Cost-effective and manufacturable route to the fabrication of high-density 2D micromachined ultrasonic transducer arrays and (CMOS) signal conditioning electronics on the same silicon substrate

Abstract

The ability to fabricate Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (cMUTs) and signal conditioning electronics together on the same silicon substrate offers significant benefits to overall transducer performance, and simplifies connectivity within a dense 2D transducer array. This integration of cMUTs and electronics has been demonstrated utilising a low-temperature silicon nitride membrane technology, post-processed onto CMOS-ASIC substrates. Successful results from fabricated arrays of cMUTs and front-end analogue amplifiers confirm the integration to be relatively simple and highly manufacturable.