A transducer comprising: at least one piezoelectric layer; a first patterned conductive layer that is patterned with a first opening; a second patterned conductive layer that is patterned with a second opening; wherein at least one piezoelectric layer is between the first and the second patterned conductive layers in a stack; and wherein a position of the first opening is staggered relative to a position of the second opening in the stack to mitigate an occurrence of crack propagation through the layers.

A Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (PMUT) device is provided. The PMUT includes a substrate and an edge support structure connected to the substrate. A membrane is connected to the edge support structure such that a cavity is defined between the membrane and the substrate, where the membrane configured to allow movement at ultrasonic frequencies. The membrane comprises a piezoelectric layer and first and second electrodes coupled to opposing sides of the piezoelectric layer. For operation in a Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) mode, a third electrode is disposed on the substrate and separated by an air gap in the cavity from the second electrode. Also provided are an integrated MEMS array, a method for operating an array of PMUT/CMUT dual-mode devices, and a PMUT/CMUT dual-mode device.

In a chip-on-array approach, acoustic and electronic modules are separately formed. The acoustic stack is connected to one interposer, and the electronics are connected to another interposer. Different connection processes (e.g., using low temperature bonding for the acoustic stack and higher temperature-based interconnect for the electronics) may be used. This arrangement may allow for different pitches of the transducer elements and the I/O of the electronics by staggering vias in the interposers. The two interposers are then connected to form the chip-on-array.

An armor plate system includes an integrated damage detector which may permit field testing of an armor plate. The system includes a ceramic plate and a piezoelectric transducer attached to lateral face of the ceramic plate. The piezoelectric transducer may apply a signal to the ceramic plate and receive a reflected signal. The applied signal may form a compression wave. An ultrasonic signal may be applied.

An ultrasound probe includes: an ultrasound transducer including plural piezoelectric elements; an acoustic lens layer configured to radiate the ultrasound emitted from the plural piezoelectric elements to outside; a back layer that faces the acoustic lens layer with the ultrasound transducer interposed between the back layer and the acoustic lens layer; and a wiring member having at least a part that is arranged at a first position between the acoustic lens layer and the ultrasound transducer or at a second position that faces the ultrasound transducer with the back layer interposed between the second position and the ultrasound transducer. The wiring member includes: a resin layer having electrically insulating; and an electrically conducting layer that is provided on the resin layer and includes plural signal wirings.

An ultrasound probe and method of forming an ultrasound probe are provided. The ultrasound probe comprises a two-dimensional (2D) transducer assembly having transducer elements arranged in rows and columns. The transducer elements have front and rear surfaces. The front surface is configured to transmit and receive ultrasound signals to and from an object of interest. A thin film flex circuit extends along the rear surface of the transducer assembly. The flex circuit has conductive traces arranged in layers and enclosed within a common dielectric layer. The dielectric layer has a homogeneous composition surrounding the layers of the conductive traces. The conductive traces are electrically interconnected to the corresponding transducer elements.

An ultrasound transducer includes a first piezoelectric layer stacked on a second piezoelectric layer to form a stack. The first piezoelectric layer has one major face metallized to form a first array of electrodes and the other major face metallized to form a first ground electrode. The second piezoelectric layer has one major face metallized to form a second array of electrodes and the other major face metallized to form a second ground electrode, the second array of electrodes oriented at an angle to the first array of electrodes. The second piezoelectric layer has a thickness such that an overall thickness of the stack is equal to an uneven number of half-wavelengths of an acoustic wave to be generated when the first piezoelectric layer and the second piezoelectric layer are independently operated. The ultrasound transducer also includes an acoustic impedance adaptation layer, an acoustic damping layer, and a stiffener.

A Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (PMUT) device is provided. The PMUT includes a substrate and an edge support structure connected to the substrate. A membrane is connected to the edge support structure such that a cavity is defined between the membrane and the substrate, where the membrane configured to allow movement at ultrasonic frequencies. The membrane comprises a piezoelectric layer and first and second electrodes coupled to opposing sides of the piezoelectric layer. For operation in a Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) mode, a third electrode is disposed on the substrate and separated by an air gap in the cavity from the second electrode. Also provided are an integrated MEMS array, a method for operating an array of PMUT/CMUT dual-mode devices, and a PMUT/CMUT dual-mode device.

An ultrasound probe and ultrasound diagnostic apparatus that achieve high transmission/reception sensitivity and wide frequency band are provided. The ultrasound probe includes a pMUT array in which a plurality of pMUTs are arranged. The pMUTs include first pMUTs for ultrasound transmission and pMUTs for ultrasound wave reception having a structure different from that of the first pMUTs. The cell region of each first pMUT and the cell region of each second pMUT are separated from each other in the ultrasound wave radiation plane.

A vibration apparatus may include a vibration generating part including at least one or more vibration parts. The vibration apparatus may further include a first cover member at a first surface of the vibration generating part, a second cover member at a second surface of the vibration generating part, and a signal cable including first and second signal lines connected to the at least one or more vibration parts. The second surface of the vibration generating part is different from the first surface of the vibration generating part. The first and second signal lines may be provided between the second cover member and the vibration generating part.