Ultrasonic waves are unique in their ability to propagate through almost all matter which allows us to use them in ultrasonic transducers to see otherwise invisible subsurface features on tissues or other material samples. This ability – combined with their cost effectiveness, portability, and energy efficiency – makes ultrasonic transducers a natural choice for a wide range of applications including proximity sensing, collision avoidance, flaw detection, ultrasound imaging, photoacoustic imaging, and wireless energy transfer.

In our work, we aim to create ultrasound sensors as small as 100 um in size. We are motivated by the potential to fundamentally change the architecture of current bulky, high voltage ultrasound transducers to make them tiny-footprint, ultra-low voltage, and low-power. This new structure would revolutionize ultrasonics by allowing for novel applications such as ultrasound imaging enabled catheters, wearable health monitoring sensors, and mechano-acoustic fluid probes.