FABRICATION OF HIGH-FREQUENCY SPHERICALLY SHAPED CERAMIC TRANSDUCERS

Difficulty in obtaining well focused efficient ultrasound transducers has limited the development of new high frequency applications of B-mode imaging. This paper describes a method for fabricating high frequency (53 MHz) spherically focused lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers. A transducer is fabricated by bonding a malleable backing layer onto a thin plate of PZT and then pressing the plate into a spherically shaped well. The backing layer evenly distributes stresses across the material when it is pressed into the well. Local concentrations of stress which lead to fracture are avoided and the material can be deformed without macroscopic cracking. The characteristics of a 2 mm diameter 53 MHz PZT transducer with a 4 mm focal length are described. A lateral beam width of 68 mum and a 12 dB depth of field of 1.5 mm were obtained. The minimum two-way insertion loss of the system was -25 dB and the 6 dB bandwidth of the pulse echo response was 30%. An image of a resolution phantom and an in vivo skin image illustrate the excellent imaging characteristics of the transducer.