Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic trransducers with diffraction-based integrated optical displacement detection

Capacitive detection limits the performance of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) by providing poor sensitivity below megahertz frequencies and limiting acoustic power output by imposing constraints on the membrane-substrate gap height. In this paper, an integrated optical interferometric detection method for CMUTs, which provides high displacement sensitivity independent of operation frequency and device capacitance, is reported. The method also enables optoelectronics integration in a small volume and provides optoelectronic isolation between transmit and receive electronics. Implementation of the method involves fabricating CMUTs on transparent substrates and shaping the electrode under each individual CMUT membrane in the form of an optical diffraction grating. Each CMUT membrane thus forms a phase-sensitive optical diffraction grating structure that is used to measure membrane displacements down to 2 x 10(-4) Angstrom/rootHz level in the do to 2-MHz range. Test devices are fabricated on quartz substrates, and ultrasonic array imaging in air is performed using a single 4-mm square CMUT consisting of 19 x 19 array of membranes operating at 750 kHz.