448 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 27, NO.

3, JUNE 2018

An Analytical Model for Capacitive Pressure

Transducers With Circular Geometry
Ira O. Wygant , Member, IEEE, Mario Kupnik, Senior Member, IEEE, and Butrus T. Khuri-Yakub, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract— This paper derives an analytical model of a capac-

itive pressure transducer based on equations for deflection and
fundamental mode shape of a clamped circular plate. The derived
model enables efficient large-signal electromechanical simulations
and calculation of an equivalent circuit. The model shows
good agreement with finite element analysis and experiments.
The spring-mass-damper system used in the model is calcu-
lated for uniform, anisotropic, and layered plate materials.
A cubic spring constant captures large plate deflections. Use
of the clamped-plate shape function leads to a simple expres-
sion for capacitance as a function of deflection and to closed-
form equations for pull-in voltage. Comparison of the model
with finite element analysis for several air-coupled capacitive
micromachined ultrasonic transducer designs shows better than
10% agreement for deflection, resonant frequency, and pull-
in voltage. The model also compares well with characterized Fig. 1. The capacitive pressure transducer modeled in this paper (three-
devices. The analytical model could be further improved with quarter section view). Force on the plate causes it to deflect, which changes
additional damping sources and methods to model a compliant the capacitance between the plate and substrate. Analytical equations that are
a function of the dimensions and material properties of the plate, cavity, and
plate boundary. [2017-0161] insulator accurately describe the transducer’s behavior.
Index Terms— Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic trans-
ducer (CMUT), capacitive pressure sensor, equivalent circuits,
microelectromechanical devices, sensor device modeling.
I. I NTRODUCTION

