JPH0580623B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a sound field propagation medium for an ultrasound microscope that focuses ultrasound generated by a transducer.

Prior Art The sound field propagation medium of ultrasound microscopes currently in use has a transducer that generates ultrasonic waves at one end, and focuses the ultrasonic waves generated by the transducer at the other end to irradiate the sample. An acoustic lens section is provided.

In addition, as a means of generating different ultrasonic beams, the electrodes of the transducer are divided concentrically at one end of the sound field propagation medium, and by combining these electrodes, the sound wave generation area of the transducer is changed. There is something.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in this sound field propagation medium, the depth of focus is constant and the aperture angle of the ultrasound beam is constant, so only one type of ultrasound beam can be obtained; In order to obtain an ultrasonic beam, the entire sound field propagation medium to which the transducer is attached must be replaced, which has the disadvantage of increasing costs.

Furthermore, when the transducer is divided concentrically, the ultrasonic waves are diffused within the sound field propagation medium, which has the disadvantage that it is difficult to obtain an ultrasonic beam with a particularly small aperture angle. They could only change the aperture angle of the sound beam, not the focal length.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention mounts a transducer on the upper end of a base made of a sound field propagation medium fixed to a support of a column, and rotates the transducer on the column. A disk is attached to the disk, and an exchanger is attached to the disk, which is made up of a number of sound field propagation media having different focal depths or aperture angles of spherical lenses provided at the lower end, and the upper end surface of the exchanger is attached to the base. It is characterized by being configured to be in sliding contact with the lower end surface.

Effects In the present invention, exchangers with different focal depths and aperture angles are simply joined mechanically to a base body with a transducer attached to one end, allowing for easy exchange and very high workability. .

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows a side view of a part of an ultrasonic microscope according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. body 2
is fixed, a base body 3 made of a sound field propagation medium is attached to this support body 2, and a transducer 4 is attached to the upper surface of this base body 3. Further, an exchanger 6 made of a plurality of sound field propagation media is attached to the disk 5 so as to be in contact with the lower surface of the base 3, and a spherical lens portion 7 is formed at the lower end of the exchanger 6. and,
These exchangers 6 have their respective spherical lenses 7 having different focal depths or aperture angles. Note that the disk 5 is rotatably mounted on the support column 1 via a bearing 8.

With the sound field propagation medium of the ultrasonic microscope of this embodiment configured in this way, it is possible to obtain a sound field propagation medium with a desired depth of focus and aperture angle simply by rotating the disk 5. It has the advantage of being very easy to perform inspection work and having good workability.

The base 3 and the exchanger 6 may be made of the same material, such as sapphire or fused silica, or the base 3 and the exchanger 6 may be made of different materials.
In addition, in order to improve the contact between the base 3 and the exchanger 6, the acoustic effect can be improved by applying a small amount of water or oil to the contact surface of the base 3 or the exchanger 6, and then bringing the base and the exchanger 6 into contact. Get better.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 shows a partial configuration diagram of an ultrasonic microscope according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a support column, 2 is a support body, 3 is a base body, 4 is a transducer, 5 is a disk, 6 is an exchanger, 7 is a spherical lens part, and 8 is a bearing, and these structures are the same as in the previous embodiment, but in this embodiment, there is no sound between the base 3 and the exchanger 6. An intermediate body 9 consisting of a field propagation medium is mounted.
This intermediate body 9 may be attached to the base body 3, or may be attached to the exchanger body 6, or furthermore, the intermediate body 9 may be divided in half and attached to the base body 3 and the exchange body 6, respectively. The thickness t of this intermediate body 9 is an even number multiple of 1/4 of the wavelength λ of the frequency of the ultrasonic wave used.
That is, t=2n×λ/4 (n is a positive integer). Further, when the base body 3 and the exchanger body 6 are constructed of different sound field propagation media, the thickness t of the intermediate body 9 is set as follows: t=(2n-1)×λ/4 (n is a positive integer).

In the sound field propagation medium of the ultrasonic microscope of this embodiment configured as described above, by providing the intermediate body 9 between the base body 3 and the exchange body 6, it is possible to match the acoustic impedance between them. Further, the acoustic impedance of the intermediate body may be the geometric mean of the acoustic impedances of the base body and the exchange body.

Embodiment 3 In the above embodiment, the contact surfaces of the base body 3 and the switching body 6 were cut almost perpendicularly to their side surfaces, but they may be cut obliquely as shown in FIG. 4a. In addition, as shown in FIG. 4b, the base 3 is cut diagonally.
An intermediate body 9 may be interposed between the modified body 6 and the modified body 6.

In the above embodiment, a large number of exchangers 6 are attached to the disk 5, but a removable support part is provided on the lower column 1 of the support 2 that supports the base 3, and this one
One replacement body may be attached to two support parts so that the replacement body can be replaced together with the support part, or the support part may be fixed to a column and the replacement body may be inserted into a hole in the support part provided under the base body 3. It is also possible to insert and attach it. Further, the base body or the exchange body may be divided into two or more parts.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the present invention mechanically connects exchangers made of sound field propagation media with different focal depths and aperture angles directly to a base made of sound field propagation media. The advantage is that workability is very good because the two parts are bonded via an intermediate body made of a sound field propagation medium.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of an ultrasonic microscope according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a disk equipped with the exchanger shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a part of the ultrasound microscope according to the second embodiment, and a side view of a sound field propagation medium of the ultrasound microscope according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 1... Strut, 2... Support, 3... Base, 4...
...transducer, 5...disc, 6...exchangeable body, 7...spherical lens section, 8...bearing, 9...intermediate body.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A transducer is attached to the upper end of a base made of a sound field propagation medium fixed to a support of a column, a disk is rotatably attached to the column, and a transducer is attached to the lower end of the disk. an exchanger made of a plurality of sound field propagation media having different focal depths or aperture angles of spherical lenses, and an upper end surface of the exchanger is configured to be in sliding contact with a lower end surface of the base. Sound field propagation medium for acoustic microscopes. 2. The sound field propagation medium for an ultrasound microscope according to claim 1, wherein the base body and the exchanger body are made of saphire. 3. The sound field propagation medium for an ultrasound microscope according to claim 1, wherein the base body and the exchanger body are made of fused silica. 4. A sound field propagation medium for an ultrasound microscope according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that an intermediate body serving as a sound propagation medium is provided between the base body and the exchange body. . 5. The sound field propagation medium for an ultrasound microscope according to claim 4, wherein the thickness of the intermediate body is an even multiple of a quarter wavelength of the frequency of the ultrasound used. 6. The sound field propagation medium for an ultrasound microscope according to claim 1, wherein the base body is provided with an intermediate body, and the exchange body is provided with another intermediate body. 7. The sound field propagation medium for an ultrasound microscope according to claim 6, wherein the acoustic impedance of the intermediate body is the geometric mean of the acoustic impedances of the base body and the exchange body. 8. A sound field propagation medium for an ultrasonic microscope according to claim 1, characterized in that the base body is provided with an intermediate body, and the exchange body is provided with another intermediate body. 9. Claim 1, wherein the base body is attached to a support fixed to a support column, and the plurality of exchangers are attached at intervals to a disk rotatably attached to the column. Sound field propagation medium for the ultrasonic microscope described in Section 1.