Simulating capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) using field II

Field II has been a recognized simulation tool for piezoceramic medical transducer arrays for more than a decade. The program has its strength in doing fast computations of the spatial impulse response (SIR) from array elements by dividing the elements into smaller mathematical elements (ME)s from which it calculates the SIR responses. The program features predefined models for classical transducer geometries, but currently none for the fast advancing CMUTs. This work addresses the assumptions required for modeling CMUTs with Field II. It is shown that rectangular array elements, populated with cells, can be well approximated by neglecting the cells. Further, it is demonstrated that scaling of the SIR translates into better computational efficiency.