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Investigations on aluminum nitride thin film properties and design considerations for smart high frequency ultrasound sensors

Authors:
Thomas Herzog
Susan Walter
Henning Heuer

Keywords: ultrasonic high frequency sensor; Aluminium nitride thin film

Abstract:
Basic investigations were carried out on the usability of aluminum nitride thin films for the manufacturing of ultrasound transducers. Some design considerations were performed for different sensor designs, electrode sizes and substrate materials in this work. It could be shown that the electrode size can be smaller than 1 mm square for use as high frequency sensors. Different substrate materials are principle usable, like e.g. silicone, aluminum oxide or quartz. Additional tests showed that these sensors can also be used for high temperature application up to 200 °C. The reason is the very good temperature resistance of the AlN thin films. The sensor design was varied for these investigations and simulations based on a MASON model assisted the material considerations.

Pages: 129 to 134

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2011

Publication date: August 21, 2011

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-3514

ISBN: 978-1-61208-145-8

Location: Nice/Saint Laurent du Var, France

Dates: from August 21, 2011 to August 27, 2011