Evaluation of adhesive-free focused high-frequency PVDF copolymer transducers fabricated on spherical cavities

Abstract

A layer-by-layer deposition method for fabricating a focused ultrasonic transducer from piezoelectric copolymers has been developed. The fabrication process involves engraving a spherical cavity of 2 mm diameter on polyethyleneimines (PEI) polymer substrate. Surface roughness of the engraved spherical cavity is measured and compared with simulated line scan. Then, the transducer response was investigated by observing the acoustic pulse reflection from the glass plate used as reflector in a focal point. The average central frequency responses were measured to be 48.5 MHz, with a lower and upper −6 dB frequencies of approximately 25 and 76.5 MHz, yielding a bandwidth of 94.2%. A scanning hydrophone system has been employed to determine the focal zone of the transducer and compared with simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics. Two-dimensional surface scanning was performed on the test sample to provide the ultrasonic imaging of the transducer prototype and compare the image with commercial PVDF transducer with a center frequency of (48.5 ± 1) MHz.