Fundamental Study on High-Frequency Ultrasound Probes Fabricated by Aerosol Deposition Method and Hydrothermal Method

The ultrasound probes utilized in this study were fabricated using lead zirconium titanate (PZT), which was deposited using two different methods—the aerosol deposition (AD) method and the hydrothermal method. The fabricated ultrasound probes had the same structure wherein an electrode and an acoustic backing block were attached to each transducer. In this study, we have compared the acoustic characteristics of a high-frequency ultrasound probe fabricated by the AD method with those of a probe fabricated using the hydrothermal method; further, we have studied and hence determined the optimal process that can be used in the fabrication of high-frequency ultrasound probes with a resonance frequency of 40 MHz. As a result, when the pickup voltage was compared, the ultrasound probes fabricated by the AD method exhibited a value 9.5 times higher than that of the probes fabricated by the hydrothermal method. Moreover, the ultrasound probes fabricated by the AD method were found to transmit pulses at resonance frequencies of 28 MHz, 45–50 MHz, and 82–88 MHz.