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Finite element method simulation, design, and fabrication of micromachined high-frequency piezoelectric composite with hexagonal pillars for intravascular ultrasound imaging

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Abstract

As the core component of the transducer, the property of the piezoelectric material determines the quality of the transducer. However, the traditional 1–3 piezoelectric composite is disturbed by the lateral and other spurious resonance in the application of high-frequency field, which results in the decrease of the vibration energy and acoustoelectric conversion efficiency for the ultrasound transducer. Herein, a novel 1–3 piezoelectric composite with hexagonal pillars is designed to suppress the influence of the lateral and other spurious resonance. In this paper, the finite element model of the 1–3 piezoelectric composite with hexagonal or square pillars used for 50 MHz is built. The specific design procedure and the optimum parameter of composite are exhibited by the FEM simulation. The vibration mode of the composite with hexagonal pillars is purer compared with the composite with square pillars. The effects of the side wall slope of the hexagonal pillars in composite are considered, and the value of the angle should be larger than 87° in the practical fabrication process. The composite with the hexagonal pillars is fabricated by the femtosecond laser lithography and the measured resonant impedance property agrees with the simulation results. These results provide a practicable method to design and fabricate the ultrahigh frequency ultrasonic transducer for intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U2241242), National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2022YFF0709702), the Pilot Technology for Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA2203003), and Foundation of Laboratory of Science and Technology on Marine Navigation and Control (Grant No. 2021010102).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Inorganic Functional Materials and Devices, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 588 Heshuo Road, Jiading, Shanghai, 201800, China

    Jianan Li, Kai Zou, Qingwen Yue, Dongxu Cheng, Zhiyong Zhou & Ruihong Liang

  2. Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Material and Device, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China

    Xiangyong Zhao

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Jianan Li, Kai Zou & Dongxu Cheng

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  1. Jianan Li
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Contributions

Jianan Li contributed toward data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology, software, visualization, and writing-original draft. Kai Zou contributed toward software, validation, and resources. Qingwen Yue contributed toward conceptualization, methodology, and supervision. Dongxu Cheng contributed toward formal analysis and validation. Xiangyong Zhao contributed toward software and writing-review & Editing. Zhiyong Zhou contributed toward supervision and writing-review & Editing. Ruihong Liang contributed toward supervision, funding acquisition, and writing-review & Editing.

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Correspondence to Ruihong Liang.

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Li, J., Zou, K., Yue, Q. et al. Finite element method simulation, design, and fabrication of micromachined high-frequency piezoelectric composite with hexagonal pillars for intravascular ultrasound imaging. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 35, 870 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-024-12605-5

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