The viscous strip approach to simplify the calculation of the surface acoustic wave generated streaming

In recent decades,the importance of surface acoustic waves,as a biocompatible tool to integrate with microfluidics,has been proven in various medical and biological applications.The numerical modeling of acoustic streaming caused by surface acoustic waves in microchannels requires the effect of viscosity to be considered in the equations which complicates the solution.In this paper,it is shown that the major contribution of viscosity and the horizontal component of actuation is concentrated in a narrow region alongside the actuation boundary.Since the inviscid equations are considerably easier to solve,a division into the viscous and inviscid domains would alleviate the computational load significantly.The particles'traces calculated by this approximation are excellently alongside their counterparts from the completely viscous model.It is also shown that the optimum thickness for the viscous strip is about 9-fold the acoustic boundary layer thickness for various flow patterns and amplitudes of actuation.

PROPAGATION OF SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVES IN PRESTRESSED ANISOTROPIC LAYERED PIEZOELECTRIC STRUCTURES

The propagation of surface acoustic waves in layered piezoelectric structureswith initial stresses is investigated. The phase velocity equations are obtained for electricallyfree and shorted cases, respectively. Effects of the initial stresses on the phase velocity and theelectromechanical coupling coefficient for the fundamental mode of the layered piezoelectricstructures are discussed. Numerical results for the c-axis oriented film of LiNbO_3 on a sapphiresubstrate are given. It is found that the fractional change in phase velocity is a linear functionwith the initial stresses, and the electromechanical coupling factor increases with an increase ofthe absolute values of the compressive initial stresses. The results are useful for the design ofsurface acoustic wave devices.

Temperature Characteristics of Surface Acoustic Waves Propagating on La_3Ga_5SiO_4 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.

Surface Acoustic Wave Humidity Sensors Based on(1120) ZnO Piezoelectric Films Sputtered on R-Sapphire Substrates

ZnO films on R-sapphire substrates are prepared and characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, which indicate that the thin films are well crystallized with （1120） texture. Love wave and Rayleigh wave are used for fabrications of humidity sensors, which are excited in [1100] and [0001] directions of the （1120） ZnO piezoelectric films, respectively. The experimental results show that both kinds of sensors have good humidity response and repeatability, and the performances of the Love wave sensors are better than those of the Rayleigh wave sensors at room temperature. Moreover, the theoretical calculations of the mass sensitivity of the sensors are a/so carried out and the calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental measurements.

Transparent ZnO/glass surface acoustic wave based high performance ultraviolet light sensors

Surface acoustic wave （SAW） resonators are a type of ultraviolet （UV） light sensors with high sensitivity, and they have been extensively studied. Transparent SAW devices are very useful and can be developed into various sensors and microfluidics for sensing/monitoring and lab-on-chip applications. We report the fabrication of high sensitivity SAW UV sensors based on piezoelectric （PE） ZnO thin films deposited on glass substrates. The sensors were fabricated and their performances against the post-deposition annealing condition were investigated. It was found that the UV-light sensitivity is improved by more than one order of magnitude after annealing. The frequency response increases significantly and the response becomes much faster. The optimized devices also show a small temperature coefficient of frequency and excellent repeatability and stability, demonstrating its potential for UV-light sensing application.

Nondestructive determination of film thickness with laser-induced surface acoustic waves

The application of surface acoustic waves（SAWs） for thickness measurement is presented. By studying the impact of film thickness h on the dispersion phenomenon of surface acoustic waves, a method for thickness determination based on theoretical dispersion curve v（ fh） and experimental dispersion curve v（ f） is developed. The method provides a series of thickness values at different frequencies f, and the mean value is considered as the final result of the measurement. The thicknesses of six interconnect films are determined by SAWs, and the results are compared with the manufacturer＇s data.The relative differences are in the range from 0.4% to 2.18%, which indicates that the surface acoustic wave technique is reliable and accurate in the nondestructive thickness determination for films. This method can be generally used for fast and direct determination of film thickness.

