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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Peculiarities of surface acoustic waves,propagation in structures with functionally graded piezoelectric materials,coating from different ceramics on the basis of PZT

A model of a piezoelectric structure with an inhomogeneous coating is considered.The structure is a homogeneous half-space made of PZT-5H ferroelectric ceramics with a functionally graded coating.The properties of coating vary continuously in thickness from parameters of one material to parameters of another material in a continuously nonmonotonic or piecewise-continuous manner.As coating materials,various combinations of ceramics of different stiffness based on PZT are considered.Using the example of the problem of the propagation of sh-waves in a piezoelectric structure,we studied the influence of the ratio of the physical parameters of the coating materials,the localization region,and the size of the transition zone of one material to another on the propagation features of surface acoustic waves(SAWs)and the structure of the wave field.

A variational principle analysis of surface acoustic waves propagating under periodic metal grating with finite thickness

A theoretical method is presented,which analyzes properties of surface acoustic waves propagating on metallic gratings with finite thickness by combining finite element method with variational principle on surface acoustic waves propagating on periodic metal gratings. Based on D.P.Chen and Haus theory,a finite element method is used to investigate the effects of metallic gratings upon the propagation of surface acoustic waves.The coupling-of-modes parameters contributed by mechanical loading are expressed by the matrix derived from the finite element method.Consequently D.P.Chen and Haus theory can also be applied to analyze the properties of surface acoustic waves propagating on metallic gratings with finite thickness and arbitrary shape.Finally,the characteristics of surface acoustic waves propagating under gold and aluminum or silver gratings on a few piezoelectric crystals are studied.Numerical results of the coupling-of-modes parameters of the surface acoustic waves are obtained.

Optimal pressure-sensitive cuts for surface acoustic waves on langasite

The crystal langasite manifests its unique advantages and potentials for high temperature applications due to a high electromechanical coupling coefficient, temperature compensated orientations for surface acoustic wave （SAW）, and temperature stability. In order to analyze the pressure-induced frequency shift in SAW resonator type sensors at high temperature, this paper presents the electroelastic wave equations employing the effective material constants for small vibrations superimposed on biases originated from homogeneous temperature and external pressure fields in the Lagrangian description. Incorporated with the first-order perturbation integration, a model including both the mechanical and electrical perturbation items originating from thermal biases and small pressure fields is proposed. This universal model is suitable for substrate with high piezoelectricity and can be applied at either room temperature or high temperature circumstance. The criteria of optimal cuts for SAW pressure sensitivity, i.e., high electromechanical coupling coefficient and low temperature coefficient of delay, are proposed. A thorough investigation in trebly rotated cuts has shown that optimal pressure sensitive crystallographic areas can be obtained. The areas suitable for pressure sensors at room temperature are defined with Euler angles Ω1： φ=0°-0.6°, θ=144.4°-145.8°, ψ =23.2°-24.1°,Ω2： φ=59.4°-61.°, θ=34.2°-36.2°, ψ =24.1°-22.3°,Ω3： φ=119°-120°, θ=143.8°-145.5°, ψ =22.3°-23.5° The areas suitable for pressure sensors at high temperature are defined with Euler angles Ⅰ： φ=8°-30°, θ=24°-36°, ψ =4°-25°Ⅱ： φ=30°-55°, θ=144.4°-158°, ψ =4°-28° A set of experiments employing LGS （0, 150°, 22°） and （0, 90°, 0） has been performed to check the validity of the proposed calculation. The experimental relative sensitivity is in excellent agreement with the theoretical results.

Investigation of surface acoustic waves in laser shock peened metals

Laser shock peening is a well-known method for extending the fatigue life of metal components by introducing near-surface compressive residual stress. The surface acoustic waves （SAWs） are dispersive when the near-surface properties of materials are changed. So the near-surface properties （such as the thickness of hardened layers, elastic properties, residual stresses, etc.） can be analyzed by the phase velocity dispersion. To study the propagation of SAWs in metal samples after peening, a more reasonable experimental method of broadband excitation and reception is introduced. The ultrasonic signals are excited by laser and received by polyvinylindene fluoride （PVDF） transducer. The SAW signals in aluminum alloy materials with different impact times by laser shock peening are detected. Signal spectrum and phase velocity dispersion curves of SAWs are analyzed. Moreover, reasons for dispersion are discussed.

Controlling the properties of surface acoustic waves using graphene

Surface acoustic waves （SAWs） are elastic waves that propagate on the surface of a solid, much like waves on the ocean, with SAW devices used widely in communication and sensing. The ability to dynamically control the properties of SAWs would allow the creation of devices with improved performance or new functionality. However, so far it has proved extremely difficult to develop a practical way of achieving this control. In this paper we demonstrate voltage control of SAWs in a hybrid graphene-lithium niobate device. The velocity shift of the SAWs was measured as the conductivity of the graphene was modulated using an ion-gel gate, with a 0.1% velocity shift achieved for a bias of approximately 1 V. This velocity shift is comparable to that previously achieved in much more complicated hybrid semiconductor devices, and optimization of this approach could therefore lead to a practical, cost-effective voltage-controlled velocity shifter. In addition, the piezoelectric fields associated with the SAW can also be used to trap and transport the charge carriers within the graphene. Uniquely to graphene, we show that the acoustoelectric current in the same device can be reversed, and switched off, using the gate voltage.

