Experimental study of phase noise in FBAR resonators

Phase noise of micromachined bulk acoustic wave resonators is investigated. A measurement bench, able to characterize the phase noise of a single resonator on-wafer, is set up. The experimental data demonstrate the existence of a 1/f phase noise component, the amplitude of which is strongly dependent on the resonator geometry. Particularly, the apodized resonators have shown the best phase noise performance, with no degradation of the Q factor.     

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.     

Bandpass filters for 8 GHz using solidly mounted bulk acoustic wave resonators

Frequency shift, design, and fabrication issues have been investigated for the realization of 8 GHz bandpass filters based on AlN thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators. Fabrication includes well-textured AlN thin films on Pt (111) electrodes and SiO/sub 2//AlN Bragg gratings for the solidly mounted resonators. The chosen ladder filter design requires the tuning of the shunt resonators with respect to the series one. For this purpose, mass loading of the shunt resonators with aluminum (Al) and SiO/sub 2/ were studied. Design simulations showed that the channel bandwidth can be doubled by shifting more than the difference of resonance and antiresonance frequency. Bandpass filters at 8 GHz were successfully fabricated with -5.5 dB insertion loss, -26 dB out-of-band rejection, 99 MHz (1.2%) /spl plusmn/0.2 dB channel bandwidth, and 224 MHz (2.8%) 3 dB bandwidth. The group delay variations within any 30 MHz channel inside the channel bandwidth amounts to <0.2 ns. Comparisons with simulation calculations and single resonator characteristics show that each /spl pi/-section includes a parasitic series resistance and inductance.     

Characteristics of pure-shear mode BAW resonators consisting of (1120) textured ZnO films

Thickness pure-shear mode film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs) made of (1120) textured ZnO films have been fabricated. We also have fabricated FBAR structure consisting of two layers of the (1120) textured ZnO film with opposite polarization directions. This FBAR structure operated in second overtone pure-shear mode and allowed shear-mode FBARs at higher frequency. The effective electromechanical coupling coefficients k2 of pure-shear mode FBAR and second overtone pure-shear mode FBAR in this study were found to be 3.3% and 0.8%, respectively. The temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of thickness extensional mode FBAR, pure-shear mode FBAR, and second overtone pure-shear mode FBAR were measured in the temperature range of 10-60 degrees C. TCF values of -63.1 ppm/degrees C, -34.7 ppm/degrees C, and -35.6 ppm/degrees C were found for the thickness extensional mode FBAR, the pure-shear mode FBAR, and the second overtone pure-shear mode FBAR, respectively. These results demonstrated that pure-shear mode ZnO FBARs have more stable temperature characteristics than the conventional thickness extensional mode ZnO FBARs.     

Determination of ZnO temperature coefficients using thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators

Thin film bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators have been the subject of research in RF microelectronics for some time. Much of the interest lay in utilizing the resonators to design filters for wireless applications. Some of the major advantages BAW devices present over other filter technologies in use today include size reduction and the possibility of on-chip integration. As the technology matures, the necessity to more fully characterize the performance of the devices and to develop more accurate models describing their behavior is apparent. In this investigation, the effects that temperature variations have on 1.8-2.0 GHz zinc oxide (ZnO)-based solidly mounted BAW resonators (SMRs) are studied. The average temperature coefficients of the series and parallel resonant frequencies of the fabricated devices are found to be -31.5 ppm//spl deg/C and -35.3 ppm//spl deg/C, respectively. The slight decrease in separation between the two resonant frequencies with temperature implies there is slightly less effective coupling with increased temperature. No definite trend is found describing the behavior of the quality factor (Q) of the resonator with temperature variations. With little temperature coefficient data for thin film ZnO available in the literature, the importance of an accurate model is evident. The resonator device performance is simulated using Ballato's electronic circuit model for acoustic devices on a SPICE-based platform. By virtue of the comparison between the predicted and measured device response, various material parameters are extracted.     

