PIN-PMN-PT Single Crystal 1-3 Composite based 20 MHz Ultrasound Phased Array

Based on a modified dice-and-fill technique, a PIN-PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composite with the kerf of 12μm and pitch of 50μm was prepared. The as-made piezoelectric composite material behaved high piezoelectric constant (d33=1500 pC/N), high electromechanical coefficient (kt=0.81) and low acoustic impedance (16.2 Mrayls). Using lithography and flexible circuit method, a 48-element phased array was successfully fabricated from such piezoelectric composite. The array element was measured to have a central frequency of 20MHz and a fractional bandwidth of approximately 77% at -6dB. Of particular significance was that this PIN-PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composite based phased array exhibits a superior insertion loss compared with PMN-PT single crystal and PZT-5H based 20 MHz phased arrays. The focusing and steering capabilities of such phased array were validated through Field II simulations. These promising results suggest that the PIN-PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composite based high frequency phased array is a good candidate for ultrasound imaging applications.