Polyurea Thin Film Ultrasonic Transducers for Nondestructive Testing and Medical Imaging

Ultrasonic transducers using polyurea piezoelectric thin film are studied in this paper. Aromatic polyurea thin films, prepared by vapor deposition polymerization, have useful characteristics for use as an ultrasonic transducer. This paper presents the fabrication and experimental evaluation of ultrasonic transducers formed using polyurea films. First, the vapor deposition polymerization process using two monomers is briefly reviewed, and the temperature conditions for higher piezoelectric constants are explored. Second, in order to test the fundamental characteristics of this material as a high-frequency, ultrasonic transducer, a polyurea film of 2.5 mum thickness was deposited on a silicon substrate. In the pulse/echo experiment results, a resonant frequency of about 100 MHz was observed. Third, we fabricated a concave point focus transducer and a cylindrical line focus transducer. To examine the performances of the focus transducers, two-dimensional images of a coin and V(z) curve measurements for an aluminum surface were demonstrated.