Micromachined thin film plate acoustic resonators utilizing the lowest order symmetric lamb wave mode

Thin film integrated circuits compatible resonant structures using the lowest order symmetric Lamb wave propagating in thin aluminum nitride (AlN) film membranes have been studied. The 2-mum thick, highly c-oriented AlN piezoelectric films have been grown on silicon by pulsed, direct-current magnetron reactive sputter deposition. The films were deposited at room temperature and had typical full-width, half-maximum value of the rocking curve of about 2 degrees. Thin film plate acoustic resonators were designed and micromachined using low resolution photolithography and deep silicon etching. Plate waves, having a 12-mum wavelength, were excited by means of both interdigital (IDT) and longitudinal wave transducers using lateral field excitation (LW-LFE), and reflected by periodical aluminum-strip gratings deposited on top of the membrane. The existence of a frequency stopband and strong grating reflectivity have been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed. One-port resonator designs having varying cavity lengths and transducer topology were fabricated and characterized. A quality factor exceeding 3000 has been demonstrated at frequencies of about 885 MHz. The IDT based film plate acoustic resonators (FPAR) technology proved to be preferable when lower costs and higher Qs are pursued. The LW-LFE-based FPAR technology offers higher excitation efficiency at costs comparable to that of the thin film bulk acoustic wave resonator (FBAR) technology     

Thin film bulk acoustic wave filter

Thin film bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators (FBAR) are fabricated on a silicon nitride bridge using a ZnO piezolayer on a glass substrate and surface micromachining by standard thin film technology. These resonators exhibit a coupling constant k/sub t//sup 2/=7.8% at the first thickness extensional wave mode and are used as impedance elements in a ladder filter in the 1-GHz frequency band of mobile telecommunications. An electrical equivalent circuit is used to characterize the properties of the resonators and to show how the performance of the filter depends on the parameters of the resonators. 2.5% bandwidth, 2.8-dB insertion loss, and 35-dB selectivity are obtained in a filter with six resonators. The technology can be used to manufacture miniature microwave filters without any additional inductances.     

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.     

Miniature high-frequency longitudinal wave mass sensors in liquid

In this paper, micromachined longitudinal wave resonant mass sensors operating near 1 GHz in a liquid environment are investigated and characterized. Mass sensitivities of the film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) and high-tone bulk acoustic resonator (HBAR) microbalances with small size are measured to be 782.7 cm(2)/g (50 times larger than that of conventional bulky quartz crystal microbalance) and 9.3 cm(2)/g, respectively. Based on the mass sensitivities and frequency noise floor, the minimum detectable mass of the FBAR and HBAR are estimated to be 2.8 ng/cm(2) and 11.9 ng/cm(2) in liquid, respectively.     

Characteristics of MgxZn1-xO thin film bulk acoustic wave devices

Piezoelectric thin film zinc oxide (ZnO) and its ternary alloy magnesium zinc oxide (Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O) have broad applications in transducers, resonators, and filters. In this work, we present a new bulk acoustic wave (BAW) structure consisting of Al/Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O/n/sup +/-ZnO/r-sapphire, where Al and n/sup +/ type ZnO serve as the top and bottom electrode, respectively. The epitaxial Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O films have the same epitaxial relationships with the substrate as ZnO on r-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/, resulting in the c-axis of the Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O being in the growth plane. This relationship promotes shear bulk wave propagation that affords sensing in liquid phase media without the dampening effects found in longitudinal wave mode BAW devices. The BAW velocity and electromechanical coupling coefficient of Mg/sub x/Zn/sub 1-x/O can be tailored by varying the Mg composition, which provides an alternative and complementary method to adjust the BAW characteristics by changing the piezoelectric film thickness. This provides flexibility to design the operating frequencies of thin film bulk acoustic wave devices. Frequency responses of devices with two acoustic wave modes propagating in the specified structure are analyzed using a transmission line model. Measured results show good agreement with simulation.     

Simulation of characteristics of a SiO2/c-axis-oriented LiNbO3/diamond surface acoustic wave

High-frequency surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices based on diamond that have been realized to date utilize c-axis-oriented ZnO as the piezoelectric thin film. This material, with SiO2 overlay, shows excellent characteristics of a high phase velocity of over 10,000 m/s and a zero temperature coefficient, and it has been successfully applied to high-frequency SAW filters and resonators. To expand on materials used on diamond, the theoretical calculation has been carried out for LiNbO3/diamond, and a high electromechanical coupling coefficient up to 9.0% is expected. In this work, the characteristics of SiO2/LiNbO3/diamond were studied by computer simulation, emphasizing a zero temperature coefficient with a high coupling coefficient. Calculations are carried out for the phase velocity, the electromechanical coupling coefficient, and the temperature coefficient of the Rayleigh wave and its higher mode Sezawa wave. As a result, SiO2/IDT/LiNbO3/diamond is found to offer a zero temperature coefficient with a very high coupling coefficient up to 10.1% in conjunction with a high phase velocity of 12,100 m/s.     

