Patent ID: 11950512
Assignee: APPLE INC.
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  H  G | IPC H

Claim 21:
22. An electronic device comprising an acoustic imaging system, the electronic device comprising:
a housing; and
the acoustic imagining system comprising:
an adhesive layer configured to acoustically couple to an internal surface of the housing, thereby defining a portion of an external surface of the housing opposite the internal surface as an imaging surface;
a first electrode layer bonded to the adhesive layer;
a piezoelectric actuator layer below the first electrode layer;
a second electrode layer below the piezoelectric actuator layer aligned with the first electrode layer to generate an electric field through the piezoelectric actuator layer;
a metalloid oxide layer encapsulating the second electrode against the piezoelectric actuator layer; and
an application-specific integrated circuit formed below and coupled to the metalloid oxide layer, the application-specific integrated circuit conductively coupled to the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer and configured to:
apply a first voltage signal between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer to cause an acoustic pulse to be generated by the piezoelectric actuator layer, the acoustic pulse propagating toward the imaging surface through the housing; and
receive a second voltage signal from at least one of the first electrode layer or the second electrode layer after generating the acoustic pulse.