Fundamental performance characterisation of high frequency piezocomposites made with net-shape viscous polymer processing for medical ultrasound transducers

D. MacLennan, T.W. Button, J. Elgoyhen, H. Hughes, C. Meggs, G. Corner, C.E.M. Démoré, S. Cochran, D. Zhang

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    High frequency ultrasound (HFUS) transducers are in demand for medical diagnoses requiring high spatial resolution. Compared with bulk piezoceramics, conventional crystals, and piezopolymers, piezoceramic-polymer composites have highly desirable properties such as improved piezoelectric coupling and acoustic matching to tissue. However, for 30 MHz operation, a typical 1-3 piezocomposite is approximately only 50 µm thick, requiring ceramic pillar widths of around 15 µm or less. Fabrication is thus challenging with dice-and-fill technology. This may be overcome using micromoulding of ceramic paste produced by viscous polymer processing (VPP). This brings a need for material characterisation to support the new approach but conventional techniques cannot be used due to the small structures involved. This paper therefore reports characterisation using electrical impedance spectroscopy followed by data fitting to a theoretical model based on the 1-D piezoelectric wave equation and homogenized piezocomposite model of Smith and Auld. Results are presented from multiple VPP and HFUS piezocomposites spanning a development program of several years. The piezocomposites investigated showed effective piezoelectric properties in the following ranges: c: 1.76 - 6.77 (x 10 Nm, e: 2.04 - 8.50 (Cm), e S: 70.6 - 460, d: 7.82 - 12.7 (x 10 mV), h: 2.01 - 2.09 (x 10 Vm) and k: 0.45-0.51. These data confirm that the VPP fabrication method has good potential for HFUS piezocomposites.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationUltrasonics Symposium, 2008
    Subtitle of host publicationIUS 2008
    PublisherIEEE
    Pages58-61
    Number of pages4
    ISBN (Electronic)978-1-4244-2480-1
    ISBN (Print)978-1-4244-2428-3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2008
    Event2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS) - Beijing, China
    Duration: 2 Nov 20085 Nov 2008
    http://ewh.ieee.org/conf/ius_2008/

    Conference

    Conference2008 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS)
    Abbreviated title2008 IEEE IUS
    Country/TerritoryChina
    CityBeijing
    Period2/11/085/11/08
    Internet address

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