US 2007/0167812 A1 · Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer

Abstract

The first integrated circuit/transducer device 36 of the handheld probe includes CMOS circuits 110 and cMUT elements 112. The cMUT elements 112 function to generate an ultrasonic beam, detect an ultrasonic echo, and output electrical signals, while the CMOS circuits 110 function to perform analog or digital operations on the electrical signals generated through operation of the cMUT elements 112. The manufacturing method for the first integrated circuit/transducer device 36 of the preferred embodiment includes the steps of depositing the lower electrode S102; depositing a sacrificial layer S104; depositing a dielectric layer S106; removing the sacrificial layer S108, followed by the steps of depositing the upper electrode S110 and depositing a protective layer on the upper electrode S112.

Claims13

Dependent claims

An integrated circuit/transducer device, comprising:

a substrate;
a complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuit fabricated on the substrate;
a first capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) element fabricated on the substrate and connected to the CMOS circuit, wherein the cMUT element includes a lower electrode adapted to maintain a first electrical potential, an upper electrode adapted to maintain a second electrical potential, and a cavity between the lower electrode and the upper electrode;
and
a second capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) element fabricated on the substrate, wherein the cMUT element includes a lower electrode adapted to maintain a first electrical potential, an upper electrode adapted to maintain a second electrical potential, and a cavity between the lower electrode and the upper electrode, with each of these layers corresponding to a layer used in the fabrication of the CMOS circuit;
wherein the upper electrode of the first cMUT element and the upper electrode of the second cMUT element are electronically coupled.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer

Life of this patent

Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims13