BAW temperature sensitivity and coupling in langanite

One of the new materials belonging to the trigonal class 32, to which quartz belongs, is langanite (LGN, La3Ga5.5Nb0.5O14). High-quality LGN single crystals are now available, and, although similar in composition and structure to langasite (LGS, La3Ga5SiO14), LGN has smaller thermal expansion coefficients and comparable piezoelectric constants to LGS. These are desirable material properties for both SAW and BAW applications that require low frequency dependence on temperature. This paper examines in detail the LGN characteristics: phase velocity, temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF), electromechanical coupling coefficient, and power flow angle for both singly and doubly rotated plate cuts. Contour plots of these characteristics are constructed, revealing orientation regions where zero TCF and high coupling exist and suggesting potentially interesting cuts for practical BAW device design. Temperature compensated cut regions with coupling coefficients as high as 0.16 are predicted, which is twice the value for AT-cut quartz, along with a temperature compensated cut with cubic behavior around room temperature for one of the sets of material constants used. With such desirable properties, LGN is a promising candidate material for BAW applications requiring low temperature sensitivity with superior bandwidth characteristics due to its values of coupling coefficient larger than quartz. Several other orientations with low TCF and high coupling are also identified.     

Investigation on recent quartz-like materials for SAW applications

Recent progress in growing and characterizing quartz-like materials of the trigonal system class 32 has been reported by several groups. The promising perspective for bulk acoustic wave frequency control applications indicates the potentiality of employing these materials for SAW applications as well. This paper reports results of investigations focused on SAW orientations of langasite (LGS), gallium phosphate (GaPO(4)), and langanite (LGN), both singly and doubly rotated cuts. Among the characteristics explored, major attention is paid to the temperature coefficient of delay (TCD), the electromechanical coupling coefficient (K(2)), and the power flow angle (PFA). Contour graphs are plotted based on our calculated results and show the regions in space in which low TCD and high K(2 ) can be obtained; they also exhibit the associated PFA and phase velocity characteristics. The influence of different sets of material constants is addressed. The spatial investigation performed shows that there are promising orientation regions in these materials at which zero or reduced TCD (<10 ppm/ degrees C) and PFA are obtained. Additional attractive characteristics for SAW applications have been observed: values of K(2) a few times higher than the K(2) of quartz ST-X, thus finding applications in larger bandwidth devices; variation of the TCD with respect to temperature, which is comparable to the variation found for quartz ST-X and less than that for zero TCD Li (2)B(4)O(7) cuts like 45 degrees X-Z and (0 degrees 78 degrees 90 degrees ); and phase velocity values circa 13 to 26% smaller than the phase velocity of quartz ST-X thus allowing a reduction in size for intermediate frequency device applications.     

Investigation on SAW properties of LGS and optimal cuts for high-temperature applications

A promising perspective for surface acoustic wave (SAW) device applications at high temperature has been opened by langasite (LGS). The SAW properties of LGS in singly and doubly rotated cuts at 250 degrees C are investigated. Three noticeable regions for SAW-cut orientations and propagation directions at high temperature are put forward and are defined by Euler angles [0 degrees, 20 degrees --> 50 degrees, 35 degrees --> 45 degrees], [0 degrees, 85 degrees --> 110 degrees, 0 degrees --> 5 degrees], and [0 degrees, 138 degrees --> 145 degrees, 20 degrees --> 23 degrees], respectively. The first region includes zero or comparatively reduced temperature coefficient of delay (TCD) (<2 ppm) and smaller electromechanical coupling factor (K2) (0.2%-0.35%); the second one exhibits higher K2 (0.35%-0.45%) and moderate TCD (<5 ppm); and the highest K2 (>0.45%) and larger TCD (25-30 ppm) characterize the last region. For some typical orientations within the above-mentioned three regions, the temperature dependency of SAW characteristics (up to 1000 degrees C) is discussed. The second region [0 degrees, 85 degrees --> 110 degrees, 0 degrees --> 5 degrees], especially the orientation [0 degrees, 90 degrees, 0 degrees], has better comprehensive characteristics of SAW and is more suitable for high-temperature applications. Therefore, we should give a top priority to the orientation [0 degrees, 90 degrees, 0 degrees] in the design of SAW devices operating at high temperature. Comparison between published experimental results and numerical predictions based on LGS constants and their temperature coefficients available in the literature reveals that the theoretical results of TCD under 250 degrees C are in agreement with the experimental ones (the relative error of TCD is within 10%).     

