Substrates for zero temperature coefficient Love wave sensors

Microacoustic Love wave delay lines show high sensitivity to perturbations such as mass depositions on the wave-guide surface. Furthermore, because of their shear polarization, Love waves are ideally suited for liquid sensing applications. Using a Love wave delay line as feedback element in an oscillator allows the realization of viscosity sensors, and, using a chemical interface, chemical sensors, where the output signal is the oscillation frequency. To achieve a high effective sensitivity, the cross-sensitivity to temperature has to be kept low. We outline the proper choice of a material and especially focus on the influence of crystal cut and the major device design parameters (mass sensitivity and coupling coefficient) on the temperature coefficient of the sensor.     

Numerical Development of ZnO/Quartz Love Wave Structure for Gas Contamination Detection

Love wave structures are encouraging devices for sensing applications in gaseous or liquid media because of their high sensitivity. In this paper, we first investigate basic properties of a ZnO/quartz Love wave device by the use of theoretical considerations in order to get a good gas sensor. Second, experimental results of the developed structure, ZnO(2.1 mum)/90deg ST-cut quartz, confirm the suitable characteristics, including temperature compensation, high electromechanical coupling coefficient, and good sensitivity to mass loading effect. We finally characterize the gas effect on the photoresist Shipley S1805 with the above structure, and thus we confirm our approach     

基于人工神经网络的乐甫波液体密度粘度并行检测研究

乐甫波器件负载液体时,液体的密度和粘度相互耦合,难以通过乐甫波器件直接实现其并行检测。基于上述背景,建立了基底与薄膜同时采用压电材料的双压电结构乐甫波器件液体传感理论模型,提出了基于人工神经网络的乐甫波液体密度粘度并行检测方法,以理论模型计算出的数据作为人工神经网络的训练数据,采用乐甫波的波速和衰减来并行预测液体密度和粘度,预测结果与理论仿真的对比表明了该方法的有效性。     

Characterization and humidity sensing of ZnO/42° YX LiTaO3 Love wave devices with ZnO nanorods

Love mode surface acoustic wave devices based on ZnO/42° YX LiTaO₃ were characterized with the thickness of the sputtered ZnO guiding layer varied from 250 nm to 1.18 μm. Phase velocity, temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, sensitivity, electromechanical coupling coefficient and humidity sensing of the Love mode SAW devices were studied as a function of the ZnO layer thickness. With increasing ZnO thickness over the range of thickness values we have examined, the sensitivity of 42° YX LiTaO₃ to liquid loading increased and the values of electromechanical coupling coefficient decreased. The device with a thickness of 250 nm showed the best humidity response. ZnO nanorods were grown on this device and its humidity sensing performance has been further improved due to their large surface-to-volume ratio of the ZnO nanorods.     

功能梯度压电层/压电半空间结构中Love波的传播:一种改进的拉盖尔多项式方法

使用传统的拉盖尔多项式方法求解层状半空间结构时,存在因层间材料差异所造成的应力、电位移不连续的现象。为了克服此方法的不足,提出了一种改进的拉盖尔多项式方法,研究了功能梯度压电层状半空间中Love波的传播特性。与文献中应用WKB法得到的结果进行对比,验证了该方法的正确性。计算和分析了相应的频散曲线、应力和电位移分布曲线。结果表明:该方法能够避免因层间材料差异所造成的应力、电位移不连续现象的出现;高频Love波的应力和电位移主要分布在功能梯度压电层中速度较低的一侧。该研究为基于Love波传感器的设计与优化奠定了一定的理论基础。     

Transverse surface waves on a piezoelectric material carrying a functionally graded layer of finite thickness

The propagation behavior of transverse surface waves (Love waves) in a piezoelectric half space of polarized ceramics carrying a functionally graded material layer is studied from the three-dimensional equations of linear piezoelectricity. The Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) asymptotic technique is adopted for the theoretical derivations of analytical solutions in the functionally graded layer. The dispersion relations of Love wave in the structure are obtained for both electrically open and shorted cases. Firstly, these solutions are used to study effect of the gradient coefficients on the dispersive relations and phase velocities of Love wave propagation. Then influence of the gradient coefficients on the electromechanical coupling factor is discussed in detail. The results reported are meaningful for the design of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with high performance.     

