The pure-shear mode solidly mounted resonator based on c-axis oriented ZnO film

In this paper, we fabricate a pure-shear mode film bulk acoustic resonator based on c-axis oriented ZnO film. The resonator is consisted of an in-plane electrode, a highly c-axis oriented ZnO film and a SiO₂/W Bragg reflector. The shear mode wave is excited by the lateral electric field. The resonator works in a pure-shear mode with the resonance frequency near 1.5 GHz and the Q-factor of 479 in air. There is no obvious longitudinal mode resonance in the frequency response, which can be explained that the electric field component normal to the surface is very weak and the Bragg reflector has the effective frequency selectivity for the shear mode. Importantly for sensors, the immersion into de-ionized water and glycerol liquid still allows for a Q-factor up to 335 and 220, respectively. This resonator shows the potential as mass loading sensors for biochemical application.     

High sensitive self-assembled monolayer modified solid mounted resonator for organophosphate vapor detection

We fabricated a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) modified solid mounted resonator (SMR) for organophosphate vapor detection. The SMR device consisted of a piezoelectric stack and an all-metal Bragg's reflector. The electrode surface is chemically modified with a Cu²⁺/11-mercaptoundecanoic acid SAM to capture organophosphate compounds. After chemical modification, both the resonance frequency and the Q-factor decrease. Fourier transform infrared external reflection spectroscopy was performed to verify the formation of SAM. Adsorption of organophosphate compounds onto the SAM increases its mass, and the resonance frequency proportionally goes down. The testing results show that the modified SMR can yield a rapid, sensitive, reversible and reproducible response to nerve-agent (dimethyl methyl phosphonate) vapor. This study proves that using the SAM modified SMR to detect trace organophosphate vapor is feasibility.     

Calculation of acoustic energy trapping in resonators based on isotropic and nanoceramic materials

The problem of acoustic energy trapping in a microwave resonator structure operating on the basis of acoustic waves and containing a relatively thick nanoceramic plate, which has a piezoelectric film with electrodes on its surface, is solved. For a composite resonator structure made on the basis of isotropic substrates and nanoceramics, formulas are derived that allow one to choose the thicknesses of its layers to obtain a high Q factor at a desired frequency.     

Low-frequency shear parameters of liquid viscoelastic materials

An experimental study of the shear parameters of viscoelastic liquids is carried out by the acoustic resonance method based on the changes in the natural frequency and Q factor of a piezoelectric quartz resonator. The liquid to be studied is placed between a stationary quartz strap and the piezoelectric quartz crystal vibrating at the resonance frequency. For a set of drilling muds, the values of the real and imaginary shear moduli are obtained at a frequency of 74 kHz. The measurements are performed with a liquid layer thickness much smaller than the shear wavelength. It is shown that the shear modulus decreases with increasing strain amplitude. A cluster model based on the Isakovich-Chaban nonlocal diffusion theory is proposed for explaining the low-frequency viscoelastic relaxation process.     

A compact resonant Π-shaped photoacoustic cell with low window background for gas sensing

A resonant photoacoustic cell capable of detecting the traces of gases at an amplitude-modulation regime is represented. The cell is designed so as to minimize the window background for the cell operation at a selected acoustic resonance. A compact prototype cell (the volume of acoustic cavity of ~0.2 cm³, total cell weight of 3.5 g) adapted to the narrow diffraction-limited beam of near-infrared laser is produced and examined experimentally. The noise-associated measurement error and laser-initiated signals are studied as functions of modulation frequency. The background signal and useful response to light absorption by the gas are analyzed in measurements of absorption for ammonia traces in nitrogen flow with the help of a pigtailed DFB laser diode operated near a wavelength of 1.53 µm. The performance of absorption detection and gas-leak sensing for the prototype operated at the second longitudinal acoustic resonance (the resonance frequency of ~4.38 kHz, Q-factor of ~13.9) is estimated. The noise-equivalent absorption normalized to laser-beam power, and detection bandwidth is ~1.44 × 10^?9 cm^?1 W Hz^?1/2. The amplitude of the window-background signal is equivalent to an absorption coefficient of ~2.82 × 10^?7 cm^?1.     