High-Q AlN/SiO2 symmetric composite thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators

High-Q, bulk acoustic wave composite resonators based on a symmetric layer sequence of SiO₂-AlN-SiO₂ sandwiched between electrodes have been developed. Acoustic isolation was achieved by means of deep silicon etching to obtain membrane type thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators (TFBARs). Three different device versions were investigated. The SiO₂ film thicknesses were varied (0 nm, 70 nm, 310 nm, and 770 nm) while the piezoelectric AlN film had a constant thickness of 1.2 μm. The sputter-deposited AlN film grown on the amorphous, sputter-deposited SiO₂ layer exhibited a d_33,f of 4.0 pm/V. Experimental results of quality factors (Q) and coupling coefficients (k_t²) are in agreement with finite element calculations. A Q of 2000 is observed for the first harmonic of the 310 nm oxide devices. The most intense resonance of the 770 nm oxide device is the third harmonic reaching Q factors of 1450. The temperature drift reveals the impact of the SiO₂ layers, which is more pronounced on the first harmonic, reducing the TCF to 4 ppm/K for the 3rd harmonic of the 310 nm oxide devices.     

Modified mason model for bulk acoustic wave resonators

Accurate modeling of a bulk acoustic wave resonator frequency response is limited by the inability of the current 1-D models to simulate certain parasitic modes excited in realistic 3-D structures. A simple technique is proposed to simulate such parasitic modes by employing the 1-D Mason Model of a resonator and a coupling term between the fundamental mode and those parasitic modes. This Modified Mason Model allows accurate simulation of resonators with arbitrary impedance and arbitrary resonating frequency. Finally, the model's prediction is compared with the on-wafer measurement of a ladder-type filter composed of several resonators.     

High Q metal strip SSBW resonators using a SAW design

An experimental study of metal strip surface skimming bulk wave (SSBW) resonators using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) design is presented. Characteristics of SSBW and SAW resonators fabricated with the same photolithographic mask are compared and discussed. High Q low-loss SSBW resonators are achieved using a conventional two-port SAW resonator design and taking special care of the distance L between both interdigital transducers, the metal thickness h/lambda (lambda=acoustic wavelength) and the finger-to-gap ratio. Best overall performance of the SSBW devices in this study is achieved at L=nlambda/2-lambda/4 (compared with L=nlambda/2-lambda/8 for SAW resonators), h /lambda=1.6% (compared with 2% for SAW), and finger-to-gap ratio close to 1. The best device fabricated shows an unloaded Q of 5820 and an insertion loss of 7.8 dB at 766 MHz. The SSBW resonant frequency shows a stronger dependence on the metal thickness than the SAW one. This problem, however, is readily solved by frequency trimming using a CF(4) plasma etching technique. SSBW resonator can be trimmed by 0.2% down in frequency (compared with 0.05% for SAW) without affecting their performance.     

A perturbation method for predicting the temperature and stress sensitivities of quartz vibrating structures simulated by finite-element analysis

Thermal and mechanical sensitivities of vibrating structures and wave guides are key parameters for the optimization of high stability resonant devices operating in the ultrasonic frequency range (from a few tenth of kilohertz to a few gigahertz). In this paper, the possibility to simulate and predict temperature coefficients of frequency (TCF) of quartz transducers of any shape as well as their stress sensitivity coefficients is addressed. The theoretical developments based on harmonic finite-element analysis coupled with a variational perturbation method are detailed, showing how to derive the regarded parameters. The proposed approach is validated using a two-dimensional (2-D) model of a plane face-bulk acoustic resonator for which an analytical model can give access to both TCF and stress sensitivity coefficients. It is then applied to a 2-D model of convex plane bulk acoustic resonator of singly rotated quartz and used to compute the first order TCF of a 3-D model of a tuning fork structure. In the latter case, the importance of considering the actual excitation of the device is demonstrated, allowing for the accurate definition of angular loci for which thermal compensation can be expected, in agreement with literature. Possible extensions and improvements of the proposed method is discussed in conclusion.     

