System for attaching an acoustic element to an integrated circuit
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorDavid G. Miller
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for attaching an acoustic element to an integrated circuit includes various ways in which to connect piezoelectric ceramic or micro-machined ultrasonic transducer (MUT) elements to an integrated circuit (IC), thus reducing the number of conductors required to connect the acoustic element to the IC by combining the signals in the IC. In another aspect of the invention, the transducer elements include an electrically conductive acoustic layer comprising a backing layer and/or a de-matching layer that is connected to an IC.
Claims45
An ultrasonic transducer probe, comprising:
- a probe housing;
- an ultrasonic sensor located in the probe housing and having a plurality of elements;
- an integrated circuit located in the probe housing;
- and
- a redistribution layer between the ultrasonic sensor and the integrated circuit, the redistribution layer having a first surface including circuitry corresponding to the integrated circuit and a second surface including circuitry corresponding to the plurality of elements of the ultrasonic sensor.
An ultrasonic transducer probe, comprising:
- an ultrasonic sensor having a plurality of elements, each element including an electrically conductive acoustic layer;
- an integrated circuit;
- and
- a redistribution layer between the ultrasonic sensor and the integrated circuit, the redistribution layer having a first surface having circuitry corresponding to the integrated circuit and a second surface having circuitry corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic sensor elements.
An ultrasonic transducer probe, comprising:
- a probe housing;
- an ultrasonic sensor located in the probe housing and having a plurality of elements;
- and
- an integrated circuit located in the probe housing, wherein the ultrasonic sensor and the integrated circuit are joined using a thin-line bond.
A method for constructing an ultrasonic transducer probe, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a probe housing;
- providing an ultrasonic sensor in the probe housing, the ultrasonic sensor having a plurality of elements;
- providing an integrated circuit in the probe housing;
- and
- providing a redistribution layer between the ultrasonic sensor and the integrated circuit, the redistribution layer having a first surface including circuitry corresponding to the integrated circuit and a second surface including circuitry corresponding to the plurality of elements of the ultrasonic sensor.
An ultrasonic transducer probe, comprising:
- a probe housing;
- an ultrasonic sensor located in the probe housing and having a plurality of transducer elements;
- an integrated circuit located in the probe housing, the integrated circuit including a plurality of electrical pads, wherein each transducer element is located directly above only one corresponding electrical pad;
- and
- a plurality of electrical contacts, wherein each electrical contact electrically connects one transducer element with its corresponding electrical pad.
An ultrasonic transducer probe, comprising:
- a probe housing;
- an ultrasonic sensor located in the probe housing and having a plurality of elements;
- an integrated circuit located in the probe housing, the integrated circuit including a plurality of electrical pads corresponding to the locations of each of the plurality of elements;
- and
- a plurality of electrical contacts corresponding to the electrical pads, the electrical contacts being electrically attached to each of the plurality of transducer elements, wherein each of the electrical contacts joins each of the plurality of transducer elements using at least one of gold bumps and conductive adhesive polymer bumps.
An improvement to an ultrasonic transducer probe having an ultrasonic sensor and an integrated circuit, comprising:
- a redistribution layer between the ultrasonic sensor and the integrated circuit, said redistribution layer having a first surface including circuitry corresponding to the integrated circuit and a second surface including circuitry corresponding to a plurality of elements in the ultrasonic sensor.
An improved method for constructing an ultrasonic transducer probe having an ultrasonic sensor and an integrated circuit, the improvement comprising the step of:
- providing a redistribution layer between the ultrasonic sensor and the integrated circuit, said redistribution layer having a first surface including circuitry corresponding to the integrated circuit and a second surface including circuitry corresponding to a plurality of elements in the ultrasonic sensor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.