the deep large-area cavities of the proposed wafer-bonded CMUT. The fabricated device was characterized for the static and dynamic performance using a profilometer and a laser Doppler vibrometer, respectively. The average maximum plate dynamic displacements of the CMUT driven by 20-Vpp ac excitation voltage at dc biases of 100 and 150 V were measured to be 1.28 and 1.97 μm, respectively. Accordingly, the surface output power densities were calculated to be 0.40 and 0.96 KW/m2. We investigated the crosstalk between neighboring cells and the plate-cracking phenomenon, and provided relative suggestions for improvement. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of the concentric annular-cell CMUT array design for air-coupled applications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Row-column addressed arrays for ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT) applications are analyzed and demonstrated in this paper. Simulation and experimental results of a row-column addressed 32 by 32 capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array are presented. The CMUT array, which was designed for medical imaging applications, has a center frequency of 5.3 MHz. The CMUT array was used to perform C-scans on test objects with holes that have diameters of 1.0 mm and 0.5 mm. The array transducer has an aperture size of 4.8 mm by 4.8 mm, and it was used to scan an area of 4.0 mm by 4.0 mm. Compared to an N by N fully addressed 2-D array, a row-column addressed array of the same number of elements requires fewer (N instead of N²) pairs of interconnection and supporting electronic components such as pulsers and amplifiers. Even though the resulting field of view is limit by the aperture size, row-column addressed arrays and the row-column addressing scheme can be an alternative option of 2-D arrays for NDT applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air-coupled capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) based on annular cell geometry have recently been reported. Finite element analysis and experimental studies have demonstrated their significant improvement in transmit efficiency compared with the conventional circular-cell CMUTs. Extending the previous work, this paper proposed a lumped element model of annular-cell CMUTs. Explicit expressions of the resonance frequency, modal vector, and static displacement of a clamped annular plate under uniform pressure were first derived based on the plate theory and curve fitting method. The lumped model of an annular CMUT cell was then developed by adopting the average displacement as the spatial variable. Using the proposed model, the ratio of average-to-maximum displacement was derived to be 8/15. Experimental and simulation studies on a fabricated annular CMUT cell verified the effectiveness of the lumped model. The proposed model provides an effective and efficient way to analyze and design air-coupled annular-cell CMUTs., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A novel design of an air-coupled capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with annular cell geometry (annular CMUT) is proposed. Finite element analysis shows that an annular cell has a ratio of average-to-maximum displacement (RAMD) of 0.52-0.58 which is 58-76% higher than that of a conventional circular cell. The increased RAMD leads to a larger volume displacement which results in a 48.4% improved transmit sensitivity and 127.3% improved power intensity. Single-cell annular CMUTs were fabricated with 20-μm silicon plates on 13.7-μm deep and 1.35-mm wide annular cavities using the wafer bonding technique. The measured RAMD of the fabricated CMUTs is 0.54. The resonance frequency was measured to be 94.5kHz at 170-V DC bias. The transmit sensitivity was measured to be 33.83Pa/V and 25.85Pa/V when the CMUT was excited by a continuous wave and a 20-cycle burst, respectively. The receive sensitivity at 170-V DC bias was measured to be 7.7mV/Pa for a 20-cycle burst, and 15.0mV/Pa for a continuous incident wave. The proposed annular CMUT design demonstrates a significant improvement in transmit efficiency, which is an important parameter for air-coupled ultrasonic transducers., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)