S. Saitoh et al., An improved phased array ultrasonic probe using 0.91Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.09PbTiO(3) single crystal, JPN J A P 1, 38(5B), 1999, pp. 3380-3384
A 96-channel phased array probe for echocardiography using a single-plate,
0.91Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)O-3-0.09PbTiO(3) (PZNT 91/9) single-crystal transducer wi
th dimensions of 14 x 20 mm has been fabricated to realize greater sensitiv
ity and broader bandwidth properties. The center frequency of the probe, 3.
5 MHz, was selected to cover the bandwidths of two conventional lead zircon
ate titanate (PZT) ceramic probes with center frequencies of 2.5 and 3.75 M
Hz. A solder paste was used to connect a flexible printed circuit to the PZ
NT 91/9 transducer. The echo amplitude of the PZNT 91/9 probe is about 6 JB
higher than that of the two PZT probes, and the fractional bandwidths are
30 and 75 percentage points wider, respectively. The B-mode image quality o
f the PZNT 91/9 probe is comparable to that of the two PZT probes, and the
Doppler sensitivity of the PZNT 91/9 probe is almost equal to that of the 2
.5 MHz PZT probe, which means that the PZNT 91/9 probe matches both the pen
etration of the 2.5 MHz PZT probe and the resolution of 3.75 MHz PZT probe.