Transverse surface waves in an FGM layered structure

The existence and propagation behavior of Love waves in a functionally graded material (FGM) layered structure are theoretically investigated in this paper based on the three-dimensional equations of linear electricity. The Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) method is applied to obtain the analytical solutions in the FGM layer. The dispersion equation for a Love surface wave in this kind of structure is obtained in a simple mathematical form, where the material property variation of the FGM layer is arbitrary. First, the solution is used to study the effect of the gradient coefficients on the dispersion curves and the phase velocities of Love waves. Then, the influence of gradient coefficients on the stress and displacement fields is discussed in detail. The reported results are important in the design of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with high performance.     

Properties of sensors based on shear-horizontal surface acoustic waves in LiTaO3/SiO2 and quartz/SiO2 structures

Acoustic wave devices based on waveguide modes with shear-horizontal polarization, i.e., Love modes, are very promising for sensor application, especially in liquid environments. They can be used for the determination of liquid density and viscosity as well as for chemical sensors. Up to now, several systems have been reported based on standard ST quartz. Those devices lack temperature stability, which is essential for field application. Thus, temperature-compensated systems based on different Y-rotated quartz and lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) plates with SiO2 guiding layers have been investigated. Temperature behavior as well as relevant acoustic properties were considered. Furthermore, experimentally determined data for device sensitivity are compared with theoretical predictions from numerical calculations.     

Guided shear horizontal surface acoustic wave sensors for chemical and biochemical detection in liquids.

The design and performance of guided shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (guided SH-SAW) devices on LiTaO3 substrates are investigated for high-sensitivity chemical and biochemical sensors in liquids. Despite their structural similarity to Rayleigh SAW, SH-SAWs often propagate slightly deeper within the substrate, hence preventing the implementation of high-sensitivity detectors. The device sensitivity to mass and viscoelastic loading is increased using a thin guiding layer on the device surface. Because of their relatively low shear wave velocity, various polymers including poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and cyanoethyl cellulose (cured or cross-linked) are investigated as the guiding layers to trap the acoustic energy near the sensing surface. The devices have been tested in biosensing and chemical sensing experiments. Suitable design principles for these applications are discussed with regard to wave guidance, electrical passivation of the interdigital transducers from the liquid environments, acoustic loss, and sensor signal distortion. In biosensing experiments, using near-optimal PMMA thickness of approximately 2 microm, mass sensitivity greater than 1500 Hz/(ng/mm2) is demonstrated, resulting in a minimum detection limit less than 20 pg/mm2. For chemical sensor experiments, it is found that optimal waveguide thickness must be modified to account for the chemically sensitive layer which also acts to guide the SH-SAW. A detection limit of 780 (3 x peak-to-peak noise) or 180 ppb (3 x rms noise) is estimated from the present measurements for some organic compounds in water.     

乐甫波的液体粘度传感研究

利用部分波理论和边界条件精确推导,对“粘性液体/非压电薄膜/压电基底”3层乐甫波结构建模,分析得出随叉指周期变小,液体粘度灵敏度提高,传播衰减增大;随“薄膜厚度与波长之比”增大,液体的粘度灵敏度随之先减小再增大,液体密度灵敏度几乎为零。优化设计了以36°钽酸锂和SiO₂为基底和薄膜的乐甫波器件,制作并测试实物,实验结果与数值仿真基本一致,表明了理论模型的正确性。     

Love waves propagation in a piezoelectric layered structure with initial stresses

Summary. The propagation behavior of Love waves in a piezoelectric layered structure with inhomogeneous initial stress is studied. Solutions of the mechanical displacement and electrical potential function are obtained for the isotropic elastic layer and transversely isotropic piezoelectric substrate, respectively, by solving the coupled electromechanical field equations. Firstly, effects of the inhomogeneous initial stress on the dispersion relations and phase velocity of Love wave propagation are discussed. Then the influence of the initial stress gradient coefficient on the stress, mechanical displacement and electrical potential distribution in the layer and the substrate is investigated in detail. The results reported in this paper are not only meaningful for the design of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with high performance, but also effective for evaluating the residual stress distribution in the layered structures.     

