Development and experimental verification of a finite element method for accurate analysis of a surface acoustic wave device

Abstract

Accurate analysis of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices is highly important due to their use in ever-growing applications in electronics, telecommunication and chemical sensing. In this study, a novel approach for analyzing the SAW devices was developed based on a series of twodimensional finite element method (FEM) simulations, which has been experimentally verified. It was found that the frequency response of the two SAW device structures, each having slightly different bandwidth and center lobe characteristics, can be successfully obtained utilizing the current density of the electrodes via FEM simulations. The two SAW structures were based on XY Lithium Niobate (LiNbO 3 ) substrates and had two and four electrode finger pairs in both of their interdigital transducers, respectively. Later, SAW devices were fabricated in accordance with the simulated models and their measured frequency responses were found to correlate well with the obtained simulations results. The results indicated that better match between calculated and measured frequency response can be obtained when one of the input electrode finger pairs was set at zero volts and all the current density components were taken into account when calculating the frequency response of the simulated SAW device structures.

Shear-horizontal surface acoustic wave characteristics of a (110) ZnO/SiO2/Si multilayer structure

“…Theoretical and experimental investigations on such structures are desirable, since knowledge of phase velocity V p , K 2 and TCF dispersion characteristics are essential to optimum device design. Finite element analysis (FEA) is a good approach for analyzing the SAW devices on layer structure [22]. In this work, a 3-dimensions (3D) FEA based on COMSOL software were employed to investigate the propagation of SH-SAW on IDT/(110)ZnO/SiO 2 /Si multilayer structure.…”

Finite Element Analysis for Surface Acoustic Wave Device Characteristic Properties and Sensitivity

“…In this study, a discrete fast Fourier transform (FFT) function was performed after the waveform of the output voltage and charge were imported into Matlab © . At the same time, the logarithmic frequency response was converted to the admittance (z) of the device in the frequency domain [27]. After admittance was calculated, a full analysis of the model was performed including the wave phase, linear magnitude, standing wave ratio (SWR), the imaginary part of the response, and real part of the response, which were determined by the equations in Table 3.…”

“…Previous research [26,27,28] has led to an effective finite element method (FEM) analysis technique which utilizes an impulse signal through an applied voltage to propagate at the surface of the device and transfer the energy from input to output interdigital transducers to analyze the frequency response. The results obtained from this technique can help the researcher predict the device’s capability/sensitivity more accurately and to optimize the device coupling with different guide layers and samples.…”

Structural optimization and analysis of surface acoustic wave biosensor based on numerical method

“…Xu et al 13 analyzed the electromechanical phenomena in SAW devices by establishing a finite element model, and explained the performance of the model by analyzing the frequency response of Y-Z lithium niobate filter with two uniform ports and focusing on the influence of the number of electrodes on the frequency response of the filter. Kabir et al 14 simulated the current density of the electrode by two-dimensional finite element simulation and successfully obtained the frequency response characteristics of two different structures of SAW devices; based on the simulation model, SAW devices were designed, and the measured frequency response was in good agreement with the simulation results. El Gowini and Moussa 15 established the finite element model of SAW sensor and carried out the hydrogen detection.…”