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Integrated Ferroelectrics: An
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Integrated ferroelectric monomorph

transducers for acoustic imaging
a a a b b
J. Bernstein , K. Houston , L. Niles , K. Li , H. Chen ,
b c
L. E. Cross & K. Udayakumar
a
C. S. Draper Laboratory , Cambridge MA
b
Materials Research Laboratory of the Penn State
University , University Park, PA
c
Texas Instruments Inc. , Dallas, TX, 75265
Published online: 19 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: J. Bernstein , K. Houston , L. Niles , K. Li , H. Chen , L. E. Cross

& K. Udayakumar (1997) Integrated ferroelectric monomorph transducers for acoustic
imaging, Integrated Ferroelectrics: An International Journal, 15:1-4, 289-307, DOI:
10.1080/10584589708015720

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INTEGRATED FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCERS FOR

ACOUSTIC IMAGING

J. BERNSTEIN, K. HOUSTON, L. NILES,

K. LI*, ,H. CHEN* ,L.E. CROSS*, and K. UDAYAKUMAR**
C.S. Draper Laboratory, Cambridge MA
*Materials Research Laboratory of the Penn State University,
University Park,PA
**Current Address: Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX 75265
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 15:30 03 January 2015

(Recvii ed Murch 18, 1996. m frriul foi ni Apt 1130. 1996 I

Abstract Millimeter-sized ferroelectric monomorph sonar transducers have
been built using sol-gel PZT on micromachined silicon wafers. The fabrication
of monolithic transducer arrays on silicon wafers is described. Transducers
have been tested in water in the frequency range of 0.5 to 4 MHz. Individual
transducer diaphragms varied from 0.2 to 2 mm in size.
Improvements to the sol-gel process have yielded high-quality, crack-free PZT
films up to 12 pm in thickness, which leads directly to higher sensitivity and
figure of merit for acoustic transducers. The longitudinal piezoelectric
coefficient d33 is 140 - 180 pC/N, measured through a double beam laser
interferometer. Remanent polarization of 34 pC/cm2, a coercive field of 42
kV/cm, and dielectric constant of 1400 were measured on 4 - ~ mthick films.
Results of air and in-water testing are presented, including frequency response,
beam patterns, and output capacitance.
High-resolution acoustic images of have been generated using these
transducers and a four-element underwater acoustic lens. Potential
applications for these transducers include high-frequency imaging sonars,
medical ultrasound, ultrasonic communication links, and flaw detection (NDT).

INTRODUCTION
Acoustic imaging in the I-MHz to 10-MHz range is currently carried out using
phased arrays of ferroelectric transducers. Medical ultrasound arrays are usually
limited to one-dimensional (linear) configurations due to limits on signal processing
and the large number of signal channels required by a dense 2-dimensional array.
However, 2-dimensional arrays are required to image 3-dimensional domains
without mechanical scanning.
This paper reports the use of micromachining technology combined with
advanced sol-gel PZT deposition to create 2-dimensional arrays of MHz acoustic
156311289
 290/[564] J.J. BERNSTEIN et al.

transducers on silicon wafers. These transducers can be used with acoustic lenses
or phased arrays. Individual transducers have been used with an acoustic lens to
form high-resolution demonstration images. Potential applications of such arrays
include a hand-held diver’s sonar, medical ultrasound imaging, and nondestructive
testing (NDT).
Audio-frequency micromachined condenser hydrophones have been built and
demonstrated previously with on-chip J E T buffer amplifiers.l-2 These transducers
demonstrated a high sensitivity of (-177 dB // lV/pPa, 600 Hz to 6 kHz) and low
noise (Sea State Zero + 2 dB). Previous work on miniature ultrasonic transducers
on silicon used films of PVDF as the transduction material.3 Micromachining has
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been used to reduce crosstalk and to reduce stray capacitance on these PVDF
sense elements.415
The ultimate advantage of forming transducer arrays in silicon is that some of
the electronics could be fabricated integrally with the transducers. In mass
production, a merged microelectronic and sensor technology could yield high-
resolution sonar arrays at a lower cost than a hybrid assembly. In particular, the
problem of connecting a large number of individual elements may be best solved by a
monolithic switching network, forming the acoustic analog of an optical CCD or infra-
red array. The alternative is some form of bump bonding to a luge electronics array.
In the sections that follow, we will detail the design, fabrication, techniques, test
results, and acoustic images for these first-generation micromachined ultrasonic
transducers.