Analysis of viscosity sensitivity for liquid property detection applications based on SAW sensors

An investigation of viscosity sensitivity for liquid property detection applications based on the ZnO/SiO₂/Si layered structure Love mode surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors is presented. One of our interests in this paper is to optimize the SAW viscosity sensor under the condition of temperature stability by considering the relations among electromechanical coupling coefficient, viscosity sensitivity and temperature coefficient of delay (TCD). Some important results have been obtained by solving the system of coupled electromechanical field equations and Navier–Stokes equation. It is found that the electromechanical coupling coefficient and viscosity sensitivity can be further improved by adjusting the thickness of SiO₂ thin film and a zero TCD device also can be obtained by introducing a SiO₂ thin film with proper thickness. We try to obtain a device which possesses the viscosity sensitivity as high as possible and has zero TCD. Another interest of this paper is to improve the traditional viscosity sensitivity expression by considering the coupling effect between the liquid viscosity and density. It is shown that the coupling effect cannot be neglected from the numerical results. This modification could make the obtained viscosity more accurate. This analysis is meaningful for the manufactures and applications of the ZnO/SiO₂/Si structure Love wave sensor for liquid property detection.     

Theoretical and Experimental Identification of Love Wave Frequency Peaks in Layered Structure ZnO/Quartz SAW Device

In this paper, the layered structure ZnO/Quartz (90^deg rotated ST-cut) is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Both waves, Rayleigh and Love, are analyzed. Dispersion curves of phase velocities, electromechanical coupling coefficient (K ²) and temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) were calculated as a function of normalized thickness ZnO film (kh _ZnO = 2pih _ZnO /lambda) and the optimum value of h _ZnO was determined for experimental study. Experimental results combined with simulation lead to clearly identify the generated waves and their higher modes in this structure except the mode 0 that shows comparable velocity for both Rayleigh and Love waves. The identification of the wave type was performed by studying the frequency response of the device with or without a droplet of water in the wave path. We also demonstrate that the highest elastic velocity is obtained for the mode 1 of the Love wave. This Love wave mode exhibits very interesting electrical characteristics, good K ², high-frequency rejection, low TCF, and very low attenuation in liquid making it very attractive for gas and liquid sensor applications.     

Shear-horizontal acoustic waves in piezoelectric plates bordered with conductive liquid

The influence of a conductive liquid on the characteristics of shear-horizontal acoustic waves of zeroth order (SH0 mode) propagating in thin piezoelectric plates of lithium tantalate, lithium niobate, and potassium niobate was investigated. Experimental results obtained for SH0 mode devices fabricated on lithium niobate plates are found to be in good agreement with theory. The data presented in this paper is useful for a proper design of various acoustic wave sensors operating in contact with conductive liquids.     

Analysis of surface wave behavior in corrugated piezomagnetic layer resting on inhomogeneous half-space

This paper deals with propagation of Love type waves in a Piezomagnetic layer with corrugated boundaries overlying an inhomogeneous half-space. Inhomogeneity of elastic half-space is caused due to exponential variations in elastic parameters. Dispersion relations are obtained for magnetically open and short cases. Prominent effects of inhomogeneity, layer's width and corrugation on the phase velocity of considered wave are illustrated through graphs. Some particular cases are derived and exhibited through graphs. Also the influence of undulation parameter, elastic parameter, and piezomagnetic coefficient on phase velocity of considered wave has been marked separately. The present study finds its applications in designing and optimization of Love wave sensors and Seismic Acoustic Wave (SAW) devices. Findings may also be used for analytical study of wave propagation in piezomagnetic coupled structures.     

