title: Sputtered ZnO film on aluminium foils for flexible ultrasonic transducers.
abstract: Nanocrystalline ZnO films with both C-axis vertical grown and inclined angled grown were sputter-deposited onto aluminium foils (50 μm thick) and characterised for using as flexible ultrasonic transducers. As-deposited C-axis grown ZnO films were annealed at different temperatures up to 600 °C to enhance film crystallinity and reduce film stress. The C-axis grown ZnO film on the Al foil were bonded onto steel plates, and the pulse-echo tests verified a good performance (with dominant longitudinal waves) of the ultrasonic transducers made from both as-deposited and post-annealed films. Inclined angled ZnO films on the Al foil glued onto steel plates generated mixed shear and longitudinal waves in the pulse-echo test.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China; Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: X S
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure, Harbin Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, Heilongjiang, PR China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hutson
authors.affiliation: School of Physical Electronics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China.
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Lab of Microsystem and Microstructure, Harbin Institute of Technology, Ministry of Education, No. 2 YiKuang Street, Harbin 150080, Heilongjiang, PR China.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: School of Physical Electronics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, PR China.
authors.forename: X T
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Zu
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (SUPA), University of West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, United Kingdom. Electronic address: Richard.fu@uws.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Fu
keywords: Annealing; Flexible ultrasonic transducer; Pulse-echo; Ultrasonic wave; ZnO film