Experimental investigation of acoustic substrate losses in 1850-MHz thin film BAW resonators

After optimizing for electromechanical coupling coefficient K², the main performance improvement in the thin film bulk acoustic wave resonators and filters can be achieved by improving the Q value, i.e., minimizing the losses. In Braggreflector- based solidly mounted resonator technology, a significant improvement of Q has been achieved by optimizing the reflector not only for longitudinal wave, the intended operation mode, but also for shear waves. We have investigated the remaining acoustic radiation losses to the substrate in so-optimized 1850-MHz AlN resonators by removing the substrate underneath the resonators and comparing the devices with and without substrate by electrical characterization before and after the substrate removal. Several methods to extract Q-values of the resonators are compared. Changes caused by substrate removal are observed in resonator behavior, but no significant improvement in Q-values can be confirmed. Loss mechanisms other than substrate leakage are concluded to dominate the resonator Q-value. Difficulties of detecting small changes in the Q-values of the resonators are also discussed.     

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.     

Extremely low phase noise UHF oscillators utilizing high-overtone, bulk-acoustic resonators

High-overtone, bulk acoustic resonators (HBAR) have been designed that exhibit 9-dB insertion loss and loaded Q values of 80000 at 640 MHz with out-of-phase resonances occurring every 2.5 MHz. These resonators have been used as ovenized frequency-control elements in very low phase noise oscillators. The oscillator sustaining stage circuitry incorporates low-1/f noise modular RF amplifiers, Schottky-diode ALC, and a miniature 2-pole helical filter for suppression of HBAR adjacent resonant responses. Measurement of oscillator output signal flicker-of-frequency noise confirms that state-of-the-art levels of short-term frequency stability have been obtained. Sustaining stage circuit contribution to resulting oscillator flicker-of-frequency noise is 7-10 dB below that due to the resonators themselves. At 16-dBm resonator drive, an oscillator output signal white phase noise floor level of -175 dBc/Hz is achieved.     

Acoustic loss mechanisms in leaky SAW resonators on lithiumtantalate

Discusses acoustic losses in synchronous leaky surface acoustic wave (LSAW) resonators on rotated Y-cut lithium tantalate (LiTaO₃ ) substrates. Laser probe measurements and theoretical models are employed to identify and characterize the radiation of leaky waves into the busbars of the resonator and the excitation of bulk acoustic waves. Escaping LSAWs lead to a significant increase in the conductance, typically occurring in the vicinity of the resonance and in the stopband, but they do not explain the experimentally observed deterioration of the electrical response at the antiresonance. At frequencies above the stopband, the generation of fast shear bulk acoustic waves is the dominant loss mechanism     

A micromachined vibration isolation system for reducing the vibration sensitivity of surface transverse wave resonators

A micromachined system has been developed for reducing the vibration sensitivity of surface transverse wave (STW) resonators. The isolation system consists of a support platform for mounting the STW resonator, four support arms, and a support rim. The entire isolation system measures 8 mm by 9 mm by 0.4 mm without the resonator mounted on the platform. The system acts as a passive vibration isolation system, decreasing the magnitude of high frequency (>1.2 kHz) vibrations. Finite element analysis is used to analyze the acceleration sensitivity of the mounted resonator. The isolation system is then modeled as a damped mass-spring system and the transmissibility of vibration from the support rim to the support platform is calculated. Multiplying the acceleration sensitivity of the resonator by the transmissibility results in the expected system vibration sensitivity. The isolation systems are fabricated using two sided bulk etching of (110) oriented silicon wafers. STW resonators were mounted on the isolation systems, and the isolated units were mounted on commercial hybrid oscillator substrates. Vibration sensitivity measurements were taken for vibrations with frequencies ranging from 100 Hz to 5 kHz. The measured data show that the system performs as expected with a low frequency (<500 Hz) vibration sensitivity of 1.8×10^-8/g and a high frequency roll off of 12 dB/octave