Mina Ioanna G, Kim Hyunsoo, Kim Insoo, Park Sung Kyu, Choi Kyusun, Jackson Thomas N, Tutwiler Richard L, Trolier-McKinstry Susan
Materials Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2007 Dec;54(12):2422-30. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2007.555.
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 PbZr(0.52)Ti(0.48)O(3) (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-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) transceiver chip for a 16-element array was fabricated in 0.35-microm 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.
正在为高分辨率成像系统开发在更大结构上使用压电薄膜的高频超声阵列换能器。分辨率的提高是通过同时提高工作频率（从30兆赫兹到约1吉赫兹）和紧密耦合电子电路来实现的。探索了两种不同的加工方法来制造阵列换能器。在一种实现方式中，以薄膜PbZr(0.52)Ti(0.48)O(3)（PZT）作为有源压电层，制作了木琴棒换能器的原型。在另一种方式中，通过在电镀镍柱上雾沉积PZT薄膜来制备压电换能器。由于PZT薄膜是通过膜厚进行激发的，这些换能器的驱动电压较低，并且电子电路可以紧密耦合。采用0.35微米工艺技术制造了用于16元件阵列的互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）收发芯片。该超声前端芯片包含波束形成电子器件、接收电路以及带有3千字节片上缓冲存储器的模数转换器。