Effects of reflecting layers on resonance characteristics of a solidly mounted resonator with ¼ λ mode configuration

The solidly mounted resonator (SMR) is composed of a piezoelectric thin film sandwiched between two electrodes and a Bragg reflector that comprises alternating high and low acoustic impedance with a thickness of a quarter wavelength. In this study, the combination Mo/SiO₂ is chosen as high/low acoustic impedance materials to form a Bragg reflector; aluminum nitride (AlN) is utilized as the piezoelectric layer. The purpose of this study is to investigate the resonance characteristics of solidly mounted resonators with various pairs of reflecting layers. The experimental results yield an electromechanical coupling (k_eff²)(k_{\mathrm{eff}}^{2}) of 1.926% and quality factor (Q) of 254 with three pairs of Mo/SiO₂ layers. The figure of merit (FOM), which is defined as the product of electromechanical coupling and quality factor, has a maximum of 489 with three pairs of Mo/SiO₂ layers.     

3D Uniform Manipulation of NV Centers in Diamond Using a Dielectric Resonator Antenna

Ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy color centers in diamond hold promise for ultra-precise magnetometry, competing with superconducting quantum interference device detectors. By utilizing the advantages of dielectric materials, such as very low losses for electromagnetic field, with the potential for creating high Q-factor resonators with strong concentration of the field within it, we implemented a dielectric resonator antenna for coherent manipulation of a large ensemble of nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. We reached average Rabi frequency of 10 MHz in a volume of 7 mm³ with a standard deviation of less than 1% at a moderate pump power. The obtained result enables use of large volume low nitrogen-vacancy concentration diamond plates in modern nitrogen-vacancy magnetometers thus improving sensitivity via larger coherence time and higher optical detected magnetic resonance contrast.     

Air-coupled MUMPs capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers with resonant cavities

This work reports performance improvements of air-coupled capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) using resonant cavities. In order to perform this work, we have designed and manufactured a CMUT employing multi-user microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) processes (MUMPs). The transducer was designed using Helmholtz resonator principles. This was characterised by the dimensions of the cavity and several acoustic ports, which had the form of holes in the CMUT plate. The MUMPs process has the advantage of being low cost which allows the manufacture of economic prototypes. In this paper we show the effects of the resonant cavities and acoustic ports in CMUTs using laser Doppler vibrometry and acoustical measurements. We also use Finite Element (FE) simulations in order to support experimental measurements. The results show that it is possible to enhance the output pressure and bandwidth in air by tuning the resonance frequency of the plate (f_p) with that of the Helmholtz resonator (f_H). The experimental measurements show the plate resonance along with an additional resonance in the output pressure spectrum. This appears due to the effect of the new resonant cavities in the transducer. FE simulations show an increase of 11 dB in the output pressure with respect to that of a theoretical vacuum-sealed cavity MUMPs CMUT by properly tuning the transducer. The bandwidth has been also analyzed by calculating the mechanical Q factor of the tuned CMUT. This has been estimated as 4.5 compared with 7.75 for the vacuum-sealed cavity MUMPs CMUT.     

Crystal-vacuum superlattice as a high-quality X-ray resonator

A theory of high-quality X-ray eigenmodes in a crystal-vacuum superlattice is developed. We show that the superlattice can be used for X-rays as a resonator with the Q-factor ∼ 10¹⁰.     

Mode frequency shifts and Q-factor Changes in 2D microflower cavity and its deformed cavity

Mode frequency shifts and Q-factor changes in 2D microflower cavity and its deformed cavity are analyzed. The effective mode-splitting of double-degenerate WG modes is obtained and the Q-factor changes of matched and mismatched modes are discussed for the microflower cavity. The Q-factor stability of the splitted WGH_(8,1) modes due to two types of local deformations is studied, showing that the local deformations can badly spoil the mode Q-factor if the deformations are not controlled properly. The output directionality of the splitted WGH_(8,1) modes due to the local deformations also is presented, and a basically unidirectional light output of OO mode under local deformation DA (deformation happens at one “valley” of the microflower cavity) is obtained.     

On the temperature dependent characteristics of a photoacoustic water vapor detector for airborne application

A detailed study on the temperature dependent sensitivity of a wavelength modulated diode laser based photoacoustic (PA) water vapor detection system is presented. The temperature dependence of the resonance frequency, the Q-factor of the resonator, the microphone sensitivity and the response time is investigated. It is shown that the overall temperature dependent sensitivity of the system is primarily determined by the temperature dependence of the microphone sensitivity. Effort was made to improve the system’s accuracy for measurements under varying ambient temperature typical in airborne applications, while maintaining the fast response time of the PA system. For this purpose a wavelength-stabilization method is introduced, with which the wavelength instability of the laser can be decreased to be as low as 0.008 nm. Test measurements proved the feasibility of the implementation of the wavelength locking method within the framework of the CARIBIC (civil aircraft for the regular investigation of the atmosphere based on an instrument container) project.     

