Characterization of Epitaxial-PZT/SI Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (PMUT) and its Phased Array System

Abstract

In this study, we have demonstrated the usability of an epitaxial lead zirconate titanate (Epi-PZT) thin film for a piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT) imager. At first, transmitting abilities and receiving sensitivities of the single-element pMUT based on Epi PZT and polycrystalline PZT (Poly-PZT) were evaluated as a fundamental study. Then, the 8-ch linear array system driven by a commercially-available pulser board was built, and successfully formed a focused ultrasonic beam. Finally, we obtained the ultrasonic images of a polydimethylsiloxane-based phantom by using the Epi-PZT and Poly-PZT pMUT linear array, and experimentally proved that Epi-PZT pMUT array can obtain higher contrast image compared to Poly-PZT device.