Design and Analysis of MEMS Linear Phased Array

Micromachines (Basel). 2016 Jan 15;7(1):8. doi: 10.3390/mi7010008.

Abstract

A structure of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) linear phased array based on "multi-cell" element is designed to increase radiation sound pressure of transducer working in bending vibration mode at high frequency. In order to more accurately predict the resonant frequency of an element, the theoretical analysis of the dynamic equation of a fixed rectangular composite plate and finite element method simulation are adopted. The effects of the parameters both in the lateral and elevation direction on the three-dimensional beam directivity characteristics are comprehensively analyzed. The key parameters in the analysis include the "cell" number of element, "cell" size, "inter-cell" spacing and the number of elements, element width. The simulation results show that optimizing the linear array parameters both in the lateral and elevation direction can greatly improve the three-dimensional beam focusing for MEMS linear phased array, which is obviously different from the traditional linear array.

Keywords: MEMS; linear phased array; three-dimensional directivity; “multi-cell” element.