Helical-Like 3D Ultrathin Piezoelectric Element for Complicated Ultrasonic Field

The developments of personalized medicine, ultrasound imaging, and contactless “microscopic handle” techniques are pushing ultrasonic transducers toward features of high frequency, device miniaturization, and even novel function. However, the conventional ultrasonic transducer has severely limited the development of novel ideas for applications due to its ordinary ultrasonic field. Although transducer arrays and monolithic acoustic holograms are capable of producing the complicated ultrasonic field, it is still difficult to achieve high frequency, device miniaturization, and novel function simultaneously. Here, a simple but effective approach is introduced that aims at reconstructing the complicated and high-frequency ultrasonic field via a compact single-element ultrasonic transducer. The 3D ultrathin piezoelectric element with a complex configuration is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally to produce the desired complicated ultrasonic field. With helical-like configuration, the single-element ultrasonic transducer offers efficient noncontact trapping and manipulation of suspended microparticles and biological cells. Moreover, its strong trapping capability leads to the 3D stacking of microparticles, which is a novel and interesting phenomenon achieved by a single-element ultrasonic transducer. This work brings the possibility of a complicated ultrasonic field for achieving novel high-frequency ultrasound applications through the design of smart structure ultrathin piezoelectric materials.