Browsing by Subject "Ultrasonic transducers."

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Open Access
Airborne cmut cell design
(2014) Yılmaz, Aslı
All transducers used in airborne ultrasonic applications, including capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs), incorporate loss mechanisms to have reasonably wide frequency bandwidth. However, CMUTs can yield high efficiency in airborne applications and unlike other technologies, they offer wider bandwidth due to their low characteristic impedance, even for efficient designs. Despite these advantages, achieving the full potential is challenging due to the lack of a systematic method to design a wide bandwidth CMUTs. In this thesis, we present a method for airborne CMUT design. We use a lumped element circuit model and harmonic balance (HB) approach to optimize CMUTs for maximum transmitted power. Airborne CMUTs have narrowband characteristic at their mechanical part, due to low radiation impedance. In this work, we restrict the analysis to a single frequency and the transducer is driven by a sinusoidal voltage with half of the frequency of operation frequency, without any dc bias. We propose a new mode of airborne operation for CMUTs, where the plate motion spans the entire gap. We achieve this maximum swing at a specific frequency applying the lowest drive voltage and we call this mode of operation as Minimum Voltage Drive Mode (MVDM). We present equivalent circuit-based design fundamentals for airborne CMUT cells and verify the design targets by fabricated CMUTs. The performance limits for silicon membranes for airborne applications are derived. We experimentally obtain 78.9 dB//20Pa@1m source level at 73.7 kHz, with a CMUT cell of radius 2.05 mm driven by 71 V sinusoidal drive voltage at half the frequency. The measured quality factor is 120. CMUTs can achieve a large bandwidth (low quality factor level) as they can be manufactured to have thin plates. Low-quality-factor airborne CMUTs experience increased ambient pressure and therefore a larger membrane deflection. This effect increases the stiffness of the plate material and can be considered by nonlinear compliance in the circuit model. We study the interaction of the compliance nonlinearity and nonlinearity of transduction force and show that transduction overwhelms the compliance nonlinearity. To match the simulation results with the admittance measurements we implement a very accurate model-based characterization approach where we modify the equivalent circuit model. In the modified circuit model, we introduced new elements to include loss mechanisms. Also, we changed the dimension parameters used in the simulation to compensate the difference in the resonance frequency and amplitude.
Open Access
Circuit theory based modeling and analysis of CMUT arrays
(2013) Oğuz, Hüseyin Kağan
Many ultrasonic technology applications require capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) to be used in the form of large arrays to attain better performance in terms of powerful, broadband and beam-formed radiated acoustic signals. To entirely benefit from its important characteristics, it is necessary to use analysis tools that are capable of handling multiple CMUT cells. In this regard, finite element analysis (FEA) tools become unfit for use because in arrays with large number of cells it is computationally very cumbersome and often practically impossible. Although, some simplification had been done by assuming long 1-D CMUT array elements as infinitely long, the results of these FEA simulations are misleading. In these models only a single periodic portion is modeled and rigid boundary conditions are applied at the symmetry planes. All the cells are assumed to be electrically driven in phase with the rest of the cells and the solution obtained for this portion is extended over the entire element. However, these simple models are not exact, because they exclude the important effects of mutual acoustic interactions between the cells. In this work, we developed an accurate nonlinear equivalent circuit model for circular uncollapsed CMUT cells. We investigated the effects of mutual acoustic interactions in uncollapsed CMUT arrays and showed that the performance of the array is highly influenced with this phenomenon. These mutual acoustic interactions rise through the immersion medium caused by the pressure field generated by each cell acting upon the others. To study its effects, we connected each cell in the array to a radiation impedance matrix that contains the mutual radiation impedance between every pair of cells, in addition to their self radiation impedances. Hence, analysis of the performance of a large array became a circuit theory problem and can be scrutinized with circuit simulators Surface micromachining technology enables batch fabrication of large CMUT arrays, which resolves cost issues and many physical limitations. Designers have to consider a great number of different array configurations. For nearly two decades, the lack of appropriate design and analysis tools prevented the investigation of array performance. By using the proposed model, one can very rapidly obtain the linear frequency and nonlinear transient responses of arrays with a large number of uncollapsed CMUT cells. Although, we use rapid circuit theory techniques, efficient analysis of very large arrays is still challenging, since a typical CMUT array may contain many tens of elements with hundreds of cells in each, which makes it computationally cumbersome. To partition the problem, we electrically drive a small number of elements in the array and keep the rest undriven but biased and with their electrical ports terminated with a load. The radiation impedance matrix can be partitioned and rearranged to represent these loads in a reduced form. In this way, only the driven elements can be simulated by coupling their cells through this reduced radiation impedance matrix. Under small signal regime, the separately calculated responses of element clusters can be added by using the superposition principle to find the total response. This method considerably reduces the number of cells and the size of the actual radiation impedance matrix, at the expense of calculating the inverse of a large complex symmetric matrix.