L EVERAGING expressions for the deflection of a clamped

circular plate, this paper derives an analytical model of a
capacitive pressure transducer. The derivation results in simple
closed-form modeling equations that are a function of trans-
ducer geometry and material properties. These equations show
good agreement with simulated and measured data. Further-
more, they yield convenient design expressions, straightfor-
ward calculations of an equivalent electromechanical circuit, Fig. 2. Axisymmetric cross section of the transducer in polar coordinates r
and efficient frequency- and time-domain simulations. and θ . Key dimensions for the transducer model are the plate radius a, post
While the model could be extended to other plate shapes, width w post , plate thickness h, cavity height h cav , and insulator thickness
h ins . Force applied to the plate causes it to deflect. Peak plate deflection,
this paper considers capacitive transducers with circular w pk , occurs at the plate’s center (r = 0). Deflection averaged over the plate
uniform-thickness plates. This type of transducer, shown area, wavg , always equals one-third peak deflection.
in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, is widely used in applications such as
pressure and ultrasonic sensing.
Manuscript received July 20, 2017; revised March 30, 2018; accepted When designed as a pressure sensor, the transducer can
March 31, 2018. Date of publication May 7, 2018; date of current version measure static or slowly varying pressure and has applications
May 31, 2018. Subject Editor C. Mastrangelo. (Corresponding author: in automobiles, home appliances, industrial equipment, and
Ira O. Wygant.)
I. O. Wygant was with Texas Instruments Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95051 consumer products. Many categories of pressure sensors exist.
USA. He is now with Swift Sensing Inc., Palo Alto, CA 94301 USA (e-mail: A pressure sensor with a vacuum-sealed cavity, such as a
ira.wygant@swiftsensing.com). barometric pressure sensor, measures absolute pressure; a
M. Kupnik is with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information
Technology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany. sensor with a second pressure port for the plate’s back side
B. T. Khuri-Yakub is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, measures differential pressure. MEMS (microelectromechan-
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 USA. ical systems) pressure sensors are small and often tightly
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. integrated with electronics. Whereas pressure sensors manu-
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JMEMS.2018.2823200 factured with conventional methods, like those constructed
1057-7157 © 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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 WYGANT et al.: ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR CAPACITIVE PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS WITH CIRCULAR GEOMETRY
Fig. 3. Schematic representation of the transducer model. A spring and
mass model the plate’s compliance and modal mass. Damping is due to
radiated sound and other sources of energy loss. The transducer capacitance,
C, changes with the plate’s average deflection, wavg . The model has two
ports. The electrical port relates voltage, V , and current, I . The mechanical
port relates force, F, and plate velocity, U .
from a metal foil, are rugged and suitable for harsh environ-
ments. The model developed in this paper applies to pressure
sensors from all categories.
When designed as a CMUT (capacitive micromachined
ultrasonic transducer), the same transducer structure radiates
and senses high-frequency sound pressure. CMUT applications
are similar to those of traditional bulk piezoelectric ultrasound
transducers. These applications include medical imaging, level
and fluid flow sensing, and proximity sensing.
Most of the model also applies to capacitive microphones.
However, this work neglects squeeze film damping, which is
critical to microphone performance. Extending the model to
microphones would require combining it with a squeeze-film-
damping model like that described in [5].
For all types of capacitive transducers, analytical models
help transducer development. Without analytical models,
engineers typically use FEA (finite element analysis) for
transducer design and analysis. However, analytical models
are faster and more efficient than FEA; and furthermore, they
reveal the parameter relationships and physics that govern
the transducer’s operation. Even when FEA is required, for
example to validate a final design, analytical models help
verify the FEA’s correctness.
Despite the utility of analytical models, existing capacitive
transducer models can be improved. This paper extends on the
model first described by Wygant et al. [6]. Models published
prior to [6] depended in part on either FEA [7] or numerical
iteration [8] to derive an equivalent circuit. Since [6], others
have followed a similar analytical modeling approach, and
incorporated anisotropic material properties [9], rectangular-
shaped plates [9], two-layered plates [9], and implementations
in hardware descriptive language [10], [11].
Unlike other models, this work accounts for the nonlinearity
of large plate deflection. Large plate deflection is important to
CMUT air transducers where wider bandwidth requires a thin
plate and for pressure sensors where linear deflection with
pressure is desired.
Fig. 3 gives a schematic representation of the transducer
model. The steps to derive this model are: (1) calculate
lumped spring and mass constants for the plate; (2) estimate
damping due to radiation impedance; (3) derive capacitance
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449
as a function of plate displacement; (4) implement the model
as a set of differential equations or as an equivalent circuit.
The following sections describe these steps. FEA and experi-
ment verify the model for typical air-coupled CMUT designs
with three different radii. These designs range from a CMUT
with moderate linear deflection to a CMUT with significantly
nonlinear deflection and large deflection relative to the gap.
II. P LATE S PRING AND M ASS C ONSTANTS
The transducer’s plate is a continuous structure that can take
on any shape; thus, it has infinite degrees of freedom. One
approach for simplifying analysis of the plate is to express
the plate’s deflection as the sum of its orthogonal mode
shape functions [12]. Each mode and its shape function corre-
sponds to a simple independent spring-mass-damper system
governed by
Fm (t) = m m ϕ̈m − bm ϕ̇m − km ϕm , (1)
where Fm (t) is the modal force acting on the plate for a
mode m. The modal mass, damping, and spring constants
are m m , bm , and km , respectively. Numerical techniques exist
for deriving and solving (1) for a given force and initial
conditions. Summing just a few modal solutions often gives
an answer close to the exact solution.
This paper uses just the plate’s fundamental mode.
Neglecting all higher-order modes simplifies the analysis yet
yields accurate results for frequencies up to and exceeding the
plate’s fundamental resonant frequency. This frequency range
satisfies the requirements for many transducer analyses.
A. Mode Frequencies and Shapes
The plate’s mode frequencies and mode shapes are known
assuming the plate is thin, perfectly clamped, and subject to
a uniform pressure [12], [13]. These assumptions introduce
relatively small errors when compared to a more realistic
finite element analysis (Section VII), even though an actual
transducer plate is not perfectly clamped and the electrostatic
force acting on it is not uniform.
For the plate geometry in Fig. 2, the free undamped modal
frequencies, i.e. the plate’s resonant frequencies, equal

