In-Air Rangefinding With an AlN Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer

Richard J. Przybyla, Stefon E. Shelton, Andre F. S. Guedes, Igor Izyumin, Mitchell Kline, David A. Horsley, Bernhard E. Boser

IEEE Sensors Journal · 2011 · 197 citations · 17 references

Concepts

TL;DR

An ultrasonic rangefinder operates over 30–450 mm with a 375‑Hz maximum sampling rate. The system uses a single AlN‑membrane transducer for pulse‑echo time‑of‑flight measurement, fabricated via a low‑temperature process compatible with CMOS wafers. The device achieves 1.3 mm noise at 450 mm and outperforms other micromechanical rangefinders.

Abstract

An ultrasonic rangefinder has a working range of 30 to 450 mm and operates at a 375-Hz maximum sampling rate. The random noise increases with distance and equals 1.3 mm at the maximum range. The range measurement principle is based on pulse-echo time-of-flight measurement using a single transducer for transmit and receive. The transducer consists of a piezoelectric AlN membrane with 400-μm diameter, which was fabricated using a low-temperature process compatible with processed CMOS wafers. The performance of the system exceeds the performance of other micromechanical rangefinders.

References

17