Open Access
Deep collapse mode capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers
(2010) Olçum, Selim
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) are suspended microelectromechanical membrane structures with a moving top electrode and a rigid substrate electrode. The membrane is actuated by electrical signals applied between the electrodes, resulting in radiated pressure waves. CMUTs have several advantages over traditional piezoelectric transducers such as their wider bandwidth and microfabrication methodology. CMUTs as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), are fabricated using CMOS compatible processes and suitable for batch fabrication. Low cost production of large amount of CMUTs can be fabricated using already established integrated circuit (IC) technology infrastructure. Contrary to piezoelectrics, fabricating large 2-D arrays populated with transducer elements using CMUTs is low-cost. The technological challenges of CMUTs regarding the fabrication and integration issues were solved during the past 15 years, and their successful operation has been demonstrated in many applications. However, commercialization of CMUTs is still an overdue passion for CMUT community. The bandwidth of the CMUTs are inherently superior to their piezoelectric rivals due to the nature of the suspended membrane structure, however, their power output capability must be improved to achieve superior signal-to-noise ratio and penetration depth. In this thesis, we gave a comprehensive discussion about the physics and functionality of CMUTs and showed both theoretically and experimentally that their power outputs can be increased substantially. Using the conventional uncollapsed mode of CMUTs, where the suspended membrane vibrates freely, the lumped displacement of the membrane is limited. Limited displacement, unfortunately, limits the power output of the CMUT. However, a larger lumped displacement is possible in the collapsed state, where the membrane gets in contact with the substrate. By controlling the movement of the membrane in this state, the power output of the CMUTs can be increased. We derived the analytical expressions for the profile of a circular CMUT membrane in both uncollapsed and collapsed states. Using the profiles, we calculated the forces acting on the membrane and the energy radiated to the medium during an applied electrical pulse. We showed that the radiated energy can be increased drastically by utilizing the nonlinear forces on the membrane, well beyond the collapse voltage. Using the analytical expressions, we developed a nonlinear electrical equivalent circuit model that can be used to simulate the mechanical behavior of a transmitting CMUT under any electrical excitation. Furthermore, the model can handle different membrane dimensions and material properties. It can predict the membrane movement in the collapsed state as well as in the uncollapsed state. In addition, it predicts the hysteretic snap-back behavior of CMUTs, when the electric potential across a collapsed membrane is decreased. The nonlinear equivalent circuit was simulated using SPICE circuit simulator, and the accuracy of the model was tested using finite element method (FEM) simulations. Better than 3% accuracy is achieved for the static deflection of a membrane as a function of applied DC voltage. On the other hand, the pressure output of a CMUT under large signal excitation is predicted within 5% accuracy. Using the developed model, we explained the dynamics of a CMUT membrane. Based on our physical understanding, we proposed a new mode of operation, the deep collapse mode, in order to generate high power acoustic pulses with large bandwidth (>100% fractional) at a desired center frequency. We showed both by simulation (FEM and equivalent circuit) and by experiments that the deep collapse mode increases the output pressure of a CMUT, substantially. The experiments were performed on CMUTs fabricated at Bilkent University by a sacrificial release process. Larger than 3.5 MPa peak-to-peak acoustic pulses were measured on CMUT surface with more than 100% fractional bandwidth around 7 MHz using an electrical pulse amplitude of 160 Volts. Furthermore, we optimized the deep collapse mode in terms of CMUT dimensions and parameters of the applied electrical pulse, i.e., amplitude, rise and fall times, pulse width and polarity. The experimental results were compared to dynamic FEM and equivalent circuit simulations. We concluded that the experimental results are in good agreement with the simulations. We believe that CMUTs, with their high transmit power capability in the deep collapse mode can become a strong competitor to piezoelectrics.