Characteristics and realization of the second generation surface acoustic wave’s wavelet device

To overcome the bulk acoustic wave （BAW）, the triple transit signals and the discontinuous frequency band in the first generation surface acoustic wave＇s （FGSAW＇ s） wavelet device, the full transfer multistrip coupler （MSC） is applied to implement wavelet device, and a novel structure of the second generation surface acoustic wave＇s （SGSAW＇s） wavelet device is proposed. In the SGSAW＇ s wavelet device, the BAW is separated and eliminated in different acoustic propagating tracks, and the triple transit signal is suppressed. For arbitrary wavelet scale device, the center frequency is three times the radius of frequency band, which ensures that the frequency band of the SGSAW＇s wavelet device is continuous, and avoids losing signals caused by the discontinuation of frequency band. Experimental result confirms that the BAW suppression, ripples in band, receiving loss and insertion loss of the SGSAW＇ s wavelet device are remarkably improved compared with those of the FGSAW＇ s wavelet device.

Influence of roughness on the detection of mechanical characteristics of low-k film by the surface acoustic waves

The surface acoustic wave （SAW） technique is a precise and nondestructive method to detect the mechanical charac- teristics of the thin low dielectric constant （low-k） film by matching the theoretical dispersion curve with the experimental dispersion curve. In this paper, the influence of sample roughness on the precision of SAW mechanical detection is inves- tigated in detail. Random roughness values at the surface of low-k film and at the interface between this low-k film and the substrate are obtained by the Monte Carlo method. The dispersive characteristic of SAW on the layered structure with rough surface and rough interface is modeled by numerical simulation of finite element method. The Young＇s moduli of the Black DiamondTM samples with different roughness values are determined by SAWs in the experiment. The results show that the influence of sample roughness is very small when the root-mean-square （RMS） of roughness is smaller than 50 nm and correlation length is smaller than 20 μm. This study indicates that the SAW technique is reliable and precise in the nondestructive mechanical detection for low-k films.

Improved electromigration reliability of surface acoustic wave devices using Ti/Al-Mo/Ti/Al-Mo electrodes

In order to obtain both high electromigration （EM） reliability and free-dimensional control in high-frequency surface acoustic wave （SAW） devices, 4-layered Ti/Al-Mo/Ti/Al-Mo electrode films were investigated on 128° Y-X LiNbO3 substrates by sputtering deposition. The resuits indicated that the 4-layered films had an improved EM reliability compared to conventional Al-0.5wt.%Cu films. Their lifetime is approximately three times longer than that of the Al-0.5wt.%Cu films tested at a current density of 5 x 107 A/cm^2 and a temperature of 200℃. Moreover, the 4-layered films were easily etched in reactive ion etching and fine-dimensional control was realized during the pattern replication for high-frequency SAW devices. For the 4-layered films, an optimum Mo quantity and sputtering parameters were very significant for high EM reliability.

Strain transfer mechanism of passive wireless surface acoustic wave torque sensors using shear lag theory

A shear-lag theory was developed to investigate the strain transfer from the metal substrate to the surface acoustic wave （SAW） resonator through a bonding layer. A three-layer model of host structure-adhesive layer-resonator layer was established. The strain transfer was theoretically analyzed, and the main factors impacting the SAW sensor measurement were studied. The relationship between the sensor response and the individual effect of all these factors under static loads was discussed. Results showed that better accuracy could be achieved with increase in the adhesive stiffness or resonator length, or decrease in the adhesive thickness. The values of the strain transfer rate calculated from the analytical model agreed well with that from the available experiment data.

Topological charge pump by surface acoustic waves

Quantized electron pumping by the surface acoustic wave across barriers created by a sequence of split metal gates is interpreted from the viewpoint of topology.The surface acoustic wave serves as a one-dimensional periodical potential whose energy spectrum possesses the Bloch band structure.The time-dependent phase plays the role of an adiabatic parameter of the Hamiltonian which induces a geometrical phase.The pumping currents are related to the Chern numbers of the filled bands below the Fermi energy.Based on this understanding,we predict a novel effect of quantized but nonmonotonous current plateaus simultaneously pumped by two homodromous surface acoustic waves.

