Fabrication of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers based on adhesive wafer bonding technique

This paper reports the fabrication process of wafer bonded capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) using photosensitive benzocyclobutene as a polymer adhesive. Compared with direct bonding and anodic bonding, polymer adhesive bonding provides good tolerance to wafer surface defects and contamination. In addition, the low process temperature of 250 °C is compatible with standard CMOS processes. Single-element CMUTs consisting of cells with a diameter of 46 µ m and a cavity depth of 323 nm were fabricated. In-air and immersion acoustic characterizations were performed on the fabricated CMUTs, demonstrating their capability for transmitting and receiving ultrasound signals. An in-air resonance frequency of 5.47 MHz was measured by a vibrometer under a bias voltage of 300 V.