Open Access
Lumped element modeling of circular CMUT in collopsed mode
(2014) Aydoğdu, Elif
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer is a microelectromechanical device, which serves as an acoustic signal source or sensor, in a variety of applications including medical ultrasound imaging, ultrasound therapy, airborne applications. It has a suspended membrane with an electrode inside, and at the underlying substrate there is another electrode, so that the membrane can be deflected by the electrical field formed between the electrodes. Similarly, any mechanical disturbance on the membrane can be sensed as a change in the capacitance of the two electrodes. CMUT is a nonlinear device which has a distributed mechanical operation. Although, it is a mass-spring system basically, the nonlinear electrical force and the radiation force makes it impossible to solve CMUT through analytical equations. In order to predict its behavior, and design a CMUT towards the needs of a specific application, either finite element analysis or equivalent electrical circuit modeling should be utilized. Finite element analysis (FEA) can predict the distributed CMUT operation with high accuracy, but its usage is limited to designs employing low number of CMUTs because of the computation cost. Recently, advances in equivalent circuit modeling, made it possible to simulate arrays employing very high number of CMUTs, with high accuracy. These models assume uncollapsed mode operation and except collapsed mode operation as it is highly nonlinear. This thesis focuses on obtaining an accurate equivalent circuit model for a circular CMUT in collapsed mode. The outcome is a parametric circuit model, that can simulate a CMUT of any physical and material parameters, under an arbitrary electrical or mechanical excitation. In collapsed mode, the compliance of the membrane is no longer constant as in uncollapsed mode, and it increases with increasing contact radius. Similarly, the capacitance, the electrical force and the radiation impedance all have new behavior regarding the contact radius. As there is no analytical solution for those parameters, we perform numerical calculations and extract expressions for each of them. First, we calculate the collapsed membrane deflection, utilizing the exact electrical force distribution in the analytical formulation of membrane deflection. Then we use the deflection profile to calculate the capacitance, electrical force, and compliance. Performing a set of calculations for different CMUT dimensions, different pressure and voltage levels, we obtain dependencies of those parameters on rms deflection. Then we develop a lumped element model of collapsed membrane operation, expressing the parameters as functions of rms deflection. The radiation impedance for the collapsed mode is also included in the model. The model is then merged with the uncollapsed mode model to obtain a simulation tool that handles all CMUT behavior, in transmit or receive. Large- and smallsignal operation of a single CMUT can be fully simulated for any excitation regime. The results are in good agreement with FEM simulations.
