Design of focused single-element (50 to 100 MHz) transducers using lithium niobate

This paper discusses two fabrication procedures used to build LiNbO3 single element ultrasonic transducers with center frequencies in the 50-100 MHz range. Transducers of varying dimensions were built for an f-number range of 1.5- 3.0. A conductive quarter wavelength silver epoxy matching layer, and a conductive silver epoxy backing, were used in all designs. The desired focal depths were achieved by either casting an acoustic lens on the transducer face or press-focusing the piezoelectric into a spherical curvature. For lens-focusing transducers the lens material EPO-TEK 301 was modeled as a second matching layer. The pressed-focused transducer design utilized parylene as the second matching layer. For devices that required electrical impedance matching, a low impedance transmission line coaxial cable was used. All transducers were tested in a pulse-echo insertion loss arrangement, whereby the center frequency, bandwidth, insertion loss, and focal depth were measured. Several transducers were fabricated with center frequencies in the 50 to 100 MHz range. The measured -6dB bandwidths and two-way insertion loss values ranged from 33% to 70% and 12.5dB to 23.0dB, respectively. Both the lens-focusing and press-focusing techniques were successful in producing the desired focal depth without significantly compromising device sensitivity and bandwidth.