λ2ns D
ωns = 2 (2)
a ρh
for plate radius a and plate thickness h. The plate’s density
and flexural rigidity are ρ and D, respectively.
The nondimensional modal frequency λns for a wide range
of mode numbers n and s can be calculated or found in stan-
dard references [12]. For the fundamental (s = 0, n = 0) and
first axisymmetric (s = 1, n = 0) mode, λns is 3.197 and
6.306, respectively. The plate’s density and flexural rigidity
are ρ and D, respectively.
The plate’s mode shape functions equal
  
r  Jn (λns )  r 
Wns (r, θ ) = Jn λns − In λns cos(nθ ), (3)
a In (λns ) a
where Jn and In are Bessel and modified Bessel functions
of the first kind [12]. Note that axisymmetric modes (n = 0)
 450 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 27, NO. 3, JUNE 2018

are more likely to be excited in a transducer where the plate’s center. The mass ratio is greater than one because the
impinging pressure is uniform and the electrostatic actuation plate’s center has more kinetic energy than the reference point
is axisymmetric. wavg . Using w pk for the amplitude parameter results in a ratio
The shape function of 0.2 If the plate moved as a perfect piston, then the mass
 2 ratio would be one.
r2 As described in [14], the medium in which the CMUT
W0 (r ) ≈ 1 − 2 (4)
a operates, e.g. water, contributes additional mass. With this
is a good approximation of (3) for the plate’s fundamental addition, the modal mass equals
mode. Compared to (3), the benefits of using (4) are that it ρf a
m 0,liquid = m 0 (1 +  ), (8)
equals the exact solution for the plate’s static deflection [13] ρ h
and it yields a closed-form equation for the transducer’s where ρ f is the medium’s density.
capacitance as a function of deflection. For design calculations, The theoretical value of  is between 0.47 and
(3) and (4) are close enough to be interchangeable. However, 0.67 depending on the acoustic boundary conditions. One
(3) is slightly more appropriate for resonant frequency and study reports an empirical value of 0.55 [15]. This added mass
modal mass calculations whereas (4) is better for static calcu- from the medium is approximate as these studies assume the
lations. plate diameter is large relative to the wavelength, which is not
For a given peak plate deflection, w pk , the plate’s displace- true for many transducer applications.
ment as a function of radial position equals
 2  2
r2 r2 C. Modal Spring Constant
w(r ) = w pk W0 (r ) = w pk 1− 2 = 3wavg 1− 2 . (5)
a a Calculating the modal spring constant from the modal mass
Averaging (5) over the plate area shows that the plate’s average m 0 and frequency ω0 gives
deflection, wavg , is always one-third its peak deflection. 192.2π D
Because the plate’s shape function is independent of ampli- k0,mod = m 0 ω02 = . (9)
a2
tude, the plate’s continuous deflection is representable with Alternatively, we can derive the spring constant from the
a single amplitude parameter—this representation is what expression for the plate’s static deflection [13]. A clamped
enables modeling the plate with the single-degree-of-freedom circular plate subject to a uniform pressure, q, has a shape
system described by (1). The choice of amplitude para- function equal to (4). The peak deflection equals,
meter or reference point, e.g. wavg or w pk , does not affect the
solution to the plate’s vibration but it does affect scaling of qa 4
w pk =, (10)
the spring, mass, and damper constants. Acoustic calculations 64D
favor the use of average deflection because acoustic impedance which results in a spring constant equal to
depends on volume displacement, which is the product of wavg F 3 192π D
and the plate’s area. As a result, we use wavg for the modal k0 = = πa 2 q = , (11)
wavg w pk a2
amplitude parameter.
which is very close to (9).
The spring constant depends on the plate’s flexural
B. Modal Mass
rigidity D. For uniform isotropic materials, flexural rigidity
The kinetic energy of the continuous plate must equal the equals
kinetic energy of its modal representation according to
Eh 3
a Diso = , (12)
1
2 1 12(1 − ν 2 )
KE= 2πρh ω0 w pk W0 (r ) r dr = m 0 (ω0 wmod )2 , (6)
2 2 where E is the material’s isotropic Young’s modulus and ν is
0
its Poisson ratio.
where wmod is the modal amplitude parameter. For anisotropic materials like silicon, [16] provides the
Solving (6) for the fundamental mode’s modal mass yields following equations for calculating the flexural rigidity:
a  2 s22 −s12
w pk c11 = , c12 = ,
m 0 = 2πρh W0 (r ) r dr = 1.88πa 2ρh. (7) s11 s22 − s12
2 s11 s22 − s12
2
wmod
0 s11 1
c22 = , c66 =
This solution uses (3) for the shape function and wavg for the s11 s22 − s12
2 s66
modal amplitude parameter. α3 = 3c11 + 3c22 + 2c12 + 4c66
Note that the modal mass equals 1.88-times the plate’s α3 3
Daniso = h , (13)
physical mass (using (4) in place of (3) for the shape function 96
yields a ratio of 1.8). The modal mass does not equal the where sx x are the components of the inverse of the material’s
plate’s physical mass because not all parts of the vibrating stiffness matrix.
plate contribute equally to its kinetic energy; for example, A typical MEMS device is made from anisotropic (100)
regions close to the clamped edge contribute less than the silicon, where the X, Y, and Z directions correspond to

