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Micromachined magnetic ultrasound transducer in post-processed CMOS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2011

Rohit Viswanathan ,
Nicholas Jankowski ,
Whye-Kei Lye ,
Gregory Petit Dufrenoy ,
Michael J. Harrison ,
John A. Hossack ,
Travis N. Blalock  and
Michael L. Reed
Rohit Viswanathan
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Nicholas Jankowski
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Whye-Kei Lye
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Gregory Petit Dufrenoy
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michael J. Harrison
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
John A. Hossack
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Travis N. Blalock
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Michael L. Reed
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
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Abstract

This paper presents a novel MEMS Ultrasound Electro-Magnetic transducer. With advances in CMOS MEMS fabrication processes [2] we can explore and build miniature devices which could only be designed till a few years back. As our understanding in MEMS evolved, we explored the use of Electro-Magnetism as an effective way to produce ultrasound waves. Thus we can use a highly efficient and inexpensive fabrication technique to fabricate transducers with a fairly good capability to produce and detect ultrasound waves.

The transducer consists of 2 concentric spiral coils, one carrying an AC current (which is tethered to the substrate at one end and free to vibrate at the other, also called the “Flapper”) and other coil carrying DC current (enveloping the inner coil, fixed and called “Stator”). The force arising from the interaction of the coupled magnetic fields induces a mechanical vibration of the flapper structure. The transducer serves as an actuator or a sensor (where we simply apply a pressure force on the flapper and note the frequency response of the flapper).

The current mode helps to associate the transducer with front-end electronics, which is one of the most critical components of ultrasound imaging systems

Advantages of this approach as compared to traditional PZT ceramics and capacitative micromachined devices are explored.

Different dimensions of the transducer to accommodate the limitations in the processes are explored and a comparison of the parameters is presented.

Potential uses and future challenges are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 773: Symposium N – Biomicroelectromechanical Systems (BioMEMS) , 2003 , N7.3
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2003

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References

[1] Fedder, G.K., Santhanam, S., Reed, M.L., Eagle, S.C., Guillou, D.F., Lu, M.S.C, Carley, L.R.. Sensors and Actuators A 57 (1996) 103–110.Google Scholar
[2] Reactive Ion Etch Development for the Fabrication of High-Aspect-Ratio Microelectromechanical Systems via 0.25νm CMOS Post-Processing, A Thesis by Nicholas Robert Jankowski, University of Virginia, August 2002.Google Scholar
[3] Shen, S.C., Becher, D.T., Caruth, D.C., Feng, M., 2001 GaAs Mantech conference, Digest of papers, GaAs Mantech 2001, pp 81–4Google Scholar
[4] Hynynen, K. Review of ultrasound therapy, IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings, Part vol.2, 1997, pp.1305–13 vol.2.Google Scholar