High sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate

Abstract This work presents air-coupled piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs) with high sound pressure level (SPL) under low-driving voltages by utilizing sputtered potassium sodium niobate K0.34Na0.66NbO3 (KNN) films. A prototype single KNN pMUT has been tested to show a resona...

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Main Authors: Fan Xia, Yande Peng, Wei Yue, Mingze Luo, Megan Teng, Chun-Ming Chen, Sedat Pala, Xiaoyang Yu, Yuanzheng Ma, Megha Acharya, Ryuichi Arakawa, Lane W. Martin, Liwei Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2024-12-01
Series:Microsystems & Nanoengineering
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-024-00841-y
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author Fan Xia
Yande Peng
Wei Yue
Mingze Luo
Megan Teng
Chun-Ming Chen
Sedat Pala
Xiaoyang Yu
Yuanzheng Ma
Megha Acharya
Ryuichi Arakawa
Lane W. Martin
Liwei Lin
author_facet Fan Xia
Yande Peng
Wei Yue
Mingze Luo
Megan Teng
Chun-Ming Chen
Sedat Pala
Xiaoyang Yu
Yuanzheng Ma
Megha Acharya
Ryuichi Arakawa
Lane W. Martin
Liwei Lin
author_sort Fan Xia
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This work presents air-coupled piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs) with high sound pressure level (SPL) under low-driving voltages by utilizing sputtered potassium sodium niobate K0.34Na0.66NbO3 (KNN) films. A prototype single KNN pMUT has been tested to show a resonant frequency at 106.3 kHz under 4 Vp-p with outstanding characteristics: (1) a large vibration amplitude of 3.74 μm/V, and (2) a high acoustic root mean square (RMS) sound pressure level of 105.5 dB/V at 10 cm, which is 5–10 times higher than those of AlN-based pMUTs at a similar frequency. There are various potential sensing and actuating applications, such as fingerprint sensing, touch point, and gesture recognition. In this work, we present demonstrations in three fields: haptics, loudspeakers, and rangefinders. For haptics, an array of 15 × 15 KNN pMUTs is used as a non-contact actuator to provide a focal pressure of around 160.3 dB RMS SPL at a distance of 15 mm. This represents the highest output pressure achieved by an airborne pMUT for haptic sensation on human palms. When used as a loudspeaker, a single pMUT element with a resonant frequency close to the audible range at 22.8 kHz is characterized. It is shown to be able to generate a uniform acoustic output with an amplitude modulation scheme. In the rangefinder application, pulse-echo measurements using a single pMUT element demonstrate good transceiving results, capable of detecting objects up to 2.82 m away. As such, this new class of high-SPL and low-driving-voltage pMUTs could be further extended to other applications requiring high acoustic pressure and a small form factor.
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spelling doaj-art-dea8d4839362482b986b42d09c46a6752024-12-29T12:35:37ZengNature Publishing GroupMicrosystems & Nanoengineering2055-74342024-12-0110111310.1038/s41378-024-00841-yHigh sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobateFan Xia0Yande Peng1Wei Yue2Mingze Luo3Megan Teng4Chun-Ming Chen5Sedat Pala6Xiaoyang Yu7Yuanzheng Ma8Megha Acharya9Ryuichi Arakawa10Lane W. Martin11Liwei Lin12Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of CaliforniaSchool of Electronic Science and Engineering, Southeast UniversityDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of CaliforniaBioengineering and Biomedical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong UniversityTsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua UniversityDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of CaliforniaScientific Research Laboratory Div., Niterra Co., LtdDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, University of CaliforniaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of CaliforniaAbstract This work presents air-coupled piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs) with high sound pressure level (SPL) under low-driving voltages by utilizing sputtered potassium sodium niobate K0.34Na0.66NbO3 (KNN) films. A prototype single KNN pMUT has been tested to show a resonant frequency at 106.3 kHz under 4 Vp-p with outstanding characteristics: (1) a large vibration amplitude of 3.74 μm/V, and (2) a high acoustic root mean square (RMS) sound pressure level of 105.5 dB/V at 10 cm, which is 5–10 times higher than those of AlN-based pMUTs at a similar frequency. There are various potential sensing and actuating applications, such as fingerprint sensing, touch point, and gesture recognition. In this work, we present demonstrations in three fields: haptics, loudspeakers, and rangefinders. For haptics, an array of 15 × 15 KNN pMUTs is used as a non-contact actuator to provide a focal pressure of around 160.3 dB RMS SPL at a distance of 15 mm. This represents the highest output pressure achieved by an airborne pMUT for haptic sensation on human palms. When used as a loudspeaker, a single pMUT element with a resonant frequency close to the audible range at 22.8 kHz is characterized. It is shown to be able to generate a uniform acoustic output with an amplitude modulation scheme. In the rangefinder application, pulse-echo measurements using a single pMUT element demonstrate good transceiving results, capable of detecting objects up to 2.82 m away. As such, this new class of high-SPL and low-driving-voltage pMUTs could be further extended to other applications requiring high acoustic pressure and a small form factor.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-024-00841-y
spellingShingle Fan Xia
Yande Peng
Wei Yue
Mingze Luo
Megan Teng
Chun-Ming Chen
Sedat Pala
Xiaoyang Yu
Yuanzheng Ma
Megha Acharya
Ryuichi Arakawa
Lane W. Martin
Liwei Lin
High sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate
Microsystems & Nanoengineering
title High sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate
title_full High sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate
title_fullStr High sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate
title_full_unstemmed High sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate
title_short High sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate
title_sort high sound pressure piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers using sputtered potassium sodium niobate
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-024-00841-y
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