Investigation of cross talk in kerfless annular arrays for high-frequency imaging

The effect of electromechanical cross talk in high-frequency (> 30 MHz) kerfless annular arrays is investigated. Finite-element model predictions of the radiation patterns from arrays are compared to predictions from an ideal model without cross talk and with experimental measurements. High cross talk in the array causes element broadening and an increase in the amplitude of secondary lobes in the radiation pattern. However, an increase in the pulse ring-down time was not found. This can be attributed to the absence of lateral modes in the kerfless substrate. The level of the pedestal secondary lobes in the two-way radiation pattern increases linearly with the element path difference. The element broadening increases the effective element path difference, which increases the pedestal level for a kerfless annular array above the level for an ideal array. The broadening limits how close to an array one can image compared to the ideal case by reducing the contrast available in the image at small f-numbers. When the element broadening is taken into account by widening the electrode dimensions, the ideal radiation pattern agrees well with the finite-element model and experimental radiation patterns.