Copper vapor laser with intracavity radiation scanning by a spatial and temporal light modulator based on PLZT ceramics

The results of an experimental study of the output radiation parameters of a copper vapor laser (CVL) with a self-conjugate resonator are presented. TheQ-factor was controlled by diaphragms (slit or circular) and spatial and temporal light modulators (STLM) based on PLZT ceramics.     

Determination of Quality Factor for Highly Overcoupled EPR Resonators

We reported determination of the loaded quality factor (Q) of highly overcoupled (dielectric, loop-gap, and cavity) resonators used in time-domain electron paramagnetic resonance. We introduced a microwave absorber into resonators and achieved critical-coupling. Due to the deep “Q-dip” of critical-coupling, we can easily determine the loaded Q as low as 10. The loaded Q of resonators with and without the microwave absorber was examined under various overcoupling conditions. We found that the radiation Q (Q _r) can be calculated from the loaded Q of the resonator that contains the microwave absorber. We proposed a simple model that represents the loaded Q of the overcoupled resonator in terms of two parameters, Q ₀ and Q _r. Q ₀ is the effective unloaded Q of the resonator determined for the critically coupled resonator without the microwave absorber and is independent of a degree of coupling. The model can be applied to overcoupling in which the coupling parameter (Q ₀/Q _r) is in the range of 1 to ca. 20.     

An improvement of tilted AlN for shear and longitudinal acoustic wave

This study investigates c-axis tilted aluminum nitride (AlN) piezoelectric films for the improvement of both shear and longitudinal acoustic wave resonances. Solidly-mounted resonator (SMR) structure is adopted for the applications of high frequency wireless communications and high sensitivity sensors. As to the piezoelectric layer, c-axis tilted AlN has the capability to excite the dual-mode resonances, namely, the longitudinal and shear mode resonances. In this study, SMR devices made with a seven-layer molybdenum/silicon dioxide (Mo/SiO₂) Bragg reflector and the c-axis tilted AlN are carried out. A conventional off-axis sputtering technique is applied to grow the tilted AlN. The outcome frequency responses show dual resonant characteristics. However, the longitudinal resonance fades away with the AlN c-axis tilted angle, and the quality factor of the longitudinal resonance decreases. Consequently, we make an improvement by tilting the off-center substrates toward the sputtering source and successfully enhance the longitudinal resonance while preserving the shear resonance at the same time. Not only the shear resonance for the liquid-based sensing application, but also an outstanding longitudinal resonance could be obtained. The practicability of the dual-mode resonator is extended.     

Protein-modified shear mode film bulk acoustic resonator for bio-sensing applications

In this paper, we present a shear mode film bulk acoustic biosensor based on micro-electromechanical technology. The film bulk acoustic biosensor is a diaphragmatic structure consisting of a lateral field excited ZnO piezoelectric film piezoelectric stack built on an Si₃N₄ membrane. The device works at near 1.6 GHz with Q factors of 579 in water and 428 in glycerol. A frequency shift of 5.4 MHz and a small decline in the amplitude are found for the measurements in glycerol compared with those in water because of the viscous damping derived from the adjacent glycerol. For bio-sensing demonstration, the resonator was modified with biotin molecule to detect protein–ligand interactions in real-time and in situ. The resonant frequency of the biotin-modified device drops rapidly and gradually reaches equilibrium when exposed to the streptavidin solution due to the biotin–streptavidin interaction. The proposed film bulk acoustic biosensor shows promising applications for disease diagnostics, prognosis, and drug discovery.     

A thin-film bulk acoustic resonator and filter with optimal edge shapes for mass production

The manufacturing conditions of a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) filter were investigated to obtain a high Q factor which is stable for mass production. The FBAR consist of patterned electrodes and piezoelectric films. In this study, the influence of edge shape of the films on the anti-resonance characteristics was investigated using a numerical method. Optimized shape was applied to a 2.5-GHz band resonator and filter. As a result, significant improvement of the Q factor and the insertion loss was confirmed.     