TRANSDUCER ANALYSIS
A drawing of a PZT on silicon monomorph device is shown in Figure 1. Square and
rectangular silicon diaphragms of controlled thickness between 1 and 20 pm can be
conveniently etched in single-crystal silicon wafers by standard micromachining
techniques. A drawing of an array of various size transducers is shown in Figure 2.
Dielectric insulation layers and a metal/PZT/metal capacitor are: deposited to form a
monomorph centered on the square diaphragms. The transducer cross section
contains, from top to bottom, Pt, Ti, PZT, Pt, Ti, Si02, and Si.
The most common sonar transducer shapes are ceramic: cylinders, spheres,
rectangular bars, and bimorphs. Of these shapes, the bimorph (or monomorph) most
easily adapts to thin-film fabrication and silicon micromachining. The bimorph is
 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCERS (565]/29
1
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FIGURE I Micromachined PZT on silicon monomorph transducer structure.

FIGURE 2 Mask drawing of PZT on silicon transducer array.

Diaphragm dimensions are given in ym.
 ?921[566] J . J . BERNSTEIN rt r d .

roughly comparable in performance to the cylinder when transducers of comparable

bandwidth are considered.6
The monomorph diaphragm turns incident compressional waves into bending and
stretching of the diaphragm. The input pressure is amplified by the ratio (diameter /
thickness)2, giving high sensitivity. The output capacitance is also high due to the
thin-film capacitor dielectric. The traditional disadvantages of bimorphs ar&w
static pressure capability and low bandwidth; however, for these high-frequenty
designs, static pressure is not a problem.
The allowable stress in silicon is estimated as 1% of the Young's modulus (E
= 170 GPa). The burst strength of a square membrane with clamped edges is given7
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in terms of the maximum allowable shear stress GMAX,the membrane side length a
and the thickness h, as

In calculating the burst pressure, layers other than silicon are neglected, since
ceramics are weak in tension. This conservative estimate of burst pressure vs
silicon diaphragm size and thickness is plotted in Figure 3.

loo 1 -
Y

--is- 20pThck
5pThick

15pThick

I ! I I I I

200 300 400 500 €

Square Diaphragm Size (Microns)

FIGURE 3 Estimated burst pressure of square silicon diaphragms vs

thickness and width.
 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCERS [567]/293

The small size of the diaphragms gives these transducers high burst strengths
of approximately 10 MPa (100 atm or I km of water for a 0.36 mm X 15 pm thick
diaphragm). This static pressure capability is adequate for many underwater
applications.

I s's
All the devices fabricated for this study used a square or rectangular membrane as
the sensing element, due to the constraints of anisotropic etching in diamond-cubic
silicon. New fabrication techniques (such as through-wafer plasma etching) allow
the fabrication of circular devices, whose greater symmetry should improve
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performance and burst strength. The circular bimorph is briefly analyzed here as the
prototypical bimorph system. Simple analytical formulae are available for the
resonant frequency, output sensitivity and capacitance.8 By studying the scaling
behavior of the circular bimorph, important conclusions can be drawn about the
effects of transducer size and water loading that are valid for the square
monomorphs. The series connected bimorph is assumed to have twice the
sensitivity and half the output capacitance of an equivalent monomorph of the same
total thickness and diameter.
The resonant frequency of a simply supported circular plate of thickness t and
radius a, with one-sided water loading is9

f = O.24341("U PH 0 a
ppn 1+0.77--L-
Pa7

In the absence of water loading, the simply supported case reduces to:

The resonant frequency of a clamped edge circular plate with one-sided loading
is:
 294/[568] J.J. BERNSTEIN el al.

while the clamped frequency without water loading is:

f =os+a
(5)
The resonant frequency of a clamped square plate of sidle length a, wetted on
one side is?
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Figure 4 shows the thickness vs diameter to achieve I-MHz resonance for the
simply supported and clamped, dry and one-side wetted circular transducers using
E~Z= T 69 X 109 Pa and PPZT = 7.7 X 103 kg/m3. The effect of water loading is to
raise the effective mass per unit area, which requires a thicker plate to bring the
resonant frequency back to 1 MHz.

