Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers in consumer electronics: The next little thing?

This paper describes air-coupled piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) for consumer electronics applications including time-of-flight range-finding, proximity and presence sensing, and gesture recognition. These applications require sensors that are small size, low-cost, and ultra-low-power, all of which are characteristics of PMUTs.

[1]  Richard Przybyla,et al.  A micromechanical ultrasonic distance sensor with >1 meter range , 2011, 2011 16th International Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference.

[2]  R. Ruby,et al.  Micromachined thin film bulk acoustic resonators , 1994, Proceedings of IEEE 48th Annual Symposium on Frequency Control.

[3]  K.K. Li,et al.  Micromachined high frequency ferroelectric sonar transducers , 1997, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[4]  Richard J. Przybyla,et al.  Improved acoustic coupling of air-coupled micromachined ultrasonic transducers , 2014, 2014 IEEE 27th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

[5]  P.-C. Eccardt,et al.  Micromachined transducers for ultrasound applications , 1997, 1997 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings. An International Symposium (Cat. No.97CH36118).

[6]  J. Bernstein.  A micromachined condenser hydrophone , 1992, Technical Digest IEEE Solid-State Sensor and Actuator Workshop.

[7]  Firas Sammoura,et al.  Bimorph pMUT with dual electrodes , 2015, 2015 28th IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS).

[8]  Kwan Kyu Park,et al.  Bandwidth and sensitivity optimization in CMUTs for airborne applications , 2014, 2014 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium.

[9]  V. Mágori,et al.  Ultrasonic Presence Sensors with Wide Range and High Local Resolution , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[10]  Richard J. Przybyla,et al.  In-Air Rangefinding With an AlN Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer , 2011, IEEE Sensors Journal.

[11]  Bernhard E. Boser,et al.  3D Ultrasonic Rangefinder on a Chip , 2015, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[12]  M. Royer,et al.  ZnO on Si integrated acoustic sensor , 1983 .

[13]  V. Mágori.  Ultrasonic sensors in air , 1994, Proceedings - IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium.

[14]  Seiji Aoyagi,et al.  Arrayed ultrasonic microsensors with high directivity for in-air use using PZT thin film on silicon diaphragms ☆ , 2002 .

[15]  Firas Sammoura,et al.  CMOS-compatible AlN piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium.

[16]  B. Khuri-Yakub,et al.  Surface micromachined capacitive ultrasonic transducers , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[17]  Paul Muralt,et al.  Piezoelectric actuation of PZT thin-film diaphragms at static and resonant conditions , 1996 .

[18]  B. Boser,et al.  Aluminum nitride pMUT based on a flexurally-suspended membrane , 2011, 2011 16th International Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference.

[19]  B. Boser,et al.  ALUMINUM NITRIDE PIEZOELECTRIC MICROMACHINED ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER ARRAYS , 2012 .