Ultrasonic transducer

An ultrasonic transducer comprising:

• a piezoelectric transducer element with a top and a bottom;
• a cup-shaped housing with a top and a nearly closed bottom, or a cylindrical housing with an open bottom, wherein an opening is formed at the top;
• an acoustic decoupling material arranged between the transducer element and the bottom of the housing
• a coupling element with a front and a back, wherein the back of the coupling element is acoustically coupled to the top of the transducer element to couple ultrasonic waves generated via the transducer element out to an external environment in a transmit mode or to pass the ultrasonic waves received from the external environment by the coupling element to the transducer element in a receive mode, the transducer element and the coupling element being arranged in the housing;
• a first electrode and a second electrode, the first electrode being connected to a contact area formed on the bottom of the transducer element;
• a cup-like shielding device made of a metallically conductive material, the transducer element being arranged in the cup-like shielding device;
• and
• a metallic conductive screen covering an opening of the shielding device so that the shielding device and the screen form a Faraday cage,
• wherein a gap is formed between the housing and the shielding device,
• wherein the housing is acoustically decoupled from the shielding device,
• wherein the screen is arranged between the top of the transducer element and the back of the coupling element,
• wherein the transducer element is spaced apart from the bottom of the housing, and
• wherein the coupling element has a smaller diameter than the shielding device so that the acoustic decoupling material is arranged between the housing and the coupling element.