Characteristics of surface acoustic waves in (1120) ZnO film/R-sapphire substrate structures

（1120）ZnO film/R-sapphire substrate structure is promising for high frequency acoustic wave devices. The propagation characteristics of SAWs, including the Rayleigh waves along [0001] direction and Love waves along [1100] direction, are investigated by using 3 dimensional finite element method （3D-FEM）. The phase velocity （vp）, electromechanical coupling coefficient （k2）, temperature coefficient of frequency （TCF） and reflection coefficient （r） of Rayleigh wave and Love wave devices are theoretically analyzed. Furthermore, the influences of ZnO films with different crystal orientation on SAW properties are also investigated. The results show that the 1st Rayleigh wave has an exceedingly large/d of 4.95% in （90°, 90°, 0°） （1120）ZnO film/R-sapphire substrate associated with a phase velocity of 5300 m/s; and the 0th Love wave in （0°, 90°, 0°） （1120）ZnO film/R-sapphire substrate has a maximum k2 of 3.86% associated with a phase velocity of 3400 m/s. And （1120）ZnO film/R-sapphire substrate structures can be used to design temperature-compensated and wide-band SAW devices. All of the results indicate that the performances of SAW devices can be optimized by suitably selecting ZnO films with different thickness and crystal orientations deposited on R-sapphire substrates.

Breath monitoring,sleep disorder detection,and tracking using thin-film acoustic waves and open-source electronics

Apnoea,a major sleep disorder,affects many adults and causes several issues,such as fatigue,high blood pressure,liver conditions,increased risk of type II diabetes,and heart problems.Therefore,advanced monitoring and diagnosing tools of apnoea disorders are needed to facilitate better treatment,with advantages such as accuracy,comfort of use,cost effectiveness,and embedded computation capabilities to recognise,store,process,and transmit time series data.In this work we present an adaptation of our apnoea-Pi open-source surface acoustic wave(SAW)platform(Apnoea-Pi)to monitor and recognise apnoea in patients.The platform is based on a thin-film SAW device using bimorph ZnO and Al structures,including those fabricated as Al foils or plates,to achieve breath tracking based on humidity and temperature changes.We applied open-source electronics and provided embedded computing characteristics for signal processing,data recognition,storage,and transmission of breath signals.We show that the thin-film SAW device out-performed standard and off-the-shelf capacitive electronic sensors in terms of their response and accuracy for human breath-tracking purposes.This in combination with embedded electronics makes a suitable platform for human breath monitoring and sleep disorder recognition.

Temperature and strain sensitivities of surface and hybrid acoustic wave Brillouin scattering in optical microfibers

Temperature and strain sensitivities of surface acoustic wave(SAW)and hybrid acoustic wave(HAW)Brillouin scat-tering(BS)in 1μm-1.3μm diameter optical microfibers are simulated.In contrast to stimulated Brillouin scattering(SBS)from bulk acoustic wave in standard optical fiber,SAW and HAW BS,due to SAWs and HAWs induced by the coupling of longitudinal and shear waves and propagating along the surface and core of microfiber respectively,facilitate innovative detection in optical microfibers sensing.The highest temperature and strain sensitivities of the hybrid acoustic modes(HAMs)are 1.082 MHz/℃and 0.0289 MHz/με,respectively,which is suitable for microfiber sensing applica-tion of high temperature and strain resolutions.Meanwhile,the temperature and strain sensitivities of the SAMs are less affected by fiber diameter changes,ranging from 0.05 MHz/℃/μm to 0.25 MHz/℃/μm and 1×10^(-4) MHz/με/μm to 5×10^(-4) MHz/με/μm,respectively.It can be found that that SAW BS for temperature and strain sensing would put less stress on manufacturing constraints for optical microfibers.Besides,the simultaneous sensing of temperature and strain can be realized by SAW and HAW BS,with temperature and strain errors as low as 0.30℃-0.34℃and 14.47με-16.25με.

Viscoelastic Analysis of a Surface Acoustic Wave Gas Sensor Coated by a New Deposition Technique

An analysis of the response of surface acoustic wave sensors coated with polymer film based on new coating deposition （self-assemble and molecularly imprinted technology） is described and the response formulas are hence deduced. Using the real part of shear modulus, the polymer can be classified into three types： glassy film, glassy-rubbery film and rubbery film, Experimental results show that the attenuation response is in better consistence with the simulation than in Martin＇s theory, but the velocity response does not accord with the calculation exactly. Maybe it is influenced by the experimental methods and environment. In addition, simulations of gas sorption for polymer films are performed. As for glassy film, the SAW sensor response increases with increasing fihn thickness, and the relationship between the sensor response and the concentration of gas is pretty linear, while as for glassy-rubbery flint and rubbery film, the relationship between the sensor sensitivity anti concentration of gas is very complicated. The ultimately calculated results indicate that the relationship between the sensor response and frequency is not always linear due to the viscoelastic prooerties of the polymer.

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.

Numerical Simulation of Surface Acoustic Wave and Detection of Surface Crack in Steel

The surface acoustic wave （SAW） propagating in a sample of steel is simulated by using finite element method （FEM）. The waves are excited by a load function with propagation properties such as phase velocity disper- sion and wide bandwidth. A two-dimensional model consisting of surface defects loaded with a wideband 50--200 M Hz and short time 0.1 gs displacement function is investigated in the time and frequency domains. By transient dy- namic analysis, Fourier transform and dispersion calculation, snapshots of propagating wave and responses from sens- ing points are presented. It is indicated that this supervision approach is sensitive to the surface cracks and reflections.