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 WYGANT et al.: ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR CAPACITIVE PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS WITH CIRCULAR GEOMETRY 451

the [110], [1̄10], and [001] crystal directions, respectively [2].
For this type of silicon, it is sometimes convenient to derive
isotropic values of Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio that
yield the same flexural rigidity as (12). Applying (12) and (13)
yields an equivalent isotropic Young’s modulus of 150.5 GPa
for a Poisson ratio of 0.177. This value for Poisson ratio is
the radial average value and is the correct value for the large-
deflection calculations made in the following section.
The plate may also comprise multiple layers of different
materials. For example, a silicon plate could be covered with
conducting or passivation layers. For multilayer plates, [17]
and [18] give a procedure for calculating the equivalent
flexural rigidity for an arbitrary number of layers.
D. Large Deflections
For most transducer applications, the plate’s deflection is
small relative to its thickness. For larger deflections, tensile
forces in the plate’s midplane become more significant relative
to the plate’s bending forces [19]. For these cases, the deflec-
tion no longer varies linearly with the applied force. Following
the procedure in [13] yields a modified spring constant for
these large-deflection forces.
Applying this procedure, the plate’s radial displacement, u r ,
due to midplane tension is assumed to take the form
∞
Taking the ratio of the cubic tensile force term to the linear
bending force term in (18) yields (20)
Cν  w pk 2
k0,t wavg
3
Ft ension
= = . (20)
Fbend k0 wavg 72 h
This expression shows that tensile forces are negligible when
the plate’s deflection is small relative to its thickness. If the
plate’s peak deflection is less than about one-seventh its
thickness, the tensile force is less than 1% of the bending
force. Since Cν does not vary much between materials, this
effect is true for any plate material.
E. Damping
Damping equates to energy loss and equivalently mechan-
ical noise [20]. An important and sometimes dominant
damping mechanism is the radiation impedance, which is a
result of energy dissipated to the surrounding medium.
If we approximate the radiation impedance with the plane-
wave radiation impedance, then the damping constant equals
the product of the plate area and the specific acoustic
impedance of the medium, Z 0 , according to
b0 |plane wave = πa 2 Z 0 . (21)
This approximation is valid when the diameter of the trans-
ducer, which may consist of multiple cells, exceeds about
 two wavelengths. Assuming damping equals (21) leads to an
u r = r (a − r ) Cn r n , (14) expression for the plate’s quality factor:
n=0
m 0 ω0 9 ρhω0
where Cn are constants. Q= = . (22)
b0 5 Z0
Neglecting n greater than three and calculating Cn that
This expression shows that for a given resonant frequency,
gives the minimum energy for the deflected plate results
quality factor is proportional to plate thickness. For this reason,
in the following expression for the energy associated with the
a thinner plate results in a transducer with wider bandwidth.
midplane tension:
Transducers are often less than one wavelength
wavg
4
in width or height. In this case, the radiation impedance is
Ut = 6π D Cν , (15) a complex value that varies with frequency. The radiation
a 2t 2
where Cν is a constant that depends on Poisson ratio: impedance for a circular piston radiator equals
 