30

c
P
0
10
E
5i

0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4

Circular Bimorph Diameter (mm)

FIGURE 4 Thickness vs diameter to achieve 1-MHz resonance for a circular

bimorph; (a) simply supported, water loaded; (b) simply
supported, no loading; (c) clamped edge, water loaded one side;
(d) clamped edge, no loading.
 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCERS [569]/295

The low frequency sensitivity of a circular bimorph is h 4 8~

Sonar transducer sensitivities are given in dB // V/pPa :

2ma2
The capacitance of the monomorph is C = t . Note that in the dry case,
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t
a . Both the output capacitance and the
the resonant frequency is proportional to 7
low-frequency sensitivity of the transducer are also determined by this ratio. In
other words, once the resonant frequency is chosen, the sensitivity and output
capacitance of the dry bimorph transducer are also determined. To first order, the
size of the unloaded element is unimportant. In contrast, the loaded transducer
sensitivity increases with diameter, since the larger, thicker elements are less
affected by water loading. The burst pressure also increases with size, since it is
t2
proportional to 2 . A plot of sensitivity vs diameter for a simply supported
monomorph transducer is shown in Figure 5. The dry transducer sensitivity is
shown for reference.

.2301+ -- &--I-- d--k -4- - 4 _-,

n
(d Dry
3 -

-
rA
-236 I I I I 1 I I

FIGURE 5 Circular monomorph sensitivity vs diameter for dry and one-side

wetted cases.
 29645701 J.J. BERNSTElN ef d.

Finite-Element Analvsis
Due to the complexity of the multiple layer transducer, extensive use was made of
finite-element analysis (FEA). FEA was used to predict resonant frequency vs
thickness and diameter for various square and rectangular shaped diaphragms. The
hydrophones were modeled using 3-dimensional continuum solid elements. Three
layers of elements were used for the silicon and the PZT layers.
Radiation impedance (fluid loading) is very important since the radiation mass
of the surrounding fluid is larger than the diaphragm mass. Hence, both the Q and
the resonant frequency are strongly affected by the fluid loadin,gboundary conditions,
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including waterproof urethane coatings and air or fluid backing. The effect of the fluid
is approximated by applying added mass to the wetted surface. The added mass
was modeled by changing the density of the top FEA diaphragm layer.
Stress distributions were calculated by FEA using a 1-Pa load on the
diaphragms. The PZT produces an output electric field through its thickness
proportional to g31(bxx + oyy>, where g31 is the piezoelectric coefficient and oxx
and oYyare the in-plane stresses in the PZT layer. The output voltage is obtained
by integrating through the z (thickness) direction and taking an area average over
the electroded portion of the diaphragm.
FEA predicts that square transducers (295 pm X 295 pin) made with films of
PZT 5 pm thick on a silicon diaphragm 10 pm thick have a stat'ic sensitivity of -234
dB // lV/pPa. Due to the small mass of the diaphragm and the efficient coupling to
water, the mechanical Q of these devices is expected to be on the order of 4. The
low Q makes possible operation over a broad frequency range. Operation at the
fundamental resonant frequency should give enhanced sensitivity by a factor of Q,
raising the sensitivity as high as -222 dB // lV/pPa. Initial test results on
transducers with a 3.5-ym layer of PZT showed a sensitivity at 1 MHz of -225 dB //
1 V/pPa in silicone oil, close to theoretical predictions. Encapsulation in
polyurethane reduced the sensitivity to -244 dB // lV/pPa due to adding mass and
stiffness.
Table I summarizes the calculated results for several transducer designs. In
the first fabrication phase, an array of 14 different sized square and rectangular
transducers (Figure 2) was fabricated to experimentally determine the optimum size
for sensing at various frequencies. Currently 8 X 8 arrays of identical transducers
are being fabricated for use as acoustic retinas.
 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH 1 RANSDL'CERS [57 1]/?97

TABLE 1 Summary of calculated characteristics for several square designs.

