Transducer, transducer array, and method of making the same

Abstract

A transducer comprising a transducer element including a plate with a through-hole and a collar projecting from the plate and defining an interior cavity in communication with the through-hole. A piezoelectric bender includes at least first and second wafer layers stacked together. The bender is coupled to a peripheral end face of the collar. The first and/or second piezoelectric wafer layers bend at a resonant frequency and generate ultrasonic waves that flow through the collar interior cavity and the plate through-hole and create an in-air pressure pattern and acoustic field at a location spaced from the transducer. A plurality of transducers may be made by providing a monolithic transducer element structure including a plurality of the transducer elements formed thereon, coupling either a plurality of benders or a monolithic bender to the plurality of transducer elements, and then cutting the monolithic transducer element structure to define a plurality of individual transducers.