Open Access
Modeling and characterization of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers
(2000) Bozkurt, Ayhan
The Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (cMUT) is a device used for the generation and detection of ultrasonic sound waves. The device is constructed on a silicon substrate using a microfabrication process. Individual cells constituting the device are membranes which have dimensions in the order of tens of microns, and are made up of a mechanicalh^ strong compound of silicon. The transducer itself has dimensions measured in centimeters, thus the total number of cells that make up a transducer is in the order of thousands. The excitation/detection of acoustic waves relies on the capacitance between the substrate and membrane: The presence of acoustic waves induces a small -AlC variation on the DC bias on the device, which can be used for detection, while a small -A.C component added to the DC bias by the drive circuit changes the electro-static attraction force on the membrane causing it to vibrate, producing acoustic waves. Basic advantages of cMUT devices include easy patterning of array structures, integration of drive/detection electronics with mechanical structures, and low cost. In this study, basic theory describing the characteristics of cMUT devices were developed. The analytic formulation was used to test the validity of a Finite Element Method (FEM) model. The FEM model, then, was emplo3'ed in the analysis of structures for which no analytical models are present. Specific problems solved using the FEM model included the characterization of cMUT devices with judiciously patterned electrodes. A more specific study showed that the bandwidth of an immersion device with an active area of radius 25 /¿m can be increased by 100% by simply setting the electrode radius to 10 /rm. The FEM analysis was, then, extended to handle the effects of substrate loss, which required the incorporation of an Absorbing Boundary Condition (ABC) into the model. A Normal Mode Theory analysis was conducted to give better insight to the physical nature of the effect of substrate loss to device characteristics. The dominant wavemode for a transducer of central frequency 2.5 MHz was found to be the lowest order anti-symmetric lamb wave mode (AO), for a silicon substrate of thickness 500 //m. A microfabrication process was developed for the production of cMUT devices. Hexagonally shaped transducers of radius 40 p.m were fabrictated on a conducting silicon substrated with silicon nitride as the sacrificial la.j'er and amorphous silicon as the membrane material. Both the gap and membrane thicknesses are set to 0.5 //m. 8, 16, and 24 /im gold plates were deposited as top eletrodes. The total number of active cells were 24 thousand for a substrate size of 0.7x0.7 cm^. Some experimental results were obtained from the fabricated transducers to support the analytical cMUT model. The device is found to have a central frequency of 2 MHz.
Open Access
Neural network-based target differentiation using sonar for robotics applications
(IEEE, 2000-08) Barshan, B.; Ayrulu, B.; Utete, S. W.
This study investigates the processing of sonar signals using neural networks for robust differentiation of commonly encountered features in indoor robot environments. The neural network can differentiate more targets with higher accuracy, improving on previously reported methods. It achieves this by exploiting the identifying features in the differential amplitude and time-of-flight (TOF) characteristics of these targets. Robustness tests indicate that the amplitude information is more crucial than TOF for reliable operation. The study suggests wider use of neural networks and amplitude information in sonar-based mobile robotics.
Open Access
A new signal detection method for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers
(1999) Ergun, Arif Sanlı
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUT) have become an alternative to piezoelectric transducers in the past few years. They are constructed by integrating many small circular membranes in parallel. In this thesis, we demonstrate a new signal detection method for cMUT’s. We model the membranes as capacitors, and the interconnection lines between the membranes as inductors. The resulting circuit is an artificial transmission line with a certain electrical length. The vibrations of the membranes modulate the electrical length of the transmission line, which is proportional to the frequency of the signal through it. By measuring the electrical length of the artificial transmission line using a high RF frequency (in the GHz range), the vibrations of the membranes can be detected in a very sensitive manner. Typically, the improvement over the conventional method is two orders of magnitude. For the devices we measured we observed a minimum detectable displacement in the order of 10"^ A/V^.
Open Access
Nonlinear modelling of an immersed transmitting capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer for harmonic balance analysis
(2009) Oğuz, Hüseyin Kağan
Finite element method (FEM) is used for transient dynamic analysis of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUT), which is particularly useful when the membranes are driven in the nonlinear regime. A transient FEM analysis shows that CMUT exhibits strong nonlinear behavior even at very low AC excitation under DC bias. One major disadvantage of FEM is the excessive time required for simulation. Harmonic Balance (HB) analysis, on the other hand, provides an accurate estimate of the steady-state response of nonlinear circuits very quickly. It is common to use Mason’s equivalent circuit to model the mechanical section of CMUT. However, it is not appropriate to terminate Mason’s mechanical LC section by a rigid piston’s radiation impedance, especially, for an immersed CMUT. We studied the membrane behavior using a transient FEM analysis and found out that for a wide range of harmonics around the series resonance, the membrane displacement can be modeled as a clamped radiator. We considered the root mean square of the velocity distribution on the membrane surface as the circuit variable rather than the average velocity. With this definition the kinetic energy of the membrane mass is the same as that in the model. We derived the force and current equations for a clamped radiator and implemented them in a commercial HB simulator. We observed much better agreement between FEM and the proposed equivalent model, compared to the conventional model.