Case Case Case Case

Parameter Units 195-5 225-5 260-10 295-10
Silicon Membrane Thickness Cun 5 5 10 10
PZT 5A Thickness (pm) w 1 5 1 5
Silicon Membrane Width (pm) w 195 225 260 295
Sense Capacitor Width (pm) w 130 150 173 200
Mechanical Q at I MHz __- 5.85 5.84 4.55 4.03
Resonance
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Sens. at 1 MHz , Mo dB II 1VIpPa -226 -217 -231 -222

Output Capacitance 0, Co pF 195 52 344 92 -
Figure of Merit, Mo2 Q m3Pa 4.88 10.3 2.73 5.81

TRANSDUCER FABRICATION
Standard silicon micromachining techniques were used to fabricate the transducers,
as illustrated in Figure 6. Fabrication starts with double-side polished, 3-in
diameter n-type silicon wafers. The wafers were oxidized and photolithographically
patterned, leaving oxide only on the wafer backs where cavities are to be etched
later. A 5 or 10 pm thick boron-doped etch stop layer is then diffused into the silicon.
After the boron diffusion, all remaining Si02 is removed, and a low-
temperature oxide (LTO)is deposited. Back side holes are opened in the oxide (to
define the cavities) and alignment marks are etched on the wafer fronts using an
infrared mask aligner. Next, the cavities are etched in EDP (ethylenediamine-
pyrocatechol-water-pyrazine), leaving the heavily boron-doped silicon membranes.
EDP is an anisotropic etch that etch-stops on the silicon < 1 1 b planes and also
stops on heavily boron doped silicon. Bottom electrode metal layers (500 A Ti13000
A Pt) are then deposited on the wafer front surface. Note that the membranes are
strong enough to survive all subsequent processing without breakage.
The wafers are then coated with PZT (this process is described in the PZT
section). After PZT deposition the PZT is wet-etched using a photoresist mask.
The wafers are then sputter coated with a second Ti-Pt metal layer, which is
patterned with a photoresist lift-off process. The wafers are then diced into arrays
using a dicing saw.
 298/[572] J.J. BERNSTEIN et al.
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FIGURE 6 Cross-section of two completed transducers.

PZT Film Deposition and Properties

There has recently been a great deal of research in ferroelectric thin films on silicon
for use in Ferroelectric Random Access Memories (FRAMs) and Dynamic Random
Access Memories (DRAMS). Many techniques are used to deposit these films,
including sol-gel, RF sputtering, laser ablation, and chemical vapor deposition
(CVD).10-12 For memories, a large capacitance in the smallest area (for DRAM'S)
and low coercive voltage (for FRAMs) is desired, hence, fillms less than 300 nm
thick are typically used. For sensor applications, thicker films are desirable to
maximize the voltage sensitivity. The optimal PZT thickness in a monomorph is
between 1/3 and 1/2 the silicon thickness, since material near the neutral axis
contributes little to the voltage sensitivity.
In this work, large area pinhole-free films of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) up
to 12 pm in thickness have been fabricated by a modified sol-gel process. This
involves employing carboxylic acids as the solvent instead of alcohols such as 2-
methoxyethanol. The mole ratio of Zr to Ti is maintained at 5248, the morphotropic
phase boundary composition. The elemental precursors used are lead acetate
trihydrate, zirconium n-propoxide, and titanium isopropoxide; the solvent used is
glacial acetic acid. Lead acetate trihydrate is distilled to expel the water of
hydration, and the solution refluxed with the alkoxides. Ethylene glycol and
deionized water aid in controlling the viscosity and concentlration of the sol, and
furthering the condensation of the sol mixture. The final resultant sol has been found
to be relatively insensitive to moisture, and stable as well.
Films were fabricated on 1- and 3-in silicon wafers with platinum-base
electrodes (the substrate structure consists of 0.55 pm silicon dioxide, 500 A
 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCERS [5733/299

