Structural Optimization Design of the Dual-Layer CMUT with Low Power Consumption and High Ultrasonic Reception Performance

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) have been widely applied in fields such as air-coupled ultrasonic nondestructive testing, gesture recognition, and 3D imaging. However, most current CMUTs struggle to simultaneously achieve both low power consumption and high performance, which limits their application in relevant fields. In this paper, a dual-layer CMUT is proposed, and its structural optimization design is also analyzed. The dual-layer CMUT consists of a top-layer circular CMUT cell and a bottom-layer annular CMUT cell. A movable pillar connects the top and bottom cells of the double-layer CMUT. This design increases the total deflection and reduces the stiffness, making the membrane more susceptible to deformation under external forces, thereby achieving low power consumption and high reception performance. The finite element method (FEM) results showed that, compared with conventional CMUTs, the structural optimization design of the dual-layer CMUT had a 13.7% reduction in collapse voltage. The improvements in the maximum deflection, average deflection, electromechanical coupling coefficient, transmitting sensitivity, and receiving sensitivity were 41.2%, 68.0%, 84.6%, 17.7%, and 101.6%, respectively. Therefore, the dual-layer CMUT has low power consumption and high reception performance while maintaining transmission performance, and it has potential for applications in portable, low-power devices and air-coupled ultrasonic nondestructive testing.