Open Access
Nonuniform membranes in capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers
(2005) Şenlik, Muhammed N.
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUT) are used to receive and transmit ultrasonic signals. The device is constructed from many small, in the order of microns, circular membranes, which are connected in parallel. When they are immersed in water, the bandwidth of the cMUT is limited by the membrane’s second resonance frequency, which causes an increase in the mechanical impedance of the membrane. In this thesis, we propose a new membrane shape to shift the second resonance frequency to higher values, in addition to keeping the impedance of the membrane as small as possible. The structure consists of a very thin membrane with a rigid mass at the center. The stiffness of the central region moves the second resonance to a higher frequency. This membrane configuration is shown to work better compared to conventionally used uniform membranes during both reception and transmission. The improvement in the bandwidth is more than %30 with an increase in the gain.
Open Access
Optimization of the gain-bandwidth product of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers
(2005) Olçum, Selim
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUT) have large bandwidths, but they typically have low conversion efficiencies. This thesis defines a performance measure in the form of a gain-bandwidth product, and investigates the conditions in which this performance measure is maximized. A Mason model corrected with finite element simulations is utilized for the purpose of optimizing parameters. There are different performance measures for transducers operating in transmit, receive or pulse-echo modes. Basic parameters of the transducer are optimized for those operating modes. Optimized values for a cMUT with silicon nitride membrane and immersed in water are given. The effect of including an electrical matching network is considered. In particular, the effect of a shunt inductor in the gain-bandwidth product is investigated. Design tools are introduced, which are used to determine optimal dimensions of cMUTs with the specified frequency or gain response.
Open Access
Radiation impedance of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers
(2010) Şenlik, Muhammed N.
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUTs) are used to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals. The device is constructed from circular membranes fabricated with surface micromachining technology. They have wider bandwidth with lower transmit power and lower receive sensitivity compared to the piezoelectric transducers, which dominate the ultrasonic transducer market. In order to be commercialized, they must overcome these drawbacks or find new application areas, where piezoelectric transducers perform poorly or cannot work. In this thesis, the latter approach, finding a new application area, is followed to design wide band and highly efficient airborne transducers with high output power by maximizing the radiation resistance of the transducer. The radiation impedance describes the interaction of the transducer with the surrounding medium. The real part, radiation resistance, is a measure of the amount of the power radiated to the medium; whereas the imaginary part, radiation reactance, shows the wobbled medium near the transducer surface. The radiation impedance of cMUTs are currently not well-known. As a first step, the radiation impedance of a cMUT with a circular membrane is calculated analytically using its velocity profile up to its parallel resonance frequency for both the immersion and the airborne applications. The results are verified by finite element simulations. The work is extended to calculate the radiation impedance of an array of cMUT cells positioned in a hexagonal pattern. The radiation impedance is determined to be a strong function of the cell spacing. It is shown that excitation of nonsymmetric modes is possible in immersion applications. A higher radiation resistance improves the bandwidth as well as the efficiency and the transmit power of the cMUT. It is shown that a center-to-center cell spacing of 1.25 wavelength maximizes the radiation resistance for the most compact arrangement, if the membranes are not too thin. For the airborne applications, the bandwidth can be further increased by using smaller device dimensions, which decreases the impedance mismatch between the cMUT and the air. On the other hand, this choice leads to degradation in both efficiency and transmit power due to lowered radiation resistance. It is shown that by properly choosing the arrangement of the thin membranes within an array, it is possible to optimize the radiation resistance. To make a fair analysis, same size arrays are compared. The operating frequency and the collapse voltage of the devices are kept constant. The improvement in the bandwidth and the transmit power can be as high as three and one and a half times, respectively. This method may also improve the noise figure when cMUTs are used as receivers. A further improvement in the noise figure is possible when the cells are clustered and connected to separate receivers. The results are presented as normalized graphs to be used for arbitrary device dimensions and material properties.