Integrated ultrasound transducers

Piezoelectric polymer materials are of interest for high frequency transducer array applications primarily because the array geometry can be achieved using photolithography. The UMIST research team have fabricated up to 64-element polymer transducer arrays. They have adopted a unique approach whereby the pulse control electronics can be mounted in close physical proximity with the transducer array. In order to accomplish this both transmit and receive circuitry has been integrated onto in-house custom designed silicon chip sets. A notable achievement is the design of a monolithic 16-channel programmable pulse generator chip fabricated in 1.5 μm CMOS technology. By employing novel design techniques time delays with 1 ns time resolution and a dynamic range of 2¹⁹ have been achieved. A description of the system is provided and preliminary results of beam plotting measurements are given