A Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer Using Thin-Film Lithium Niobate

Ruochen Lu, Michael Breen, Ahmed E. Hassanien, Yansong Yang, Songbin Gong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This letter presents the first piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) based on thin-film lithium niobate (LiNbO3). The figures of merit (FoMs) of LiNbO3 as ultrasound sensors and transducers are first studied, showing great prospective as a balanced transceiver platform. Efficient flexural mode excitation is achieved using a proposed lateral-field-excitation (LFE) structure. The implemented device shows a flexural mode at 7.6 MHz, with a high electromechanical coupling ( k2) of 4.2%. Measured quality factor (Q) in vacuum is 2605, indicating the low structural loss, while measured Q in air is 264, suggesting the ultrasound radiation. A dynamic displacement sensitivity of 20.2 nm/V is measured. Upon further optimizations, LiNbO3-based PMUTs are promising candidates for miniature ultrasound applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number9211721
Pages (from-to)1412-1414
Number of pages3
JournalJournal of Microelectromechanical Systems
Volume29
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2020

Keywords

  • Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducers (PMUT)
  • lithium niobate
  • piezoelectric transducer

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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