Design of Silicon Carbide Surface-Micromachined Capacitive-based Transducers for Non-Destructive Testing Applications

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Ultrasonic transducers are seeing widespread use in low-intensity applications such as medical imaging,non-destructive testing and ranging, or in high-intensity ones like cleaning and liquid emulsification. Fordecades, piezoelectric transducers have been the workhorse in ultrasonics. However, micro-machinedcapacitive transducers are currently attracting significant interest. A unique advantage over their bulkpiezoelectric counterpart lies in their lower mechanical impedance, offering the potential for a betterimpedance match with low-density fluidic media such as air. The operation of such transducers is also muchless sensitive to temperature. Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) are usually integratedclosely with their interface electronic circuits forming complete stand-alone ultra-compact systems. This canallow ultrasonic systems to be integrated into handheld devices. The research group of Prof. Nabki hasdeveloped a novel Silicon Carbide CMUT, and demonstrated a proof of concept prototype showcasing thedevice's potential, and gaining the interest of Olympus Corporation, an international company with many R&Doperations in Canada. Olympus operates in industrial, medical and consumer markets, and specializes in optics,electronics and precision engineering, with products deployed in Canada and around the world. Notably,Olympus is a world-leading manufacturer of innovative non-destructive testing (NDT) instruments that areused in industrial and research applications. It has a large operation in Quebec City of about 400 people, whichhandles R & D and production.Throughout this Engage Plus project, Olympus is planning to expand its extensive testing plans of thepreviously fabricated CMUTs as part of a previous Engage project. The characterization will include flawdetection, beam profiling, and uniformity inspection. A second fabrication run will be performed to optimizethe CMUT's performance and durability. Finally, a demonstration kit will be developed for a smartphone thatincludes both the 5 MHz and 15 MHz CMUTs. This project will provide training for two Ph.D. students.