Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Dirk Van De Lagemaat

Mareike K Klee

Peter Dirksen

Willem Franke Pasveer

Olaf Wunnicke

Nico Maris Adriaan De Wild

Biju Kumar Sreedharan Nair

Ruediger Mauczok

Henri Marie Joseph Boots

The present invention relates to a transducer () comprising&#x2014;a membrane () configured to change shape in response to a force, the membrane () having a first major surface () and a second major surface (), &#x2014;a piezoelectric layer () formed over the first major surface () of the membrane (), the piezoelectric layer () having an active portion, &#x2014;first and second electrodes () in contact with the piezoelectric layer (), wherein an electric field between the first and second electrodes () determines the mechanical movement of the piezoelectric layer (), &#x2014;support structures () at the second major surface () of the membrane () on adjacent sides of the active portion of the piezoelectric layer (), at least part of the support structures () forming walls perpendicular, or at least not parallel, to the second major surface () of the membrane (), so as to form a trench () of any shape underlying the active portion, so that an ultrasound transducer is obtained with a high output pressure at the support side than at the opposite side. The invention also relates to a method of forming such a transducer, and an array comprising at least one transducer of the like.

Thin film ultrasound transducer

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Hoevelaken, Netherlands

Dirk Van De Lagemaat