Outperforming piezoelectric ultrasonics with high-reliability single-membrane CMUT array elements.

ABSTRACT: It has long been hypothesized that capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers (CMUTs) could potentially outperform piezoelectric technologies. However, challenges with dielectric charging, operational hysteresis, and transmit sensitivity have stood as obstacles to these performance outcomes. In this paper, we introduce key architectural features to enable high-reliability CMUTs with enhanced performance. Typically, a CMUT element in an array is designed with an ensemble of smaller membranes oscillating together to transmit or detect ultrasound waves. However, this approach can lead to unreliable behavior and suboptimal transmit performance if these smaller membranes oscillate out of phase or collapse at different voltages. In this work, we designed CMUT array elements composed of a si

SUBMITTER: Dew EB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9162926 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature