Diamond-based capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers in immersion.
Diamond is a superior membrane material for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). By using ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) membrane and plasma-activated wafer bonding technology, a single diamond-based circular CMUT is demonstrated and operated in immersion for the first time. The diamond-based CMUT, biased at 100 V, is excited with a 10-cycle burst of 36 V(p-p) sine signal at 3.5 MHz. Pressure generated on a 2-D plane coincident with the normal of the CMUT is measured using a broadband hydrophone. Peak-to-peak hydrophone voltage measurements along the scan area clearly indicate the main lobe and the side lobes, as theoretically predicted by our directivity function calculations. The peak-to-peak hydrophone voltage on the axial direction of the CMUT is found to be in agreement with our theoretical calculations in the Fraunhofer region (-45 mm <y <-15 mm). The spectrum of the diamond-based CMUT is measured for a dc bias of 100 V, and ac excitation with 30-cycle bursts of 9, 36, and 54 V(p-p) sine signal. A peak response at 5.6 MHz is measured for all ac amplitudes. Overall, diamond is shown to be an applicable membrane for CMUT devices and applications.
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.
Ahmet M
AM
Cetin
Baris
B
Bayram