Imaging devices having piezoelectric transceivers
AssigneeExo Imaging, Inc.
InventorsSandeep Akkaraju, Haesung Kwon, Brian Bircumshaw
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A micromachined ultrasonic transducer (MUT). The MUT includes: a substrate; a membrane suspending from the substrate; a bottom electrode disposed on the membrane; a piezoelectric layer disposed on the bottom electrode and an asymmetric top electrode is disposed on the piezoelectric layer. The areal density distribution of the asymmetric electrode along an axis has a plurality of local maxima, wherein locations of the plurality of local maxima coincide with locations where a plurality of anti-nodal points at a vibrational resonance frequency is located.
Claims23
A micromachined ultrasonic transducer (MUT), comprising:
- an electrode that is symmetric with respect to a first axis and asymmetric with respect to a second axis that is normal to the first axis, the first axis extending along a direction where the electrode has a longest dimension, the second axis passing through a midpoint between two ends of the electrode on the first axis, wherein an areal density distribution of the electrode along an axis has a plurality of local maxima, and wherein locations of the plurality of local maxima coincide with locations where a plurality of anti-nodal points at a vibrational resonance frequency are located.
A micromachined ultrasonic transducer (MUT), comprising:
- a symmetric electrode,
- wherein an areal density distribution of the symmetric electrode along an axis has a plurality of local maxima and wherein locations of the plurality of local maxima coincide with locations where a plurality of anti-nodal points at a vibrational resonance frequency are located.
An imaging device, comprising:
- a transducer array including a plurality of micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs),
- each of the plurality of MUTs comprising:
- an electrode that is symmetric with respect to a first axis and asymmetric with respect to a second axis that is normal to the first axis, the first axis extending along a direction where the electrode has a longest dimension, the second axis passing through a midpoint between two ends of the electrode on the first axis, wherein an areal density distribution of the electrode along an axis has a plurality of local maxima, and wherein locations of the plurality of local maxima coincide with locations where a plurality of anti-nodal points at a vibrational resonance frequency are located.
An imaging device, comprising:
- a transducer array including a plurality of micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs),
- each of the plurality of MUTs comprising:
- a symmetric electrode,
- wherein an areal density distribution of the symmetric electrode along an axis has a plurality of local maxima and wherein locations of the plurality of local maxima coincide with locations where a plurality of anti-nodal points at a vibrational resonance frequency are located.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.