Acoustic radiation-free surface phononic crystal resonator for in-liquid low-noise gravimetric detection

Acoustic wave resonators are promising candidates for gravimetric biosensing.However,they generally suffer from strong acoustic radiation in liquid,which limits their quality factor and increases their frequency noise.This article presents an acoustic radiation-free gravimetric biosensor based on a locally resonant surface phononic crystal(SPC)consisting of periodic high aspect ratio electrodes to address the above issue.The acoustic wave generated in the SPC is slower than the sound wave in water,hence it prevents acoustic propagation in the fluid and results in energy confinement near the electrode surface.This energy confinement results in a significant quality factor improvement and reduces frequency noise.The proposed SPC resonator is numerically studied by finite element analysis and experimentally implemented by an electroplating-based fabrication process.Experimental results show that the SPC resonator exhibits an in-liquid quality factor 15 times higher than a conventional Rayleigh wave resonator at a similar operating frequency.The proposed radiation suppression method using SPC can also be applied in other types of acoustic wave resonators.Thus,this method can serve as a general technique for boosting the in-liquid quality factor and sensing performance of many acoustic biosensors.

Experimental evidence of Bloch surface waves on photonic crystals with thin-film LiNbO_3 as a top layer

Strong nonlinear, electro-optical, and thermo-optical properties of lithium niobate(LN) have gained much attention. However, the implementation of LiNbO_3 in real devices is not a trivial task due to difficulties in manufacturing and handling thin-film LN. In this study, we investigate an optical device where the Bloch surface wave(BSW) propagates on the thin-film LN to unlock its properties. First, access to the LN film from air(or open space) is important to exploit its properties. Second, for sustaining the BSW, one-dimensional photonic crystal(1DPhC) is necessary to be fabricated under the thin-film LN. We consider two material platforms to realize such a device: bulk LN and commercial thin-film LN. Clear reflectance dips observed in far-field measurements demonstrate the propagation of BSWs on top of the LN surface of the designed 1DPhCs.