Influence of the anisotropy on the magneto-acoustic response of magnetic surface acoustic wave resonators

One-port magnetic surface acoustic wave(MSAW) resonators are fabricated by stacking multilayered(FeCoSiB/SiO2)n films directly on top of interdigital electrodes. It is shown that the magneto-acoustic response of the MSAW resonators critically depends the hysteresis of △E effect. For the magnetic multilayer without induced magnetic anisotropy, the resonance frequency( fR) exhibits a butterfly-like dependence on the external field, therefore, enabling bipolar detection of magnetic field smaller than its coercive field. However, for the magnetic multilayers with induced magnetic anisotropy, butterfly-like or loop-like fR–H curves are measured along the interdigtial electrode fingers or the SAW propagation direction, which can be attributed to the competition between the magnetic field-induced anisotropy and the stress-induced or shape anisotropy.

Development of A Surface Acoustic Wave LB Membrane Immunity Sensor

Summary: A new kind of biosensor for immunology was developed by ultrasonic technique and LB membrane. A double delay-line resonator was made by using ST-cut quartz crystal with working frequency of 149. 7 MHz. Then a layer of LB membrane was covered on it. When anti-IgM anti- body of various concentrations was added to it, the sensor can be used to detect IgM antigen. The biosensor was highly sensitive, small and light. The experimental results showed that the working frequency change of the sensor was proportional to the concentration of antibody with its dilution ratio between 1: 10000 and 1: 100. It was also first observed that the frequency curve of the sen- sor resulting from the reaction of IgM antigen and antibody undulated in the experiment.

Application of PRO-ESPRIT algorithm in identification of surface acoustic wave identification-tags

The surface acoustic wave （SAW） identification （ID）-tags have great potential for application in radio frequency identification （RFID） due to their characteristics of wireless sensing and passive operation. In the measurements based on the frequency domain sampling （FDS）, to expand the range of detection and allow the system work in harsh environments, it is necessary to enhance the identification capability at low SNR. In addition, to identify the tags in real time, it is important to reduce identification time. Therefore, estimation of signal parameters based on the Procrustes rotations via the rotational invariance technique （PRO-ESPRIT） is adopted. Experimental results show that good identification capability is achieved with a relatively faster measurement speed.

Pspice Equivalent Circuit Model for Implementation of Surface Acoustic Wave Filter

The crystals of quartz,lithium,and piezoelectric ceramics have a piezoelectric effect as their major characteristic.The surface acoustic wave filter(SAWF) was designed by using this property.However,the experimental cost of the fabrication of SAWF is higher than that of mechanical filter or LC filter.Through the RLC(resistor,inductor and capacitor) network equivalent circuit and the interdigital transducer(IDT) equivalent circuit model,the electromotive force,the mechanical impedance of piezoelectric plate,and the wave number of Mason circuit model were researched.The equivalent circuit can be used to reduce product development costs and shorten the development cycle.Comparing simulation result by Pspice software with the theory of SAWF,the simulated waveform is similar to theory measurement,and the equivalent circuit model is verified.

Propagation Characteristics of Surface Acoustic Waves on LGT and Quartz Substrates

Langatate( LGT) is a novel piezoelectric crystal; its structure is similar to quartz. A numerical analysis of the most important propagation characteristics of surface acoustic waves( SAW) on LGT and quartz is presented in this paper. The results show that the phase velocity on LGT is slower than that on quartz.Similar to quartz,there are zero temperature cuts and pure module orientations on LGT. The electro-mechanical coupling constant( k2)of LGT is larger than that of quartz. The characteristics of SAW on LGT with different material constants are calculated and compared.The results show that there are somewhat deviations with different material constants. Especially, the temperature coefficient of frequency( TCF) shows a relatively high difference.