Surface and pseudo surface acoustic waves in langatate: predictions and measurements

Langatate (LGT, La/sub 3/Ga/sub 5.5/Ta/sub 0.5/O/sub 14/) is a recent addition to materials of the trigonal crystal class 32. In this paper SAW contour plots of the phase velocity (v/sub p/), the electromechanical coupling coefficient (K/sup 2/), the temperature coefficient of delay (TCD), and the power flow angle (PFA), are given showing the orientations in space in which high coupling is obtained, with the corresponding TCD, PFA, and vp characteristics for these orientations. This work reports experimental results on the SAW temperature fractional frequency variation (/spl Delta/f/fo) and the TCD for several LGT orientations on the plane with Euler angles: (0/spl deg/, 132/spl deg/, /spl psi/). The temperature behavior has been measured directly on SAW wafers from 10 to 200/spl deg/C, and the results are compared with numerical predictions using our recently measured temperature coefficients for LGT material constants. This research also has uncovered temperature compensated orientations, which we have experimentally verified with parabolic behavior, turnover temperatures in the 130 to 160/spl deg/C range, and /spl Delta/f/fo within 1000 ppm variation from 10 to 260/spl deg/C, appropriate for higher temperature device applications. Regarding the pseudo surface acoustic waves (PSAWs), results of calculations are presented for both the PSAW and the high velocity PSAW (HVPSAW) for some selected, rotated cuts. This study shows that propagation losses for the PSAWs of about 0.01 dB/wavelength, and phase velocities approximately 20% higher than that of the SAW, exist along specific orientations for the PSAW, thus showing the potential for somewhat higher frequency SAW device applications on this material, if required.     

Metal strip reflectivity and NSPUDT orientations in langanite,langasite, and gallium phosphate

New materials of the trigonal 32 class have received much attention recently, due to their quartz-like temperature behavior and the promise of higher electromechanical coupling coefficients. The magnitude and phase of the reflection coefficient of the metal strips that form the SAW transducers and reflector structures is a critical parameter that allows proper device designs and optimal material surface orientation. This paper describes an investigation of the magnitude and phase of the SAW metal strip reflectivity in some new materials and along now orientations. The materials are langanite, langasite, and gallium phosphate. The results are presented as contour plots of the magnitude and phase of the reflection coefficient. In addition, the phase velocity, temperature coefficient of delay, electromechanical coupling coefficient, and power flow angle are given, thus allowing proper orientation selection for SAW device designs. The results presented highlight the reflection coefficient calculations in the selection of natural single-phase unidirectional transducer orientations (NSPUDT) for these new materials. The orientation regions suggested in this paper for the new materials are thus very promising for low-loss, high-performance consumer and communications SAW designs, such as NSPUDT filters, resonator-based filters, and other devices that can benefit from a high metal strip reflectivity     

High temperature stable GHz-range low-loss wide band transducersand filter using SiO2/LiNbO3, LiTaO3

GHz-range low-loss transducers and filters are required for communication systems, especially mobile telephone communication systems. Many types of low insertion-loss transducers and filters utilizing the high electromechanical coupling coefficient (K²) materials such as LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ have been developed. Unfortunately, these materials have large temperature coefficients of the frequency (TCF). In this paper, SAW substrates with high coupling coefficients and low propagation attenuations and small temperature coefficient of frequency in the GHz-range are theoretically and experimentally investigated. The experimental results show very low propagation loss of 0.02 dB/λ ₀ and larger K² than those of the substrates of LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ at the TCF of below -5 ppm/°C at 1~2 GHz-range. The low-loss filter results using internal reflection types of IDT show the insertion loss of about 2.9 dB at 1 GHz and 4.9 dB at 2 GHz under the TCF's of 0 and +20 ppm/°C. These materials are applicable for devices at GHz-range because SiO₂ thickness is very thin such as below 1 μm and the center frequency shift of the filter versus SiO₂ thickness is very small     

Theoretical Studies on the SAW Properties of LGS at High-Temperature in Optimal Cuts

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices play a significant role in signal processing, frequency control and sensing applications. In general, they cannot operate at elevated temperature. The new crystal of langasite provides possibility for surface acoustic wave devices applied at high temperature. This paper studies the SAW properties of single and doubly rotated cuts of LGS at high temperature. The calculated SAW properties of LGS are analyzed in space with aid of contour plots, and two promising SAW orientation regions at high temperature are presented. For some typical cuts and propagating directions within the two optimal regions, their SAW characteristics vs temperature are discussed. Based on the experimental evidence in some literatures, the reliability of calculated results is verified.     

