title: Fabrication of PZT sol gel composite ultrasonic transducers using batch fabrication micromolding.
abstract: A new micromolding technique for fabricating high-frequency (>20 MHz) ultrasound transducers has been developed. The technique combines sol gel processing with an epoxy-based, photo-resist Su-8 micromold to form miniature PZT structures. An advantage of this technique as compared to more traditional lithographic galvanforming and abforming (LIGA) processing is that the intermediate step of producing a nickel-plated mold is avoided. Instead, the PZT is formed directly using a photo-resist. The resulting structures can be fabricated with aspect ratios up to 3:1 and thicknesses up to 50 micro. We have successfully fabricated 50-micro-thick linear array elements with 23-micro-wide elements separated by 15 kerfs. A 50-micro thick, 2.5-mm diameter, five-element annular array structure with 20-micro kerfs also has been fabricated. The micromolded PZT composite has a density of 5.7-5.8 micro 0.4 g/cm3 and a thickness coupling coefficient as high as 0.32.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. gpang@sten.sunnybrook.utoronto.ca
authors.forename: Guofeng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sayer
authors.forename: Geoffrey R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Lockwood
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watt