Analysis of viscous losses in the chemical interface layer of Love wave sensors

Love waves have been introduced as highly effective devices for liquid-sensing applications. For chemical sensors, a microacoustic delay line featuring a multilayered waveguide supporting a generalised Love wave mode can be used in an oscillator setup. The top layer of the waveguide is a chemical interface, which selectively adsorbs certain target molecules in the adjacent liquid. The increase in mass density caused by adsorption can be detected as changes in the oscillation frequency. Commonly used interface materials show viscoelastic losses leading to an unwanted damping of the wave. To keep the signal-to-noise ratio high, the total insertion loss of the delay line should be kept as low as possible. Furthermore, it must not exceed a certain value to allow the electronic circuitry to sustain the oscillation. We analyzed the viscoelastic losses, which strongly depend on the frequency being used. By means of the proposed theoretical approach, the maximum thickness of the interface layer can be determined not to exceed the losses that can be handled by the driving electronics.     

分布式通风隔声罩的设计和效果研究

针对动力设备同时满足降噪和散热的需求,提出一种周期分布式结构的通风隔声罩。隔声罩的罩壁内嵌通风消声单元,声波衰减的同时,气流可顺利通过罩壁进行耗散。介绍了分布式通风隔声罩的设计,并对其隔声性能进行了理论计算。通过分布式通风隔声罩对三种不同设备的插入损失分别进行了实际测量和分析。研究结果表明,在通过频率以上,隔声罩插入损失的计算值和实测值吻合较好,分布式通风隔声罩在其通过频率以上具有良好的隔声效果。该分布式通风隔声罩的有效降噪频率可根据不同声源的频率特性进行专一设计,适用于各种需要通风散热的设备的隔声。     

A lateral field excited liquid acoustic wave sensor

Lateral field excited (LFE) AT-cut quartz acoustic wave sensors in which the electrodes are located on the reference surface have been fabricated and tested in liquid environments. The sensing surface, which is opposite to the reference surface, is free allowing the electric field of the thickness shear mode (TSM) to penetrate into the liquid. This results in increased sensitivity to both mechanical and electrical property changes of the liquid. In the present paper, several 5-MHz LFE sensors with a range of electrode spacings were exposed to liquid environments in which the viscosity, relative permittivity, and conductivity were varied. The LFE sensors demonstrate sensitivity to viscosity that is more than twice that obtained for the standard quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and sensitivity to relative permittivity and conductivity about 1.5 times that of the QCM sensors with modified electrodes. The present results clearly indicate that the LFE sensors may have a wide range of liquid phase applications in which sensitivity is crucial.     

Optimization design of a Lamb wave device for density sensing of nonviscous liquid

A Lamb wave device composed of a piezoelectric plate loaded with a nonviscous liquid layer is presented. The relation between the Lamb wave phase velocity and the liquid density can be used for liquid density sensing. In this paper, utilizing the partial wave theory, the concept of effective permittivity is introduced to analyze the Lamb wave's excitation and the phase velocity calculation under a certain liquid density. The interface between the Lamb wave device and the liquid layer is metallized to eliminate the influence of liquid electrical properties when sensing liquid density. Based on the theory model, the phase difference measurement method is adopted to study the device's sensitivity to liquid density. In order to achieve high sensitivity to liquid density with sufficient excitation efficiency of Lamb wave, the optimal parameters of the Lamb wave device including plate thickness and cut orientation are obtained by numerical calculation. The experimental results are found to be in agreement with the theoretical simulations, verifying the validity of the theory model and the practicability of the optimization design.     

A multi-resolution wireless force sensing system based upon a passive SAW device

Referring to the technology of SAW wireless identification systems, a multi-resolution wireless force sensing system, including a passive time-delay SAW device and a specific interrogation unit, is introduced in this paper. Using an IDT, which connects with an antenna, as the force sensing element is a design to transduce the electromagnetic wave into surface acoustic wave and vice versa. Several reflectors are designed to get multi-resolution. Sample/hold devices are used instead of high-speed A/D converter to construct a low-cost interrogation system. Properties of the sensing system are theoretically predicted and experimentally verified.