Synthesis and surface acoustic wave properties of AlN films deposited on LiNbO3 substrates

The c-axis-oriented aluminum nitride (AlN) films were deposited on z-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) substrates by reactive RF magnetron sputtering. The crystalline orientation of the AlN film determined by x-ray diffraction (XRD) was found to be dependent on the deposition conditions such as substrate temperature, N₂ concentration, and sputtering pressure. Highly c-axis-oriented AlN films to fabricate the AlN/LiNbO₃-based surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices were obtained under a sputtering pressure of 3.5 mTorr, N₂ concentration of 60%, RF power of 165 W, and substrate temperature of 400°C. A dense pebble-like surface texture of c-axis-oriented AlN film was obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The phase velocity and the electromechanical coupling coefficient (K²) of SAW were measured to be about 4200 m/s and 1.5%, respectively. The temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of SAW was calculated to be about -66 ppm/°C     

High velocity SAW using aluminum nitride film on unpolished nucleation side of free-standing CVD diamond

High performances surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters based on aluminium nitride (AlN)/diamond layered structure have been fabricated. The C-axis oriented aluminum nitride films with various thicknesses were sputtered on unpolished nucleation side of free-standing polycrystalline chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond obtained by silicon substrate etching. Experimental results show that high order modes as well as Rayleigh waves are excited. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical dispersion curves determined by software simulation with Green's function formalism. We demonstrate that high phase velocity first mode wave (so-called Sezawa wave) with high electromechanical coupling coefficient are obtained on AlN/diamond structure. This structure also has a low temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF), and preliminary results suggest that a zero TCF could be expected.     

Optimal cuts to extract the third-order elastic constants of langasite single crystals

Optimal cuts to determine the third-order elastic constants of langasite single crystals by the resonator method are proposed. By designing a small number of langasite resonators with optimal cut angles and measuring their force-frequency effects, the third-order elastic constants of langasite single crystals may be extracted separately. The numerical method to search for these optimal cut angles is presented. All 14 third-order elastic constants may be determined through a series of experimental measurements. This method will simplify traditional methods used to determine the third-order elastic constants and could potentially produce more accurate results.     

SAW device applications of longitudinal leaky surface waves on lithium tetraborate

The possibility of high frequency SAW device applications of longitudinal leaky surface waves (LLSW) on lithium tetraborate (Li₂ B₄O₇; LBO) is investigated in this paper. An electrical equivalent circuit model (ECM) is extended in order to consider effects of bulk wave scattering for the LLSWs. The equivalent circuit parameters used in the extended ECM for designing the LLSW devices are directly determined from numerically calculated dispersion curves. For applications of the LLSW, high frequency SAW filters on LBO with the Euler angles (0°, 47.3°, 90°) are demonstrated. As examples of the high frequency devices, 1.5 GHz and 1.2 GHz SAW filters using the mode are designed by using the extended ECM, and fabricated by using conventional patterning processes. One is for the filter of the global positioning system (GPS), another is for the 1.2 GHz band data transmission radio system in Japan. As a result, low loss SAW filters can be obtained easily without submicron fabrication techniques by using the LLSWs on LBO. Furthermore, the frequency response calculated by the extended ECM are in a good agreement with the experiments     

Temperature-stable double SAW resonators

The temperature stability of SAW resonators on quartz can be enhanced by means of double resonators. The turnover temperatures of the double resonators' components, called single resonators, are positioned above and below room temperature. As a consequence, the temperature coefficients of frequency of the 1st order (TCF1) have opposite signs at room temperature, leading to the vanishing TCF1 of the double resonators. Frequently, different turnover temperatures are adjusted by different propagation directions on an ST cut of quartz. An overview of known and new methods for compensating the temperature coefficient of frequency of the 2nd order (TCF2) of two-port and one-port SAW double resonators is given. A concept by means of which temperature-stable circuits of single resonators are found is described. Two types of temperature-stable double resonators found by applying that concept are treated in detail: 1) a two-port resonator composed of two cascaded two-port resonators and a coupling inductance, and 2) a one-port resonator comprising a series connection of one-port resonators with an inductance in parallel with each single resonator. The substrates are 35.5 degrees rotY cuts of quartz. In both cases, the shift of resonance frequency within the temperature range from -30 degrees C to 70 degrees C is smaller than 20 ppm.     