Influence of Viscosity in Fluid Atomization with Surface Acoustic Waves

In this work, aqueous glycerol solutions are atomized to investigate the influence of the viscosity on the droplet size and the general atomization behavior in a setup using standing surface acoustic waves (sSAW) and a fluid supply at the boundary of the acoustic path. Depending on the fluid viscosity, the produced aerosols have a monomodal or polymodal size distribution. The mean droplet size in the dominant droplet fraction, however, decreases with increasing viscosity. Our results also indicate that the local wavefield conditions are crucial for the atomization process.

UV light driven high-performance room temperature surface acoustic wave NH_(3) gas sensor using sulfur-doped g-C_(3)N_(4) quantum dots

Nanomaterials integrated surface acoustic wave(SAW)gas sensing technology has emerged as a promising candidate for realtime toxic gas sensing applications for environmental and human health safety.However,the development of novel chemical interface based on two-dimensional(2D)sensing materials for SAW sensors for the rapid and sensitive detection of NH_(3)gas at room temperature(RT)still remains challenging.Herein,we report a highly selective RT NH_(3)gas sensor based on sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots(S@g-C_(3)N_(4)QD)coated langasite(LGS)SAW sensor with enhanced sensitivity and recovery rate under ultraviolet(UV)illumination.Fascinatingly,the sensitivity of the S@g-C_(3)N_(4)QD/LGS SAW sensor to NH_(3)(500 ppb)at RT is dramatically enhanced by~4.5-fold with a low detection limit(~85 ppb),high selectivity,excellent reproducibility,fast response/recovery time(70 s/79 s)under UV activation(365 nm)as compared to dark condition.Additionally,the proposed sensor exhibited augmented NH_(3)detection capability across the broad range of relative humidity(20%–80%).Such remarkable gas sensing performances of the as-prepared sensor to NH_(3)are attributed to the high surface area,enhanced functional groups,sulfur defects,UV photogenerated charge carriers,facile charge transfer in the S@g-C_(3)N_(4)QD sensing layer,which further helps to improve the gas molecules adsorption that causes the increase in conductivity,resulting in larger frequency responses.The gas sensing mechanism of S@g-C_(3)N_(4)QD/LGS SAW sensor is ascribed to the enhanced electroacoustic effect,which is supported by the correlation of resistive type and COMSOL Multiphysics simulation studies.We envisage that the present work paves a promising strategy to develop the next generation 2D g-C_(3)N_(4)based high responsive RT SAW gas sensors.

Surface acoustic wave devices for sensor applications

Surface acoustic wave （SAW） devices have been widely used in different fields and will continue to be of great importance in the foreseeable future. These devices are compact, cost efficient, easy to fabricate, and have a high performance, among other advantages. SAW devices can work as filters, signal processing units, sensors and actuators. They can even work without batteries and operate under harsh environments. In this review, the operating principles of SAW sensors, including temperature sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors and biosensors, will be discussed. Several examples and related issues will be presented. Technological trends and future developments will also be discussed.

Development of two-port surface acoustic wave resonator with Al/Au electrodes for gas sensing

Simple and efficient surface acoustic wave （SAW） two-port resonators with low insertion loss and high Q-values on ST-X quartz substrate using a corrosion-proof A1/Au-stripe electrode structure are developed for gas sensing. It was composed of two shorted grating reflectors and adjacent intedigital transducers （IDT）, and an active metal film in the cavity between the IDTs for the sensitive film coating. The devices are expected to provide good protection towards metal electrode for gas sensors application in chemically reactive environments. Excellent device performance as low insertion loss, high Q factor and single-mode are achieved by carefully selecting the metallic electrode thickness, cavity length and acoustic aperture. Prior to fabrication, the coupling of modes （COM） model was performed for device simulation to determine the optimal design parameters. The fabricated single-mode SAW resonator at operation frequency of 300 MHz range exhibits matched insertion loss of ~6.5 dB and loaded Q factor in the 3000 range. Using the fabricated resonator as the feedback element, a duaresonator-oscillator with excellent frequency stability （0.1 ppm） was developed and evaluated experimentally, and it is significant for performance improvement of SAW gas sensor.