J1 (2kar ) H1 (2kar )
896585 + 529610ν − 342831ν 2 Z = Z0 1 − + j , (23)
Cν = . (16) kar kar
29645
where H1 is the Struve function, ar is the piston radius, and k
The energy associated with plate bending equals [13]
is the wavenumber [21]. A similar expression exists for a
wavg
2
radiator with velocity profile like (4) [21].
Ub = 96π D . (17) A CMUT element usually consists of multiple cells oper-
a2
Differentiating the total energy with respect to wavg gives ating in parallel. Tightly packed cells act roughly like a single
the following expressions for mechanical force in terms of k0 radiator with volume velocity equal to the sum of the cells’
and a nonlinear spring constant k0,t : volume velocities. For less tightly packed cells, accounting for
the cells’ mutual impedance gives a better estimate for the net
d
Fspr = (Ut + Ub ) radiation impedance [22].
wavg To model the complex radiation impedance as an equiv-


24π DCν wavg
2 alent circuit, we can use a circuit that matches (23) over
= wavg k0 + a wide frequency range [23]. Or we can add a mass equal
a2 h2
to the reactive part of the damping constant around a single
= k0 wavg + k0,t wavg
3
frequency [7].
(18) Beyond radiation impedance, other forms of damping
include energy loss to the substrate and thermoeleastic
where, damping. These sources of damping are harder to predict
24π DCν analytically and, without more analysis, are best derived
k0,t = . (19)
a2h2 empirically or with finite element analysis.

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 452 JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 27, NO. 3, JUNE 2018

III. C APACITANCE Writing (30) in terms of the model parameters yields

Capacitance depends on the transducer’s gap height and
−Fm C  + (k0 + 3k0,t wavg
2
)C  = 0, (32)
plate deflection. To account for an insulating layer in the
cavity, we use an effective gap height which we can solve for the average deflection at pull-in. We
h ins denote this deflection as wavg, pi .
g0 = h cav + , (24) The pull-in voltage in terms of wavg, pi [24] equals
εr,ins
 
where, h cav is the cavity height, h ins is the insulator thickness dUm (wavg, pi )  2Fm (wavg, pi )
(Fig. 2), and εr,ins is the insulator’s relative permittivity. VP I = 2 /C = . (33)
dwavg C
Using shape function (4) and integrating over the plate area
gives Under certain conditions, closed-form solutions exist for
  wavg, pi and Vpi . For some transducer designs we can neglect
3wwavg
a πa 2 ε0 a tanh large-deflection forces (k0,t = 0) and atmospheric pressure
2πr ε0 g0
C=   dr =  (P = 0). With these assumptions, the transducer always pulls
0 g −3w r2
2 3g0wavg in when the plate’s average deflection is 15% of the gap:
0 avg 1− a 2
(25) wavg,P I 
k0,t =0,P=0 = 0.15 (34)
g0
for the capacitance as a function of average deflection.
The first and second derivatives of capacitance equal and the pull-in voltage equals
 
