Creation of ultrahigh-performance piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic rangefinder and its application to robot system

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K17500
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Nano/Microsystems
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Yoshida Shinya 東北大学, 工学研究科, 特任准教授 (30509691)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: チタン酸ジルコン酸鉛(PZT) / 超音波トランスデューサ / pMUT / 圧電MEMS

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is to create a compact-size ultrasonic rangefinder with a capability of long range finding for applications to a robot system although the device utilizes a piezoelectric thin film and is driven by low driving voltage such as <3.3 V. We developed essential technologies and performed demonstration experiments as follows. (1) Fabrication of a crack-free and ultrahigh-performance PZT-based monocrystalline thin film on Si, (2) Development of a metallic epitaxial buffer layer structure for PZT, (3) Construction of theory for maximizing a signal-to-noise ratio of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT), (4) Prototyping of a pMUT rangefinder based on this PZT film and demonstration of its high-performance range-finding ability.
As a result, we successfully verified that this pMUT rangefinder has the potency to realize a small and cheap proximity sensor module and/or sonar system for safety operation of a robot.

Free Research Field

微細加工学，ＭＥＭＳ，ナノ・マイクロ工学