Super high electromechanical coupling and zero temperature coefficient surface acoustic wave substrates in KNbO(3) single crystal

The propagation characteristics of surface acoustic waves (SAW) and piezoelectric leaky surface waves in KNbO(3) single crystal have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. The results show that the electromechanical coupling coefficient k(2) of the surface wave propagating along the X-axis of the rotated Y-cut plate is very large with k(2)=0.53. This is about 10 times as large as that of LiNbO(3) in the surface wave branch. Experimental results for wideband SAW filters show low loss and temperature stable characteristics. The bandwidth is about 20%, and insertion losses are less than 2 to 6 dB. Simulation results for a ladder type filter using Y-cut KNbO(3) indicate that a bandwidth of 40% should be possible. The KNbO(3) substrates exhibit zero temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) around 20 degrees C in rotated Y-cut substrates.     

Comparison between ST-cut quartz 25 degrees and -60 degrees NSPUDT propagation directions

This paper discusses directivity and other propagation properties of natural single phase unidirectional transducer (NSPUDT) propagation directions on ST-cut quartz. The work focuses on the comparison of surface acoustic wave (SAW) directivity and propagation properties between the ST-cut quartz -60°, Euler angles: (0°, 132.75°, -60°), and the ST-cut quartz 25°, Euler angles: (0°, 132.75°, 25°), NSPUDT propagation directions, including predicted and measured directivity responses for both propagation directions. The well-known SAW 25° propagation direction is used for low loss, high performance SAW filter designs for consumer products and communications applications. The ST-cut quartz -60° propagation direction has been predicted to have a reflection coefficient 2.5 times larger than ST-cut quartz 25°. In addition the ST-cut quartz -60° satisfied the NSPUDT 90° reflection coefficient phase condition much more closely, resulting in an improved directivity response. For the delay line structures used in the experiments, the measured directivity is 10.1 dB for the -60° propagation direction. For the same structures, the measured directivity along the 25° propagation direction is about 5.0 dB. The experimental results given in this paper verify that indeed ST-cut quartz -60° has a higher directivity than ST-cut quartz 25°, confirming the theoretical predictions. In addition, this work compares other propagation properties for both directions, namely, phase velocities, electromechanical couplings, temperature coefficients of delay, power flow angles, and metallic strip reflection coefficient amplitudes and phases     

High-temperature langatate elastic constants and experimental validation up to 900°C

This paper reports on a set of langatate (LGT) elastic constants extracted from room temperature to 1100°C using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy techniques and an accompanying assessment of these constants at high temperature. The evaluation of the constants employed SAW device measurements from room temperature to 900°C along 6 different LGT wafer orientations. Langatate parallelepipeds and wafers were aligned, cut, ground, and polished, and acoustic wave devices were fabricated at the University of Maine facilities along specific orientations for elastic constant extraction and validation. SAW delay lines were fabricated on LGT wafers prepared at the University of Maine using 100-nm platinum rhodium- zirconia electrodes capable of withstanding temperatures up to 1000°C. The numerical predictions based on the resonant ultrasound spectroscopy high-temperature constants were compared with SAW phase velocity, fractional frequency variation, and temperature coefficients of delay extracted from SAW delay line frequency response measurements. In particular, the difference between measured and predicted fractional frequency variation is less than 2% over the 25°C to 900°C temperature range and within the calculated and measured discrepancies. Multiple temperature-compensated orientations at high temperature were predicted and verified in this paper: 4 of the measured orientations had turnover temperatures (temperature coefficient of delay = 0) between 200 and 420°C, and 2 had turnover temperatures below 100°C. In summary, this work reports on extracted high-temperature elastic constants for LGT up to 1100°C, confirmed the validity of those constants by high-temperature SAW device measurements up to 900°C, and predicted and identified temperature-compensated LGT orientations at high temperature.     

Analysis of interaction between two SAW modes in Pt grating on langasite cut (0°, 138.5°, 26.6°)

The numerical technique based on a previously developed rational approximation of harmonic admittance of a periodic grating was applied to analysis of SAW behavior in platinum grating on langasite cut with Euler angles (0°, 138.5°, 26.6°). The approximation is able to take into account interaction between surface and bulk waves or between two SAW modes. SAW dispersion was calculated at different values of electrode thickness varying between 1% and 4% of wavelength. It was found that with increasing Pt thickness, SAW behavior in the grating is strongly affected by interaction between two SAW modes propagating in the same orientation. An additional stopband, which results from this interaction, occurs at certain detuning from synchronous reflection condition and can cause spurious resonances of the admittance function. Interaction between two SAW modes is also responsible for anomalously slow growth of reflectivity with increasing platinum thickness.     