titanium for adhesion, and 3000 A platinum) by a spin-on process. The films are
dried at 15OoC to evaporate the solvent, and then rapidly heated to 400°C to remove
the residual organics. This was followed by preannealing at 600OC to densify the
layer to prevent further shrinkage. This procedure is continued until films of the
desired thickness are built. The films were finally annealed at 70O0Cfor 1 hour. The
thickness of the films varies linearly with the number of layers, each layer
corresponding to a thickness of 0.25 pm.
Titaniudplatinum top electrodes 0.8 and 1.6 mm in diameter were used on
2.54-cm test wafers to measure the dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 15:30 03 January 2015

properties. There were no electrical shorts in any of these test structures. These
properties are listed in Table II for a film that is 4 pm thick. The weak field dielectric
permittivity of the film at 1 kHz is 1400, with low dissipation losses of 3%. The
hysteresis loop for the 4 pm thick film is shown in Figure 7, testifying to high
remanent polarization and low coercive field. Electric field-induced displacements of
the films were measured using a double beam laser interferometer. Longitudinal
piezoelectric coefficient, d33, obtained from the slope of 8 plot of the strain vs the
applied electric field is 246 pCM. X-ray diffraction data indicate a strong (100)
orientation for PZT films greater than 5 km thick.
In summary, PZT films up to 12 pm in thickness have been fabricated by
extending and modifying the sol-gel precursor chemistry, and the thermal treatment.
This is a distinct advance over the previous film processing techniques that were
limited to thicknesses less than 1 pm. The electrophysical properties of the films
match that of the bulk ceramic, and perform extremely well as sonar transducers, as
evident in the following sections

TABLE II Properties of 4 pm thick sol-gel PZT films.

Dielectric permittivity Er = 1400

(1 W z , 10 mV)
Dissipation losses

Remanent Polarization I 28 pC/cm2

 30045741 J.J. BERNSTEIN et 01.
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FIGURE 7 Polarization-electricfield hysteresis loo of a 4 ym thick PZT film.

f
The remanent polarization is 28 yC/cm ,and the coercive field 30
kVIcm.

Packaging. Poling. and Water-Proofing

The first PZT mask set has an m a y of 14 square and rectangular sensors of various
sizes within an 8 mm X 10 mm repeat unit. Kovar flat-packs with ceramic hybrid
boards were used to connect the transducers to electrical output leads. The ceramic
boards and the sensor array chips were attached to the flat packs with epoxy
preforms. Wire bonds were used to make connection between the chip and the
ceramic board, and between the ceramic board and the flat-pack leads. The sensing
diaphragms were air-backed due to trapped air in the etched cavities.
Poling was carried out by applying 36 Vdc bias (10 Vlym) at room
temperature for 2 minutes. Some chips were then urethane coated for waterproofing
(1-2 mm thick type PRC-1570), while others were tested in cylindrical bags of
silicone oil immersed in a water-filled test tank. In all experiments, the sound was
incident from the metalized side of the wafers.

S - E T
In this section, we will tabulate characteristics of the various transducers fabricated,
and present results of frequency response and horizontal and vertical beam patterns.
 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCERS [575]/301

An underwater image taken by scanning a single transducer through the focal plane
of an acoustic lens will also be shown.
Fourteen different devices were fabricated using the first pask set. These
were square diaphragms ranging from 200 pm to 1 mm on a side, and 2 mm long
rectangular diaphragms ranging from 140 pm wide to 300 pm wide. The dimensions,
sense area, stray capacitance area (bond pad and interconnect line), fraction of
useful area, sense capacitance values, and measured beamwidths are tabulated in
Table III.

TABLE IIl Summary of device dimensions, capacitances, and beamwidths.

