The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 15, 2009
Filed:
Nov. 19, 2007
Hideo Adachi, Tokyo, JP;
Katsuhiro Wakabayashi, Tokyo, JP;
Kazuya Matsumoto, Tokyo, JP;
Ryo Ota, Tokyo, JP;
Masaaki Amikura, Tokyo, JP;
Hiroshi Ito, Tokyo, JP;
Mamoru Hasegawa, Tokyo, JP;
Hideo Adachi, Tokyo, JP;
Katsuhiro Wakabayashi, Tokyo, JP;
Kazuya Matsumoto, Tokyo, JP;
Ryo Ota, Tokyo, JP;
Masaaki Amikura, Tokyo, JP;
Hiroshi Ito, Tokyo, JP;
Mamoru Hasegawa, Tokyo, JP;
Olympus Medical Systems Corp., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) is constituted by a plurality of transducer elements comprising plural transducer cells that are mutually connected in parallel and comprises: a silicon substrate; a bottom electrode placed on the top surface of the silicon substrate; an upper electrode placed opposite to the bottom electrode and apart therefrom by a prescribed air or vacuum; a membrane for supporting the bottom electrode; and a membrane supporting part for supporting the membrane, wherein the cMUT comprises a third electrode which has an electrical continuity to the bottom electrode and which corresponds to either one of the transducer cells of a prescribed number of the transducer subelement or of the transducer elements, and a fourth electrode which is a ground electrode electrically connected to the bottom electrode.