dC ε0 πa 2 C  3k g03 Qω0 Rb
= C =  − , (26) V P I k0,t =0,P0 =0 = 0.39
g 0 0
= 0.39 . (35)
dwavg 3wavg 2wavg
2g0 wavg 1 − g0 πa 2 ε0 πa 2 ε0
and Interestingly (33) and (34) look like the corresponding
d 2C 3ε0πa 2 expressions for a parallel-plate transducer, which are
= C  =  2
2
dwavg 3w w pi, pp  1
2g02 wavg 1− gavg k0,t =0,P=0 = (36)
0 g0 3
ε0 πa 2 C 1
−  + 2 − C  , (27) and
2g0 wavg 1− g0
2 3wavg 2w avg 2wavg   
 8 g03 k0 g03 k0
respectively. Calculation of electrostatic force and pull-in V pi, pp k
0,t =0,P=0 = = 0.54 . (37)
27 πa ε0
2 πa 2 ε0
require these derivatives.
Assuming the expressions for a pressure transducer have the
IV. E LECTROSTATIC F ORCE AND P ULL -I N same form as those for a parallel-plate transducer enables us to
derive approximate expressions that account for atmospheric
Applying the principal of virtual work gives the electrostatic
pressure:
force, Fe , on the plate for a voltage V :
wavg, pi 
1 2  k0,t =0 ≈ 0.15(1 + 1.18wavg,P )
Fe =
V C. (28) g0
2  
πa 2 P/k0
The net mechanical force, Fm , equals the sum of the spring = 0.15 1 + 1.18 (38)
restoring force and force due to impinging pressure: g0
and
Fm = k0 wavg + k0,t wavg
3
− πa 2 P. (29) 
 2(k0 wavg, pi − πa 2 P)
Solving the sum of these forces, V pi k
3 =0 = . (39)
C  (wavg, pi )
Fe + Fm = 0, (30)
As described in [25] and [26], a nonlinear spring extends
for wavg gives the plate’s static deflection for a given dc the travel range of the transducer. Assuming k0,t dominates
voltage and applied pressure. (k0 = 0) and neglecting atmospheric pressure yields
When the applied voltage exceeds the pull-in voltage, V pi , 
no wavg satisfies (29). For these voltages, the plate is unstable wavg, pi k0 =0,P=0 = 0.24 (40)
and snaps to the bottom of the cavity. Following the proce-
dure in [24], we can calculate V pi . At the brink of pull-in, and

the deflection, wavg, pi , satisfies  g05 k0,t
V pi k 0 =0,P=0 = 0.08 . (41)
dUm d 2 C d 2 Um dC πa 2 ε0
2
− 2 dw
= 0, (31)
dwavg dwavg dwavg avg
Comparing V with (34) we see that a nonlinear spring extends
where Um is the total mechanical energy. the travel range from 15% to 24% of the gap.

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 WYGANT et al.: ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR CAPACITIVE PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS WITH CIRCULAR GEOMETRY 453

V. G OVERNING D IFFERENTIAL E QUATION

Having derived the electrical and mechanical model parame-
ters of the transducer, we can write the transducer’s governing
differential equations.
The net force, F, on the transducer plate equals the sum of
the mechanical and electrical forces:
1
F = m 0 ẅavg + k0 wavg + k0,t wavg
3
− V 2C . (42)
2
The current, I , flowing into the transducer’s terminals equals
the sum of the currents from the changing voltage and the
moving plate:

I = C V̇ + V C  ẇavg . (43)
Fig. 4. Electromechanical equivalent circuits of the transducer. a) Basic two-
port equivalent circuit. For a given transducer design and dc operating condi-
Together, (42) and (43) form the governing differential tion, expressions (48)-(53) give component values. The through and across
equations for the transducer’s operation. Solving these equa- variables at the electrical port are current, I , and voltage, V , respectively.
tions numerically gives the transducer’s response to elec- At the mechanical port, they are velocity, U , and force, F. b) Equivalent
circuit with additional model components: input voltage source, Vs ; source
trical and mechanical inputs. Implementing them in a hard- resistance, Rs ; parasitic capacitance, C par ; mass loading of the medium,
ware descriptive language enables simulation with electrical L med ; added damping, Rdamp ; and applied force, Fs . Based on (51), this
circuits [10], [11]. Writing them as state equations provides circuit divides the plate’s compliance into a mechanical part, Cm0 , and a
negative spring-softening part, Cs .
other options for simulation and analysis [26].
TABLE I
VI. L INEAR E QUIVALENT C IRCUIT V ERIFICATION W ITH FEA FOR I SOTROPIC , O RTHOTROPIC ,
AND L AYERED P LATES
Expressions (42) and (43) support a two-port model of the
transducer. They relate the transducer’s electrical port (voltage
and current) to its mechanical port (force and velocity). For
this two-port model, following the procedure in [26] yields
the linear equivalent circuit in Fig. 4. This equivalent circuit
is valid for small variations in plate deflection at a specific
operating point. Solving (29) gives the plate deflection at the
specified operating point.
To calculate the equivalent circuit, we first write the Jaco-
bian,
⎡ δV   ⎤
  g δV q  
⎢ ⎥ δq
= AB = ⎣ δδq δg
dV
dF F  δ F  ⎦ δg , (44)
g q
δq δg
that gives the linearized relationship between the two ports of
the transducer. parameters in terms of the number of parallel cells, N.
Matrix A in (44) is expressible in terms of the transducer The circuit parameters are as follows:
model parameters as follows: C0 = NC, (48)
d V  d q  1 n=N
A12
= N V C , (49)
A11 = g = = (45) A11
dq dQ C C
1 A211 1 1
d V  d F  Vdc2
q ke2 = 3 = , (50)
A12 = A21 = q = g = C = 2 C (46) N A12 A22 N nC A22
dg dq q C
1
d F  2 d Fe = N A22 (1 − ke2 ), (51)
A22 = q = k 0 + 3k 0,t wavg − Cm
dg dwavg
 2  L m = Nm 0 , (52)
1 2 2C C 
= k0 + 3k0,t wavg + q
2
− 2 . (47) and
2 C3 C
Rb = Nb0 . (53)
Next, we write the equivalent circuit parameters in terms
of the coefficients of matrix A. Since a transducer element These are the basic equivalent circuit elements. With addi-
can consist of multiple cells in parallel, we write the circuit tional elements, we can also model other mechanical and