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Device Sense Bond-Pad & Fraction Useful Cap Beamwidth Beamwidth

Membrane Capacitor Interconnect Sense areal 3.5 p n Thick at 1 MHz * at 2 MHz *
Dimensions Area Area Total Area ~ ~ 1 3 0 0(measured) (measured)
cunx lun pm2 lrm2 - (PF)
0 0

2OOX 200 16,900 13,700 055 56 112'x 106' 1079x990

2241x 2241 z.500 13,700 0.62 74 110' X 113' 98' X 96'
240x240 25,600 13,800 0.65 84 109O x --- 85' X ---
260X 260 28,900 13,900 0.68 95 110' x 113' 94' x 940
295X 295 40,000 14,000 0.74 132 113'X 107' 81'X 81
400x400 72,900 14,300 0.84 240 114'X 102' 76OX76'
6oox 600 160,000 15,000 0.91 526 ** **
8oox 800 280,900 15,700 0.95 924 ** **
1000X1000 448,900 16,300 O.% 1476 ** **
140X2000 126,000 15,000 0.89 414 73' X 68' 31' X 101'
170x2000 162,000 15,000 0.92 533 54" X 110" 31' X 104'
mxm 198,ooo 15,000 0.93 651 65' X 115' 35' X 75'
250x2000 252,000 15,000 0.94 829 62O X 79' 33' X 67'
3OOX2000 288,000 15,000 0.95 947 73' X 64' 30' X 78'
* Beamwidths are approximate -10 dB
** Not tested due to length of wire bond required to reach center of array

The true open-circuit sensitivity can be obtained from the measured sensitivity
by correcting for the on-chip and off-chip stray capacitance, including cables and
preamplifier. For the 260 jun X 260 pm device, the useful 95 pF is loaded by on-chip
and off-chip strays totaling 145 pF. The open-circuit sensitivity is estimated to be 8
dB higher than the measured sensitivity, or -237 dB N IV/pPa. Throughout this
paper, the sensitivities quoted are raw data not corrected for the effects of stray
capacitance.
 302/[576] J.J. BERNSTEIN eta/.

Currently, 8 X 8 arrays of identical sensors are being fabricated with a

polyimide layer under the metal traces to reduce the stray capacitance of the
interconnect lines and bond pads. Test results from these arrays were not available
at the time of publication.

Freauen cv ResDonse
Resonant frequency can easily be measured in air using a network analyzer,
however, the resonant frequency in water is very difficult to measure. The loading
effects of urethane and water shift the resonant frequency down and reduce the Q
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drastically.
Frequency response was measured in a 4-ft X 4-ft X 12-ft water test tank
using a calibrated NRL USRD type E8 reference hydrophone. Two projectors were
used, a Panametrics V395 (2.25 MHz, 1.5-in diameter, unfocused) and a
Panametrics V304 (2.25 MHz, l-in diameter, unfocused). The source to sensor
distance was maintained at 2.0 m to ensure far-field operation at all frequencies.
For sensitivity tests, sinusoidal acoustic pulses of 100 ps duration, varying in
frequency between 300 kHz and 3 MHz, were generated in a waveform synthesizer
and amplified to approximately 500 V peak by an EN1 Model AP-400B power
amplifier prior to the projector. When received at the hydrophone, the signal was
amplified by a custom preamplifier (23 dB gain at 1 MHz), and A/D converted by a
Tektronix RTD-7 10 digitizer. The received samples were downloaded to the control
computer for calculation of RMS levels.
Figure 8 shows the sensitivity curves for six square polyurethane
encapsulated hydrophones on one chip. The broad sensitivity peaks trend toward
lower frequencies as the diaphragms get larger, as expected. The cause of the
sensitivity null at 1.5 MHz is unknown, but may be related to the encapsulation
thickness. Higher sensitivities (up to -225 dB//lV/pPa) have been measured on
transducers without polyurethane coating, measured in silicone oil filled bags.

