TY - GEN A1 - Monsalve Guaracao, Jorge Mario A1 - Melnikov, Anton A1 - Stolz, Michael A1 - Mrosk, Andreas A1 - Jongmanns, Marcel A1 - Wall, Franziska A1 - Langa, Sergiu A1 - Marica-Bercu, Ioana A1 - Brändel, Tim A1 - Kircher, Marco A1 - Schenk, Hermann A. G. A1 - Kaiser, Bert A1 - Schenk, Harald T1 - Proof of concept of an air-coupled electrostatic ultrasonic transducer based on lateral motion T2 - Sensors and Actuators A: Physical N2 - An alternative implementation of an electrostatic MUT (Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer), relying on multiple beams that displace along the chip’s surface instead of a single membrane displacing perpendicular to it, is presented in this work. With this approach, a design requiring a low bias voltage (24 V) and occupying a small area (3.3×3.3 mm², 2D/λ≈0.77) was shown to generate a sound pressure level of 82 dB (re. 20 µPa-rms) at 40 kHz and a distance of 8.9 cm. The high level of damping allows this transducer to operate in a wide frequency range (35-63 kHz). The operation of this device as an ultrasonic receiver was also proven. An implementation of this transducer as a rangefinder requires a strong reduction in the noise level, particularly coming from radio-frequency interference, in order to increase its detection range. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2022.113813 SN - 1873-3069 SN - 0924-4247 VL - Vol. 345 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Meisel, Tenia A1 - Melnikov, Anton A1 - Alexander, Adrian A1 - Brändel, Tim A1 - Monsalve, Jorge M. A1 - Kaiser, Bert A1 - Schenk, Haral T1 - Directivity optimization of MEMS ultrasonic transducers by implementing acoustic horns T2 - Proceedings of the 24th International Congress on Acoustics, Gyeongju, Republic of Korea, 24–28 October 2022 N2 - The applications of microscopic ultrasonic transducers are often limited due to their non-optimal directivity pattern. The aim of this work is to design passive structures to adapt the directivity pattern to an intended application, e.g. range finder. The horns were designed and optimized using a Finite-Element-Method (FEM) model and manufactured by a conventional 3d-printing technique. The experimental validation was done using a novel MEMS-based ultrasonic transducer based on lateral actuation developed by Fraunhofer IPMS. This transducer type generates sound waves by displacing air inside a 3x3 mm² silicon chip using microscopic sized beams instead of using a diaphragm. This article presents several horn structures that exhibit a pronounced main lobe, inter alia an exponential horn and a folded horn with reduced overall dimensions, both optimized for an operatin g frequency of 40 kHz. We have shown numerically and experimentally that directivity properties of the transducer were significantly improved considering peak pressure, reduction of the side lobes and main lobe width by simple horn geometries. The implementation of the designed horns will enable additional applications where a specific directivity pattern is required. Furthermore, the given results imply th at the presented design strategies can be used to create various directivity patterns. KW - Acoustics KW - Acoustic horn KW - Directivity optimization KW - Ultrasonic transducer KW - Ultrasound Y1 - 2022 UR - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/365285295_Directivity_optimization_of_MEMS_ultrasonic_transducers_by_implementing_acoustic_horns ER -