A high-frequency annular-array transducer using an interdigital bonded 1-3 composite.
This paper reports the design, fabrication, and characterization of a 1-3 composite annular-array transducer. An interdigital bonded (IB) 1-3 composite was prepared using two IB operations on a fine-grain piezoelectric ceramic. The final composite had 19-μm-wide posts separated by 6-μm-wide polymer kerfs. A novel method to remove metal electrodes from polymer portions of the 1-3 composite was established to eliminate the need for patterning and aligning the electrode on the composite to the electrodes on a flexible circuit. Unloaded epoxy was used for both the matching and backing layers and a flexible circuit was used for interconnect. A prototype array was successfully fabricated and tested. The results were in reasonable agreement with those predicted by a circuit-analogous model. The average center frequency estimated from the measured pulse-echo responses of array elements was 33.5 MHz and the -6-dB fractional bandwidth was 57%. The average insertion loss recorded was 14.3 dB, and the maximum crosstalk between the nearest-neighbor elements was less than -37 dB. Images of a wire phantom and excised porcine eye were obtained to show the capabilities of the array for high-frequency ultrasound imaging.
NIH Resource Center for Medical Ultrasonic Transducer Technology, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. chabok@usc.edu
Hamid Reza
HR
Chabok
Jonathan M
JM
Cannata
Hyung Ham
HH
Kim
Jay A
JA
Williams
Jinhyoung
J
Park
K Kirk
KK
Shung
D000818:Animals; D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004867:Equipment Design; D005123:Eye / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D007854:Lead / Q000737:chemistry*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013552:Swine; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*; D014159:Transducers; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015040:Zirconium / Q000737:chemistry*
C065536:lead titanate zirconate; D007854:Lead; D015040:Zirconium; D014025:Titanium
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