Design and Experiment of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer Array for High-Frequency Underwater Imaging

Background:: Ultrasound is widely used in the applications of underwater imaging. Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) is a promising candidate to the traditional piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer. In underwater ultrasound imaging, better resolutions can be achieved with a higher frequency ultrasound. Therefore, a CMUT array for high-frequency ultrasound imaging is proposed in this work. Methods:: Analytical methods are used to calculate the center frequency in water and the pull-in voltage for determining the operating point of CMUT. Finite element method model was developed to finalize the design parameters. The CMUT array was fabricated with a five-mask sacrificial release process. Results:: The CMUT array owned an immersed center frequency of 2.6 MHz with a 6 dB fractional bandwidth of 123 %. The pull-in voltage of the CMUT array was 85 V. An underwater imaging experiment was carried out with the target of three steel wires. Conclusion:: In this study, we have developed CMUT for high-frequency underwater imaging. The experiment showed that the CMUT can detect the steel wires with the diameter of 100 μm and the axial resolution was 0.582 mm, which is close to one wavelength of ultrasound in 2.6 MHz.