Large area transducer array

• US 20060133198A1
• Filed: 12/03/2004
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Burdick, William Edward Jr., Fisher, Rayette Ann, Rose, James Wilson
• Granted Patent: US 7,375,420 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 367/13
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14601 Structural or functional details thereof

Abstract

A large area transducer array comprising a substrate having a front side and a backside, a plurality of transducers disposed on the front side of the substrate and patterned in the form of a two-dimensional transducer array in the X-Y plane, a plurality of connectors disposed on the backside of the substrate where the connectors are electrically coupled to the transducer elements. Further, a stacked transducer array comprising an electronic device disposed in a first layer, a substrate including a front side and a backside, an electrical interconnect layer disposed on the substrate and a plurality of transducers disposed in a third layer where the transducers are electrically coupled to the electronic device disposed in the first layer.

Claims

1. A transducer array comprising:

a substrate comprising a front side and a backside;

a plurality of transducers disposed on the front side of the substrate and aligned in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction to form a transducer array, wherein each one of the plurality of transducers is configured for sensing a corresponding input signal; and

a plurality of connectors disposed on the backside of the substrate, wherein the connectors are electrically coupled to the plurality of transducers.

2. The transducer array of claim 1, wherein the transducer array comprises a tiled transducer array.

3. The transducer array of claim 1, wherein the transducer array comprises a monolithic transducer array.

4. The transducer array of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a semiconductor material.

5. The transducer array of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a flexible material.

6. The transducer array of claim 1, wherein the transducer array comprises a rigid material having the plurality of transducers coupled thereto.

7. The transducer array of claim 1, wherein the transducer array comprises a flexible material having the plurality of transducers coupled thereto.

8. A method for fabricating a tiled transducer array, the method comprising:

fabricating a wafer comprising a plurality of transducers;

dicing the wafer to form individual transducers;

testing the individual transducers to identify a plurality of known good transducers;

preparing a substrate having a front side and a backside, wherein the backside of the substrate comprises a plurality of connectors;

positioning the plurality of known good transducers on the front side of the substrate and aligning the plurality of transducers in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction to form a transducer array; and

electrically coupling the connectors on the substrate to the plurality of known good transducers.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the substrate comprises a semiconductor material.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the substrate comprises a flexible material.

11. A stacked three-dimensional transducer array comprising:

an electronic device disposed in a first layer and coupled to a plurality of transducers, wherein the electronic device is configured for processing a plurality of input signals;

a substrate having a front side and a backside disposed in a second layer;

an electrical interconnect layer disposed on the backside of the substrate; and

a plurality of transducers disposed in a third layer on the front side of the substrate, the plurality of transducers configured for sensing a plurality of input signals.

12. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 11, wherein the substrate comprises a semiconductor material.

13. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 11, wherein the substrate comprises a flexible material.

14. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 11, wherein the plurality of transducers is tiled to assemble a large array of transducers.

15. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 11, wherein the electrical interconnect layer comprises a multi-layer electrical interconnect disposed on the substrate.

16. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 11, wherein the electronic device comprises at least one signal processor electrically coupled to the transducer.

17. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 11, further comprising an interposer positioned between the plurality of transducers and the electronic device, wherein the interposer is configured to facilitate electrical connection between the plurality of transducers and the electronic device.

18. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 17, wherein the interposer comprises a multi-layer interconnect system configured to electrically connect the plurality of transducers to the electronic device.

19. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 17, wherein the interposer is fabricated from a material comprising one of a polyimide, an aramid, a fluorocarbon, or a polyester.

20. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 17, wherein the interposer comprises a composite of one or more support layers and one or more interconnect layers.

21. The stacked three-dimensional transducer array of claim 20, wherein at least one of the one or more support layers comprises a material configured to dampen acoustical reflections.

22. A method for fabricating a stacked three-dimensional transducer array, the method comprising:

fabricating an electrical interconnect on a substrate having a front side and a backside;

disposing a plurality of transducers on the front side of the substrate; and

coupling the plurality of transducers on the front side of the substrate to an associated electronic device.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising positioning an interposer between the plurality of transducers and the electronic device.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the stacked transducer array is a three-dimensional array.

25. A method of aligning a plurality of electronic devices with a plurality of transducers in a transducer array formed in an X-Y plane, the method comprising:

positioning each of a plurality of electronic devices in a pre-determined direction;

aligning the each of the plurality of transducers with a corresponding one of the plurality of electronic devices via a pre-fabricated spacer; and

coupling each of the plurality of electronic devices to the corresponding transducer of the transducer array via an interconnect.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein positioning comprises stacking the electronic devices in the pre-determined direction.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the pre-determined direction comprises the Z-direction.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising realigning the pre-fabricated spacers to adjust gaps between each of the plurality of transducers and the corresponding one of the plurality of electronic devices.