Characteristics of surface acoustic waves in (11$$\bar 2$$ 0)ZnO film/ R-sapphire substrate structures

(11\(\bar 2\)0)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 1ī00] direction, are investigated by using 3 dimensional finite element method (3D-FEM). The phase velocity (v _p), electromechanical coupling coefficient (k ²), 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 k ² of 4.95% in (90°, 90°, 0°) (11\(\bar 2\)0)ZnO film/R-sapphire substrate associated with a phase velocity of 5300 m/s; and the 0th Love wave in (0°, 90°, 0°) (11\(\bar 2\)0)ZnO film/R-sapphire substrate has a maximum k ² of 3.86% associated with a phase velocity of 3400 m/s. And (11\(\bar 2\)0)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.