title: Broadband optical ultrasound sensor with a unique open-cavity structure.
abstract: High-resolution ultrasound imaging requires quality sensors with wide bandwidth and high sensitivity, as shown in a wide range of applications, including intravascular imaging of cardiovascular diseases. However, piezoelectric technology, the current dominant approach for hydrophone fabrication, has encountered many technical limitations in the high-frequency range. Using optical techniques for the detection of high-frequency ultrasound signals has attracted much recent attention. One of the most studied approaches is based on a Fabry-Pérot interferometer, consisting of an optical cavity sandwiched between two mirrors. This technique offers promising sensitivity and bandwidth, and a potential alternative to piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hydrophones. We propose an innovative optical ultrasound sensor using only a single mirror in a total-internal-reflection configuration. Besides retaining the advantages of Fabry-Pérot interferometer-based ultrasound sensors, this unique design provides a bandwidth of at least 160 MHz, a potential decrease in fabrication cost, and an increase in signal fidelity.
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Colin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yunbo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Theodore B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: Xueding
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cheri X
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Jing Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007368:Interferometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007909:Lenses; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014159:Transducers; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*