US Patent 11673165 Ultrasonic transducer operable in a surface acoustic wave (SAW) mode

A Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (PMUT) device is provided. The PMUT includes a substrate and an edge support structure connected to the substrate. A membrane is connected to the edge support structure such that a cavity is defined between the membrane and the substrate, where the membrane is configured to allow movement at ultrasonic frequencies. The membrane includes a piezoelectric layer and first and second electrodes coupled to opposing sides of the piezoelectric layer. The PMUT is also configured to operate in a Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) mode. Also provided are an integrated MEMS array, a method for operating an array of PMUT/SAW dual-mode devices, and a PMUT/SAW dual-mode device.