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This article reports the fine-tuning of the optical resonance wavelength (ORW) of surface-micromachined optical ultrasound transducer (SMOUT) arrays to enable ultrasound data readout with non-tunable interrogation light sources for photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT). Permanent ORW tuning is achieved by material deposition onto or subtraction from the top diaphragm of each element with sub-nanometer resolution. For demonstration, a SMOUT array is first fabricated, and its ORW is tuned for readout with an 808 nm laser diode (LD). Experiments are conducted to characterize the optical and acoustic performances of the elements within the center region of the SMOUT array. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional PACT (photoacoustic computed tomography) is also performed to evaluate the imaging performance of the ORW-tuned SMOUT array. The results show that the ORW tuning does not degrade the optical, acoustic, and overall imaging performances of the SMOUT elements. As a result, the fine-tuning method enables new SMOUT-based PACT systems that are low cost, compact, powerful, and even higher speed, with parallel readout capability. 

This Letter reports a new, to the best of our knowledge, high-frequency surface-micromachined optical ultrasound transducer (HF-SMOUT) array for micro photoacoustic computed tomography (µPACT). An 11 × 11 mm²2D array of 220 × 220 elements (35 µm in diameter) is designed, fabricated, and characterized. The optical resonance wavelength (ORW) of ≥90% of the elements falls within a 6-nm range. The acoustic center frequency and bandwidth of the elements are ∼14 MHz and ∼18 MHz (129%), respectively. The noise equivalent pressure (NEP) is 161 Pa (or 18 mPa/Hz) within a measurement bandwidth of 5–75 MHz. The standard deviation of the ORW drift is 0.45 nm and 0.93 nm within 25°C−55°C, respectively, and during a seven-day continuous water immersion. PACT experiments are conducted to evaluate the imaging performances of the HF-SMOUT array. The spatial resolution is estimated as 90 µm (axial) and 250–750 µm (lateral) within a 10 × 10 mm²field of view (FoV) and the imaging depth of 16 mm. A 3D PA image of a knotted black hair target is also successfully acquired. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using the HF-SMOUT array for µPACT applications. 

This Letter reports the integration of microlenses (MLs) on a surface-micromachined optical ultrasound transducer (SMOUT) array to enable parallel ultrasound data readout from a multiplicity of elements. The MLs are fabricated by photoresist patterning and reflow, and their focal lengths are optimized with parametric studies. Experiments are conducted to characterize the acoustic responsivity and its uniformity of the SMOUT-ML elements under different conditions. The temporal stability of SMOUT-ML elements immersed in water is assessed by monitoring their acoustic response continuously for 1 week. Parallel ultrasound signal readout is simulated with a small group of SMOUT-ML elements. Experimental results show that high acoustic sensitivity and excellent long-term stability can be achieved by the ML-integrated SMOUT array, which could provide a promising approach for enabling parallel ultrasound data acquisition for improving the imaging speed of 3D acoustic tomography. 

This Letter reports a new, to the best of our knowledge, photoacoustic excitation method for evaluating the shear viscoelastic properties of soft tissues. By illuminating the target surface with an annular pulsed laser beam, circularly converging surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are generated, focused, and detected at the center of the annular beam. The shear elasticity and shear viscosity of the target are extracted from the dispersive phase velocity of the SAWs based on the Kelvin–Voigt model and nonlinear regression fitting. Agar phantoms with different concentrations, and animal liver and fat tissue samples have successfully been characterized. Different from previous methods, the self-focusing of the converging SAWs allows sufficient SNR to be obtained even with low pulsed laser energy density, which makes this approach well compatible with soft tissues under bothex vivoandin vivotesting conditions. 

This paper reports a new 2D surface-micromachined optical ultrasound transducer (SMOUT) array consisting of 350 × 350 elements with highly uniform optical and acoustic performances. Each SMOUT element consists of a vacuum-sealed Fabry-Perot (F-P) interferometric cavity formed by two parallel partially reflective distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). Optical mapping in the 4 cm × 4 cm center region of the SMOUT array shows that the optical resonance wavelength (ORW) of > 94% of the elements falls within a narrow range of ≤ 10 nm. The center frequency, acoustic bandwidth and noise equivalent pressure (NEP) of the elements are determined to be 5 MHz, 5 MHz, and 20.7 Pa (with 16 times of signal averaging) or 172.5 Pa (without averaging) over a bandwidth of 10 MHz, respectively. The temperature and temporal stability of the SMOUT elements is also tested, which shows there is little variation in their ORW under large ambient temperature fluctuation and during continuous water immersion. To demonstrate its imaging capability, 2D and 3D PACT based on the SMOUT array is also conducted within a 3 cm × 3 cm field of view (FOV) at a depth of 3cm with no interrogation wavelength tuning. These results show that the SMOUT array could overcome some of the major limitations in existing ultrasound transducer arrays for PACT and provide a promising solution for achieving high-speed 3D imaging.