Design theory of high-Q optical ring resonator with asymmetric three-layered dielectrics

An optical ring resonator with asymmetric three-layered dielectrics is shown to have an anomalously highQ-factor compared with the conventional symmetric three-layered ring resonator by several orders of magnitude for suitably chosen parameters. A new leaky mode which can propagate on the asymmetric structure is found having an extremely small attenuation loss near the cut-off frequency of the guided mode, but which does not exist in the symmetric structure. Optimum values of the normalized frequency for a single-mode operation to suppress the undesired leaky modes are discussed. It is also shown that the size of the ring resonator using the asymmetric structure can be reduced considerably from that of the ordinary symmetric resonator.     

A miniaturized prototype of resonant banana-shaped photoacoustic cell for gas sensing

A resonant photoacoustic cell intended for laser-spectroscopy gas sensing is represented. This cell is a miniature imitation of a macro-scale banana-shaped cell developed previously. The parameters, which specify the cavity shape, are chosen so as not only to provide optimal cell operation at a selected acoustic resonance but also to reduce substantially the cell sizes. A miniaturized prototype cell (the volume of acoustic cavity of ∼5 mm³) adapted to the narrow diffraction-limited beam of near-infrared laser is produced and examined experimentally. The noise-associated measurement error and laser-initiated signals are studied as functions of modulation frequency. The background signal and the useful response to light absorption by the gas are analyzed in measurements of absorption for ammonia in nitrogen flow with the help of a pigtailed DFB laser diode oscillated near a wavelength of 1.53 μm. The performance of prototype operation at the second longitudinal acoustic resonance (the resonance frequency of ∼32.9 kHz, Q-factor of ∼16.3) is estimated. The noise-limited minimal detectable absorption normalized to laser-beam power and detection bandwidth is ∼8.07 × 10⁻⁸ cm⁻¹ W Hz^−1/2. The amplitude of the background signal is equivalent to an absorption coefficient of ∼2.51 × 10⁻⁵ cm⁻¹. Advantages and drawbacks of the cell prototype are discussed. Despite low absorption-sensing performance, the produced miniaturized cell prototype shows a good capability of gas-leak detection.     

Study of ferrobielastic twinning in quartz under conditions of uniaxial pressure by the compound acoustic resonator method

The compound acoustic resonator method is used to study the phenomenon of the ferrobielastic transition in single crystals of quartz subjected to uniaxial pressure. Toward this end, a layered structure consisting of an aluminum film/zinc oxide film/aluminum film sandwich was deposited on one of the surfaces of an X-cut plane-parallel quartz plate. This structure served as an electromechanical transducer in such a way that the entire system acted as a multifrequency acoustic resonator. Uniaxial pressure was applied perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the acoustic waves and caused a growth of the frequencies of the resonance peaks of the structures, indicating a change in the velocity of the acoustic waves. The ferrobielastic phase transition, which arises at some threshold pressure (the ferrobielastic switching effect), is characterized by a discontinuous drop in the frequencies of the resonance peaks. The variation of the resonator frequency both below and above the switching threshold correlates with the variation of the so-called “natural” sound velocity determined by the pressure-dependent elasticity constants of the material. The observed frequency jump of the resonance peaks is due mainly to the relatively abrupt change in the dimensions of the crystal. The results of the acoustic measurements allow reliable recording of the switching effect and a study of its properties. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 290–294 (February 1997)     

The c-axis oriented AlN solidly mounted resonator operated in thickness shear mode using lateral electric field excitation

The AlN-based solidly mounted resonator operated in thickness shear mode using lateral field excitation is presented both in theory and experiment. The resonator configuration consists of the electrodes parallel to the surface, a highly c-oriented AlN film and an acoustic Bragg reflector. The theoretical analysis of the Christoffel equation predicts that the electric field in any direction normal to the c-axis can excite the shear mode wave along the thickness direction. The electric field characteristics are calculated by finite element modeling in order to design the electrode frame. The testing results of the finished devices show that the thickness shear mode wave can be excited by the lateral electric field in c-axis oriented AlN solidly mounted resonators. The experimental frequency corresponds well to the theoretical one. The resonators operated in thickness shear mode have resonant frequencies near 2 GHz with an average Q _s value of 323 and a K_eff²K_{\mathrm{eff}}^{2} value of 0.83%.