A sensitive detection method for capacitive ultrasonic transducers

Abstract

We report a sensitive detection method for capacitive ultrasonic transducers. Detection experiments at 1.6 MHz reveal a minimum detectable displacement around 2.5×10−4 Å/Hz. The devices are fabricated on silicon using surface micromachining techniques. We made use of microwave circuit considerations to obtain a good displacement sensitivity. Our method also eliminates the dependence of the sensitivity on the ultrasound frequency, allowing the method to be used at low audio frequency and static displacement sensing applications.