Diamond-based capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers in immersion.

Diamond is a superior membrane material for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). By using ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) membrane and plasma-activated wafer bonding technology, a single diamond-based circular CMUT is demonstrated and operated in immersion for the first time. The diamond-based CMUT, biased at 100 V, is excited with a 10-cycle burst of 36 V(p-p) sine signal at 3.5 MHz. Pressure generated on a 2-D plane coincident with the normal of the CMUT is measured using a broadband hydrophone. Peak-to-peak hydrophone voltage measurements along the scan area clearly indicate the main lobe and the side lobes, as theoretically predicted by our directivity function calculations. The peak-to-peak hydrophone voltage on the axial direction of the CMUT is found to be in agreement with our theoretical calculations in the Fraunhofer region (-45 mm <y <-15 mm). The spectrum of the diamond-based CMUT is measured for a dc bias of 100 V, and ac excitation with 30-cycle bursts of 9, 36, and 54 V(p-p) sine signal. A peak response at 5.6 MHz is measured for all ac amplitudes. Overall, diamond is shown to be an applicable membrane for CMUT devices and applications.