An Optimization and Comparative Study of Air-Coupled CMUT Cells With Circular and Annular Geometries.

Air-coupled capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) with annular cell geometry have recently been reported to have a promising transmit sensitivity. This paper reports three optimization schemes, which further improve the transmit sensitivity and also help achieve a reasonable comparison between the novel annular and conventional circular cells. Lumped element models of both cell types with laminate plate structures are presented.