Two-dimensional transmit/receive ceramic piezoelectric arrays: Construction and performance

Two-dimensional (2D) ceramic piezoelectric arrays, in which each cell may both transmit and receive (T/R) ultrasonic information, are described. Their fabrication is based upon integrated circuit and hybrid construction techniques. High-voltage custom DMOS integrated circuits are used to provide the T/R capability. Detailed acoustic and electrical performance results on 16 x 16 prototype arrays operating at 2.4 MHz are presented. These measwements show the arrays to be adequate for many medical imaging and NOT applications and superior in performance to other reported 2D arrays, although not as high performance as commercially available single element transducers because of compromises in construction techniques required to achieve the 2D capability.