CMUT-Based Sensor for Acoustic Emission Application: Experimental and Theoretical Contributions to Sensitivity Optimization.

The paper deals with a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT)-based sensor dedicated to the detection of acoustic emissions from damaged structures. This work aims to explore different ways to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and the sensitivity of such sensors focusing on the design and packaging of the sensor, electrical connections, signal processing, coupling conditions, design of the elementary cells and operating conditions. In the first part, the CMUT-R100 sensor prototype is presented and electromechanically characterized.