Beam Patterns
For beam pattern tests, a single frequency is chosen and the sensor is rotated over
a desired range of angles around the horizontal and vertical axis. Generally, beam
patterns were run for two sets of angles, -90 deg to +90 deg in 2-deg increments,
and -10 deg to +10 deg in 0.25-deg increments.
 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCERS [ 577y303

-240

-245

(d -250
n
3.
3
v- -255
4
2
8 -260
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-265

-270

Frequency (MHz)

FIGURE 8 Sensitivity curves for six square microhydrophones.

Data not c o m t e d for capacitive loading.

Approximate beamwidths for I 1 micromachined transducers are summarized

in Table 3. As expected, the rcxtaaylar elenrents show a nBFnlw beamwidth along
the long (2 mm) dimension, and a wide beamwidfh along the s h r t dimension, while
the square transducers have symmttrie bem patterns. Hgure 9 shows horizontal
and vertical beam patterns for a W rn square membrane transducer at 1 MHz.
The -10 dB beamwidths am 110 deg and 113 deg, respectively.

Acoustic -1
Figure 10 shows an acdustic lens designed at Draper Lab and fabricated by Cosmo
Optics. Key features of the fens include a 19- aperture, 28+ field of view, very
low field curvature (important for off-axis performance), low F nnfnbcr (1. I), and an
athermal design over 0 to 20OC. The lens consists of four elements -- three of
polystyrene and one of silicone oiI.13
A projector was used to ensonify the entire field of view, and the lens was
used only on the receive element. A sound diffuser was used to defocus the beam of
the projector for uniform target ensonification. This allows the entire image to be
formed with each transmit cycle, assuming a complete acoustic retina. For
 3044578) J.J. BERNSTEIN ('I a/.

0
-5
-lQ
-15
=
3Q -20
-25
Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 15:30 03 January 2015

-40

-45

-50
8 (Degrees)
FIGURE 9 Horizontal and vertical beam patterns for a 260 pm square
transducer. This transducer was used to produce acoustic images.

FIGURE 10 Acoustic lens used for beam forming.

 FERROELECTRIC MONOMORPH TRANSDUCE,RS [S79]/305

demonstration purposes, a single micromachined hydrophone was used to form an

image. To simulate a large array of sensors, the hydrophone was mechanically
scanned through the image plane of the lens.
Measurements on the lens showed a beamwidth of 0.24 deg at 2 MHz and 0.5
deg at 1 MHz, corresponding to a target resolution of 8 and 17 m m at a 2-m range,
respectively. These beamwidths are within 10%of the diffraction limit.
Figure 1 1 shows an acoustic image of a pile of cinder blocks made using the
lens and a micromachined hydrophone at 2 MHz. This image was taken on a 0.7 mm
grid in the focal plane, resulting in a 141 X 141 pixel image.
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FIGURE 11 Amplitude image for micromechanical hydrophone, 2 MHz. The

high resolution of the lens and sensor system is apparent.

CONCLUSJONS
This paper has presented a new combination of micromachining and thin-film PZT to
form miniature monomorphs for acoustic imaging. Square sensors ranging in size
from 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm, and rectangular sensors from 0.14 mm to 0.3 mm by 2 mm
 306/[580] J.J. BERNSTEIN e l al.

were fabricated. Currently, 8 X 8 arrays of transducers with ,polyimide dielectric to

reduce stray capacitance are being fabricated. The PZT films deposited for this work
are a significant advance in the state-of-the-art, with crack-free films as thick as 12
pm deposited on silicon substrates. These thicker films should yield more
sensitivity for certain classes of sensors.
Sensitivity, frequency response, and beam patterns were measured.
Measured sensitivity is within a fewdB of FEA calculations when effects of stray
capacitance are included. The dependence of sensitivity on the packaging and
urethane encapsulation and crosstalk between sensor elements remain to be
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measured in future work. Demonstration acoustic images were taken using an

acoustic lens, showing the potential of these transducers for high-resolution imaging.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Naval EOD
Technology Center and Draper Laboratory IR&D for this work. The authors would
like to acknowledge the helpful contributions of Greg Cappiello for acoustic lens
design, Frank Petkunas for packaging, the entire fabrication team led by Connie
Cardoso for wafer fabrication, and Steve Finberg for electronic design.

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