Three-Dimensional Image Sensing in Air by Thermally Induced Ultrasonic Emitter Based on Nanocrystalline Porous Silicon

Abstract

Ultrasonic three-dimensional (3-D) image sensing in air is successfully demonstrated by combining a novel thermally induced ultrasonic emission from nanocrystalline porous silicon (nc-PS) device with a condenser microphone array. The nc-PS ultrasonic emitter is composed of a patterned heater electrode, an nc-PS layer, and a single-crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrate. In this device, an ideal probe signal can be generated with little reverberation under impulse operation, since the acoustic output shows a flat frequency response in a wide range due to a quick thermo-acoustic conversion at the device surface without any mechanical vibrations. The 3-D object is detected with a spatial resolution considerably higher than that in the case of conventional techniques based on piezoelectric transducers. It is also shown that the device is available for the detection of several objects with different acoustic reflectance coefficients.