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 454
Fig. 5. Axisymmetric geometry for verifying pull-in voltage and analyzing
effects of post width, w post with finite element analysis. For the clamped-edge
condition, the plate displacement is fixed for r = a plate .
TABLE II
FEM V ERIFICATION OF P ULL -I N V OLTAGE
TABLE III
E XPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF R ESONANT F REQUENCY
AND P ULL -I N V OLTAGE
electrical effects, e.g., mass loading given by [7], complex
radiation impedance described in [23], or parasitic capacitance.
Fig. 4(b) gives an example of an equivalent circuit with
additional model elements.
VII. C OMPARISON W ITH F INITE E LEMENT A NALYSIS
Two finite-element models implemented with ANSYS help
verify the analytical model. A three-dimensional quarter-
symmetry model constructed from SHELL281 elements veri-
fies clamped plate deflection and resonant frequency for
isotropic, anisotropic, and layered plate materials. For the
transducer designs in Table I, the analytical model agrees with
the finite element model with less than 0.5% error.
An axisymmetric model (Fig. 5), constructed from
PLANE183 elements, verifies pull-in voltage and evaluates the
effect of a compliant post. Table II shows that for the clamped
plate, the analytical pull-in voltage matches the finite element
results to better than 10%. The biggest mismatch occurs for the
design with the largest deflection (a = 585 μm). This design’s
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JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 27, NO. 3, JUNE 2018
Fig. 6. The effect of post width on the plate’s deflection and resonant
frequency for the a = 560 μm design in Table II. Results are from finite
element analysis for the geometry in Fig. 5. Compared to the clamped-edge
assumption made for the analytical model, a plate with a finite post width is at
least 8% more compliant. This result suggests using a slightly more compliant
spring constant to model a more realistic plate boundary condition.
Fig. 7. Comparison of measured and modeled transducer admittance for the
a = 560 μm design in Table III and a 24-V dc bias. The model accurately
predicts the resonant frequency and magnitude of the impedance but under-
predicts the amount of damping. a) Admittance curves. b) Equivalent circuit
and component values corresponding to the admittance curves. The measured
equivalent circuit is the result of a fit to the measured admittance curve.
The circuits match well except that the measured parallel resistance, R x ,
is about 3.8-times higher than the modeled R x . This mismatch indicates the
model does not capture all sources of damping.
plate-shape differs the most from the analytical plate shape (4)
because it has the most midplane tension.
The axisymmetric model also helps evaluate the effect of a
compliant post (Fig. 5). For the simulation results in Fig. 6,
post widths greater than 50-μm (roughly 3.5-times the plate-
thickness) give deflections 8% larger than the perfectly-
clamped plate. This result suggests the use of a slightly
reduced flexural rigidity in design calculations. Table II shows
that using a reduced flexural rigidity better predicts the pull-in
voltage of a device with a compliant post.
 WYGANT et al.: ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR CAPACITIVE PRESSURE TRANSDUCERS WITH CIRCULAR GEOMETRY
VIII. C OMPARISON W ITH E XPERIMENT
Comparison with characterized examples of airborne CMUT
devices further helps to validate the model. Table III compares
modeled and measured resonant frequency and pull-in voltage
for three different radii. The results show good agreement;
however, the model slightly overpredicts the pull-in voltage,
which suggests using a further reduced flexural rigidity to
model the compliant post.
Fig. 7 compares modeled and measured electrical
impedance. The model accurately predicts the transducer’s
