Muhammad Hamidullah

A Theoretical Study of Love Wave Sensors Based on ZnO–Glass Layered Structures for Application to Liquid Environments

The propagation of surface acoustic Love modes along ZnO/glass-based structures was modeled and analysed with the goal of designing a sensor able to detect changes in the environmental parameters, such as liquid viscosity changes and minute amounts of mass supported in the viscous liquid medium. Love mode propagation was modeled by numerically solving the system of coupled electro-mechanical field equations and Navier–Stokes equations. The phase and group velocities and the attenuation of the acoustic wave propagating along the 30° tilted c-axis ZnO/glass structure contacting a viscous non-conductive liquid were calculated for different ZnO guiding layer thicknesses, added mass thicknesses, and liquid viscosity and density. The three sensor responses, i.e., the wave phase and group velocity, and attenuation changes are calculated for different environmental parameters and related to the sensor velocity and attenuation sensitivities. The resulted sensitivities to liquid viscosity and added mass were optimized by adjusting the ZnO guiding layer thickness corresponding to a sensitivity peak. The present analysis is valuable for the manufacture and application of the ZnO-glass structure Love wave sensors for the detection of liquid properties, such as viscosity, density and mass anchored to the sensor surface.

Zero-group-velocity acoustic waveguides for high-frequency resonators

The propagation of the Lamb-like modes along a silicon-on-insulator (SOI)/AlN thin supported structure was simulated in order to exploit the intrinsic zero group velocity (ZGV) features to design electroacoustic resonators that do not require metal strip gratings or suspended edges to confine the acoustic energy. The ZGV resonant conditions in the SOI/AlN composite plate, i.e. the frequencies where the mode group velocity vanishes while the phase velocity remains finite, were investigated in the frequency range from few hundreds of MHz up to 1900 MHz. Some ZGV points were found that show up mostly in low-order modes. The thermal behaviour of these points was studied in the −30 to 220 °C temperature range and the temperature coefficients of the ZGV resonant frequencies (TCF) were estimated. The behaviour of the ZGV resonators operating as gas sensors was studied under the hypothesis that the surface of the device is covered with a thin polyisobutylene (PIB) film able to selectively adsorb dichloromethane (CH2Cl2), trichloromethane (CHCl3), carbontetrachloride (CCl4), tetrachloroethylene (C2Cl4), and trichloroethylene (C2HCl3), at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The sensor sensitivity to gas concentration in air was simulated for the first four ZGV points of the inhomogeneous plate. The feasibility of high-frequency, low TCF electroacoustic micro-resonator based on SOI and piezoelectric thin film technology was demonstrated by the present simulation study.

Pressure sensing with zero group velocity lamb modes in self-supported a-SiC/c-ZnO membranes

The propagation of the Lamb modes along a-SiC/c-ZnO thin supported composite structures was simulated for different ZnO and a-SiC layer thicknesses and electrical boundary conditions. The phase and group velocity, the field profile and the electroacoustic coupling coefficient dispersion curves of the Lamb modes travelling along the composite plate were calculated for different layers thicknesses. Zero group velocity (ZGV) points were identified which group velocity vanishes while the phase velocity remains finite, at specific layers thickness values. ZGV resonators (ZGVRs) were designed that consist in only one interdigital transducer and no grating reflectors at its sides. The finite element method analysis was performed to investigate the strain, stress and internal pressure the a-SiC/ZnO plate experiences when subjected to an external uniform differential pressure in the 1–10 kPa range. The ZGVR pressure sensitivity, i.e. the relative frequency shift per unit pressure change, was found to be mostly affected by the change in the membrane thickness induced by the pressure. A pressure sensitivity of 9 ppm kPa−1, in the 4–10 kPa range, was predicted for the a-SiC(1 µm)/ZnO(1 µm) ZGV-based pressure sensor. The feasibility of high-frequency micro-pressure sensors based on a-SiC and ZnO thin film technology was demonstrated by the present simulation study.