Efficient Electrode Configuration for High-Sensitivity Performance with Minimal Analog Front-End Complexity
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This work presents a two-port "overpass" electrode design for a circular-shaped PMUT that reproduces the anti-phase inner/outer excitation effect of a traditional inner– outer electrode design with three ports. The proposed overpass connections create opposed local electric fields in a uniformly polarized piezoelectric thin film, enabling constructive charge addition while simplifying hardware connections. A circular-shaped PMUT cell with the proposed electrode design was fabricated and compared to an identical PMUT cell using the conventional inner/outer electrode layout. Air-coupled frequency response of the central velocity shows that the overpass design delivers two times higher output sensitivity than conventional electrode design with only single-electrode excitation (inner-only or outer-only), while requiring only two ports. The approach also yields a substantial increase in electromechanical coupling (kₜ2), and adds no complexity to the thin-film stack and driving circuitry, improving scalability for large element-count arrays.
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4415367137