SBIR Phase II: Thick Piezoelectric Films with Dielectric Constant above 3000

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to develop high dielectric constant (high-K) thick film for high-frequency ultrasonic transducer. Thick piezoelectric film technology is very attractive for the fabrication of thin piezoelectric element in high-frequency ultrasonic medical imaging applications. However, it is challenging to process high-quality piezoelectric film with thickness in the range of 10-20 micrometers. In addition, the film needs to demonstrate dielectric constant of 3000 or higher due to the need of electric matching in fabricating array transducers. In previous Phase I project, a piezoelectric thick film with dielectric constant higher than 3000 was demonstrated. In this Phase II project, the high-K thick film will be utilized to develop miniature high frequency single element and linear array transducers for Intravascular Ultrasonic (IVUS) imaging applications. The broader/commercial impact of this project will be the potential to provide high-K thick film to enable the application of miniature high-frequency ultrasonic transducers. IVUS is a medical imaging methodology using a specially designed catheter with a miniaturized ultrasound probe attached to the distal end of the catheter, which is inserted into the heart or into a coronary vessel for visualizing the vessel and heart structure. This project is expected to further miniaturize the ultrasonic transducer mounted on the catheter and provide improved resolution. With this anticipated catheter, surgeons may view the arteries of patients more clearly and spend less surgery time. Plus, the smaller size will make the procedure less invasive. In addition, this technology can also be used in other applications such as Radio Frequency (RF) filters for cell phone, ultrasonic valve and tuning devices, liquid delivery and droplet ejectors, chemical and biomedical sensors etc.