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

超声波换能器在低强度应用中得到广泛使用，如医学成像，无损检测和测距，或在高强度应用中，如清洁和液体乳化。几十年来，压电换能器一直是超声波的主力。然而，微机械电容传感器目前吸引了显着的兴趣。与体压电对应物相比，其独特的优势在于其较低的机械阻抗，从而提供了与低密度流体介质（如空气）更好地匹配的可能性。这种换能器的操作对温度也不太敏感。电容式微机械超声换能器（CMUT）通常与其接口电路紧密集成，形成完整的独立超紧凑系统。这可以使超声波系统集成到手持设备中。Nabki教授的研究小组开发了一种新型的碳化硅CMUT，并展示了一个概念验证原型，展示了该设备的潜力，并获得了奥林巴斯公司的兴趣，奥林巴斯公司是一家在加拿大拥有许多研发业务的国际公司。奥林巴斯在工业，医疗和消费市场开展业务，专注于光学，电子和精密工程，产品部署在加拿大和世界各地。值得注意的是，奥林巴斯是世界领先的创新无损检测（NDT）仪器制造商，用于工业和研究应用。在魁北克市有一个约400人的大型工厂，负责研发和生产。在整个Engage Plus项目中，奥林巴斯计划扩大其对以前制造的CMUT的广泛测试计划，作为以前Engage项目的一部分。表征将包括激光束检测、光束轮廓和均匀性检查。将进行第二次制造运行，以优化CMUT的性能和耐用性。最后，将为智能手机开发一个演示套件，其中包括5 MHz和15 MHz CMUT。该项目将为两名博士提供培训。学生

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.