motional impedance except that it underpredicts the amount of
damping. Using a better model for radiation impedance than
(23) and including additional damping sources would improve
this mismatch.
IX. C ONCLUSION
This work shows that starting from the geometry and
material properties of a capacitive transducer, we can derive
an accurate model that agrees with finite element analysis and
experiment. Critical modeling equations are (7), (11), (19),
and (21) for the spring-mass-damper model of the plate and,
(4) and (25) for the plate’s deflection and capacitance. With
these equations, we can calculate an equivalent circuit or solve
(42) and (43) for arbitrary time-varying electrical and mechan-
ical inputs.
While these equations meet basic analysis needs, the model
could be improved in several ways. For example, including
higher-order modes would give a better prediction of a
CMUT’s wideband frequency response in liquid. Film stress,
temperature, and additional sources of damping are important
to typical sensing applications but are not included in the
model. These and other effects are topics for continued
research.
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Ira O. Wygant received the B.S. degree in elec-
trical engineering and computer science from the
University of Wyoming, Laramie, in 1999, and
the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engi-
neering from Stanford University, in 2002 and
2008, respectively. His Ph.D. research at Stanford
was focused on capacitive micromachined ultrasonic
transducer technology and its integration with front-
end electronics. From 2008 to 2017, he was with
Texas Instruments Inc., Santa Clara, CA, USA,
in research and engineering roles to develop micro-
electromechanical transducer technologies.
 456
Mario Kupnik received the Dipl.Ing. degree in elec-
trical engineering from the Graz University of Tech-
nology, Austria, in 2000, and the Ph.D. degree
in electrical engineering from the University of
Leoben, Austria, in 2004. From 2005 to 2011, he
was a Post-Doctoral Researcher, a Research Asso-
ciate, and a Senior Research Scientist with the
Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, Stanford University,
USA. From 2011 to 2014, he was a Full Professor of
electrical engineering with the Brandenburg Univer-
sity of Technology, Cottbus, Germany. Since 2015,
he has been a Full Professor with the Technische Universität Darmstadt,
Germany, heading the Measurement and Sensor Technology Group.
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JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 27, NO. 3, JUNE 2018
Butrus (Pierre) T. Khuri-Yakub (F’95) received
the B.S. degree from the American University of
Beirut, the M.S. degree from Dartmouth College,
and the Ph.D. degree from Stanford University,
all in electrical engineering. He is currently a
Professor of electrical engineering with Stanford
University. He has authored over 600 publica-
tions and has been a principal inventor or co-
inventor of 102 U.S. and international issued
patents. His current research interests include
medical ultrasound imaging and therapy, ultrasound
neuro-stimulation, chemical/biological sensors, gas flow and energy flow
sensing, micromachined ultrasonic transducers, and ultrasonic fluid ejectors.
He received the Medal of the City of Bordeaux in 1983 for his contributions to
nondestructive evaluation, the Distinguished Advisor Award from the School
of Engineering, Stanford University, in 1987, the Distinguished Lecturer
Award from the IEEE UFFC Society in 1999, the Stanford University
Outstanding Inventor Award in 2004, the Distinguished Alumnus Award
from the School of Engineering, American University of Beirut, in 2005,
the Stanford Biodesign Certificate of Appreciation for commitment to educate
mentor and inspire Biodesign Fellows in 2011, and the IEEE 2011 Rayleigh
Award. He was elected as a Fellow of the AIMBE in 2015.