Suppression of transverse-mode spurious responses for SAW resonators on SiO2/Al/LiNbO3 structure by selective removal of SiO2

A SiO(2)/Al/LiNbO(3) structure has a large electromechanical coupling factor (K(2)) and good temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) for applications as a SAW duplexer of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Band I. However, the SiO(2)/Al/LiNbO(3) structure also supports two unwanted spurious responses; one is caused by the Rayleigh mode and the other by the transverse mode. As the authors have previously discussed, the Rayleigh-mode spurious response can be suppressed by controlling the cross-sectional shape of a SiO(2) overlay deposited on resonator electrodes. In this paper, a new technique to suppress the transverse-mode spurious responses is proposed. In the technique, the SiO(2) overlay is selectively removed from the dummy electrode region. The spurious responses are analyzed by the laser probe system. The results indicate that the spurious responses in question were hybrid modes caused by the coupling between the main (SH) SAW and another (Rayleigh) SAW with different velocities. The hybrid-mode spurious behavior was dependent on the velocities in the IDT and the dummy regions (v(i) and v(d)). The hybrid-mode spurious responses could be suppressed by selectively removing SiO(2). Furthermore, the SAW energy confinement could be enhanced in the IDT electrode region when v(i) < v(d). The transverse-mode spurious responses were successfully suppressed without degrading the SAW resonator performances.     

Surface acoustic wave properties of proton-exchanged LiNbO3 waveguides with SiO2 film

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) properties of proton-exchanged (PE) z-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO3) waveguides with silicon dioxide (SiO2) film layers were investigated using octanoic acid. The distribution of hydrogen measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) showed a step-like profile, which was assumed to be equal to the waveguide depth (d). The SiO2 film was deposited on z-cut LiNbO3 waveguide by radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering. We investigated the important parameters for the design of SAW devices such as phase velocity (Vp), insertion loss (IL) and temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) by a network analyzer using thin-film aluminum interdigital transducer electrodes on the upper SiO2 film surface. The experimental results showed that the Vp of SAW decreased slightly with the increase of h/lambda, where h was the thickness of SiO2 films and lambda was the wavelength. The IL of SAW increased with increased h/lambda. The TCF of SAW calculated from the frequency change of the output of SAW delay line showed an evident decrease with the increase of h/lambda. The TCF for PE z-cut LiNbO3 was measured to be about -54.72 ppm/degreees C at h/lambda = 0.08. It revealed that the SiO2 films could compensate and improve the temperature stability as compared with the TCF of SAW on PE samples without SiO2 film.     

Temperature Characteristics of Surface Acoustic Waves Propagating on La3Ga5SiO4 Substrates

Langasite (LGS) is a novel piezoelectric crystal. The authors numerically analyses the temperature stability of surface acoustic waves (SAW) and the relation of SAW propagation with temperature on certain optimal cuts on LGS in this paper. The results show that LGS has better temperature stability than traditional piezo crystals. The results also demonstrate that the velocity of SAW decrease with temperature, the electro-mechanical coupling constant (k2) and temperature coefficient of frequency increases parabolically and the power flow angle increases linearly on certain optimal cuts of LGS. The calculation result compared with the experimental and show good agreement.     

Small and low-loss IF SAW filters using zinc oxide film on quartz substrate

It was previously reported that a Rayleigh wave propagating on a zinc oxide film (ZnO)/ST-cut 35 degrees X propagation quartz substrate structure has the characteristics of an excellent temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) and a large electromechanical coupling factor k(s). This substrate was applied to various intermediate-frequency (IF) stage filters. During the filter development, it was clarified that a spurious response due to the Love wave was generated. In this study, a new quartz substrate has been developed with a specific cut and propagation angle, that has the same values of the TCF and the coupling factor as the above-mentioned ones. In addition, it does not have the spurious response due to the Love wave. The combination of this specific-cut-angle quartz and ZnO film has been applied to IF filters for wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) and narrow-band CDMA (N-CDMA) systems. The insertion losses of their IF filters were 3-5 dB better and their TCF was superior (deltaf/f = 0.37 ppm/degrees C: one-third) compared with the conventional surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters.