Advanced NEMS Laboratory

Faculté de Sciences et Techniques de l’Ingénieur

EPFL-STI-IGM NEMS

5 GHz band n79 wideband microacoustic filter using thin

lithium niobate membrane

P. J. Turner, B. Garcia, V. Yantchev, G. Dyer, S. Yandrapalli, L. G. Villanueva, R. B.

Hammond, V. Plessky

This article appeared in P. J. Turner et al., Electron. Lett., 55: 942-944 and may be
found at https://doi.org/ 10.1049/el.2019.1658

Advanced NEMS Lab EPFL STI IGM NEMS Phone: +4121 693 11 87
Guillermo Villanueva E-mail: [email protected]
Station 9 – MED 2 2726 Website: nems.epfl.ch
CH-1015 Lausanne 1
5 GHz Band n79 wideband microacoustic S1 S2 S3
filter using thin lithium niobate membrane P1 P2

✉
P.J. Turner , B. Garcia, V. Yantchev, G. Dyer, Sh1 Sh2
S. Yandrapalli, L.G. Villanueva, R.B. Hammond and
V. Plessky

Microacoustic resonators made on suspended continuous membranes

of LiNbO3 were recently shown to have very strong coupling Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of five-resonator, two-port prototype ladder filter
and low losses at ≥5 GHz, suitable for high-performance filter using three series resonators and two shunt (parallel branch) resonators
design. Employing these simple resonator structures, the authors
have designed, fabricated, and measured a 4.7 GHz bandpass ladder- Table 1: Equivalent BVD circuit parameters for the resonators used
type filter having 1 dB mid-band loss and 600 MHz bandwidth in the prototype filter design
to address the 5G Band n79 requirements. The filter is fabricated
Resonator C0, pF Cm, pF Lm, nH Fr, MHz
on a monolithic substrate using standard i-line optical lithography
and standard semiconductor processing methods for membrane series 1 0.43 0.113 9.9 4746
release, starting with commercially available ion-sliced wafers series 2 0.25 0.670 16.8 4717
having 400 nm thickness crystalline LiNbO3 layers. The filter is series 3 0.61 0.171 6.7 4696
well-matched to a 50 Ω network and does not require external match- shunt 1 1.22 0.303 4.8 4165
ing elements. Through accurate resonator engineering using our finite shunt 2 1.19 0.298 4.9 4147
element method software filter design environment, the passband
is spurious-free, and the filter provides better-than 30 dB rejection
to the adjacent WiFi frequencies. This filter demonstrates the perform- 0
simulation
ance and scalable technology required for high-volume manufacturing BVD model
–5
of microacoustic filters >3.5 GHz. FEM model
–10

–15
Introduction: Mobile handsets rely on miniaturised high-performance
–20
radio frequency (RF) filters to implement their increasingly complex S21, db
architectures, with a recent drive from new 5G standards to high –25

frequencies well >3 GHz and wide bandwidths >10%. This presents –30
strong challenges for incumbent LiTaO3/LiNbO3-based surface acoustic –35
wave (SAW) and AlN-based bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technologies –40
which are generally limited by lower acoustic coupling, around 3%
–45
bandwidth, and the increasingly smaller dimensional requirements for
high frequencies [1]. LTCC filters can support wide bands but require –50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
larger form factors, have a higher loss, and lack the steep rejection
frequency, GHz
enabled by high-Q acoustic resonators [2].
To address this need, we have recently demonstrated laterally excited
Fig. 2 Simulation of the prototype XBAR filter near the 5G Band n79
shear mode BAW resonators (XBARs) that have low losses and an frequency. Accurate FEM models for the resonators and EM interconnect
extremely wide relative bandwidth of 11% at 4.8 GHz [3]. XBARs layout allow filter optimisation after the BVD model is realised
are formed with a relatively simple structure involving a metalised
interdigitated electrode (IDE) system, but with small metallisation Realising the design with XBARs requires controlling and minimis-
ratio. The electrodes create predominantly horizontal electric fields ing spurious modes which must be avoided in the critical regions of
which generate the half-wavelength bulk shear wave A1 resonance the filter. Special attention must be paid to the higher frequency A1-3
in the thin suspended LiNbO3 membrane. The maximum acoustic (‘horizontal third harmonic’ resonance [3]), which has the same nature
amplitude is located in the free membrane area, between said electrodes. as the primary λ/2 thickness resonance A1 and is easily excited. Sharp
Due to the fundamentally different acoustic mode of the XBAR, the parasitic propagating modes, such as the lowest order A0 and S0
design trade-offs are very different from conventional microacoustic Lamb modes and shear SH0 modes, can also be a problem. Although
resonators. In SAW, the metallic IDT electrode pitch is intimately tied the resonators have moderate Q-factors – estimated to be around
to the resonator frequency, and in both SAW and BAW devices the 500 – in combination with extremely high coupling we predict a
metal thickness strongly impacts the resonator frequency and quality record-low minimal insertion loss of 1 dB near 5 GHz.
factor. To produce a SAW resonator operating at 5.2 GHz comparable
to our XBAR resonator, linewidths close to 0.2 μm would be required. Fabrication: The XBAR filter is implemented on an ion-sliced 400 nm
For XBAR resonators, the frequency is determined primarily by thin film of ZY-oriented single-crystal LiNbO3 bonded to a 250 μm thick
the piezoelectric plate thickness. The IDE metal thickness, as well as Si carrier wafer from NanoLN [6]. Fig. 3 shows a microscope image of
width, is a secondary consideration as are the line spacings which the resulting filter. Frontside IDE lithography uses an ASML 5500 DUV
span 3–5 μm and are easily produced with optical lithography. To stepper and liftoff process for the Al metal layer. A second pad metalli-
realise the spurious free low-loss design of a monolithic bandpass sation using thick Au reduces interconnect loss. A sputtered SiO2
ladder filter, a coating of SiO2 material on the shunt resonators is used coating layer is deposited on the shunt resonators, defined by litho-
to tune the operating frequency. graphy and liftoff. Subsequent XBAR membrane release is performed
with a backside Si deep reactive-ion etch (DRIE) process, followed by
Filter design: Highly accurate finite element method (FEM) simu- a HF etch to remove the buried SiO2 bonding layer under the membrane.
lations using Resonant’s ISN© for both the microacoustic resonators A frontside etch process is also possible, with Si DRIE performed
[4, 5] and electromagnetic (EM) circuit allow rapid design cycles through openings in the LiNbO3 layer on the periphery of the IDE. In
exploring a large parameter space. The design procedure begins with both cases, the released membranes are delicate and require special
the synthesis of a lumped-element model for the resonators in the wafer handling. However, the membrane is solidly attached to the
absence of any EM interconnect circuit simulation, as in Fig. 1, with Si wafer on all sides and is more robust than the standard MEMS
the number of ladder sections determining the ultimate filter rejection anchor attachment for suspended membranes. Following fabrication,
level. Butterworth van Dyke (BVD) resonator parameters for the the wafer is diced to release the filter chips.
initial approximate prototype design are provided in Table 1, demon-
strating the useful element values appropriate for RF filter design that Results: Figs. 4 and 5 present wafer-probe measured filter performance
can be achieved with this technology. These parameters were used for for an improved design showing over 600 MHz of bandwidth, 1.35 dB
the initial BVD design of the filter shown in Fig. 2. At the following minimum insertion loss, adjacent WiFi rejection approaching 35 dB,
design steps, the filter is realised and optimised with FEM models and well-behaved wideband rejection all the way to 10 GHz. The
for the XBARs and EM interconnects. measured passband shows the absence of strong spurious modes;

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 22nd August 2019 Vol. 55 No. 17 pp. 942–944

however, small amplitude 12 MHz passband ripples are observed Conclusions: We report the first measured results on a prototype
caused by backside acoustic reflections from the polished Si substrate. ladder filter composed of laterally excited shear mode acoustic reso-
Some similar designs, specifically engineered to increase their RF nators (XBARs) fabricated from sub-mm thickness LiNbO3 platelets
power handling ability, have been measured to exceed 31 dBm CW operating in the 5 GHz frequency range, suitable for 5G mobile phone
input power at room temperature across the 600 MHz band. Further applications. This filter demonstrates excellent performance and con-
power handling improvement will continue. firms that a new technology using ion-sliced mono-crystalline layers
of LiNbO3 opens new horizons in microacoustic filters. Although the
acoustic wavelength in the XBARs is sub-micron, the electrode litho-
graphy does not need to scale well below this to produce lines on the
SiO2
coating order of λ/4, the technologically challenging requirement that limits
manufacturable SAW resonator frequencies. Furthermore, the strongly
released P2
membrane coupled shear-mode resonance used in XBARs is largely decoupled
from the IDE metal, resulting in excellent performance with consider-
able flexibility in engineering device performance. This Band n79
filter demonstrates the performance and scalable technology required
for high-volume manufacturing of microacoustic filters well above
P1 5 GHz.

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2019

Submitted: 10 May 2019 E-first: 17 July 2019
doi: 10.1049/el.2019.1658
One or more of the Figures in this Letter are available in colour online.
Fig. 3 Microscope image of a prototype 5-resonator XBAR ladder filter. P.J. Turner, B. Garcia, V. Yantchev, G. Dyer and R.B. Hammond
Etch-released membranes are visible as dark areas under each resonator (Resonant Inc., Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
and SiO2 overcoat is visible as a grey coating on the shunt resonators. ✉ E-mail: [email protected]
IDE metallisation is Al and interconnect metal has a second Au layer to
reduce ohmic loss S. Yandrapalli and V. Plessky (Resonant Inc. and GVR Trade SA,
Gorgier, Switzerland)
measurement L.G. Villanueva (ANEMS Laboratory, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland)
0
0 S. Yandrapalli: Also with ANEMS Laboratory, EPFL, Lausanne,
–5
Switzerland
–10 –2
–15 References
–4
–20 1 Ruppel, C.: ‘Acoustic wave filter technology – a review’, Trans.
S21, db

–25 4.4 4.6 4.8 5.0 5.2 Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control, 2017, 67, (9), pp. 1390–400
–30
2 Mahon, S.: ‘The 5G effect on RF filter technologies’, Trans. Semicond.
Manuf., 2017, 30, (4), pp. 494–499
–35 3 Plessky, V., Yandrapalli, S., Turner, P.J., et al.: ‘5 GHz laterally-excited
–40 bulk-wave resonators (XBARs) based on thin platelets of lithium
–45 niobate’, Electron. Lett., 2018, 55, (2), pp. 98–100
4 Koskela, J., Maniadis, P., Willemsen, B.A., et al.: ‘Hierarchical cascad-
–50
ing in 2D FEM simulation of finite SAW devices with periodic block
4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5
structure’. IEEE Int. Ultrasonics Symp., Tours, France, September
frequency, GHz
2016, pp. 1–4
5 Plessky, V., Maniadis, P., Willemsen, B.A., et al.: ‘FEM modeling of an
Fig. 4 Wafer probe measurements of an improved XBAR filter showing entire 5-IDT CRF/DMS filter’. IEEE Int. Ultrasonics Symp.,
1.35 dB minimum passband insertion loss with a spurious-free 600 MHz Washington, DC, USA, September 2017, pp. 1–5
bandwidth (shaded region) close to the 5G Band n79 specification. The 6 NanoLN: ‘LNOI – LN thin film on insulator’, available at http://www.
singulated filter die size is 1.8 × 1.4 mm2 and the part requires no matching nanoln.com/, accessed May 2019
elements to 50 Ω. This filter is capable of 31 dBm input RF CW power
handling at room temperature

measurement
0
–5
–10
–15
–20
S21, db

–25
–30
–35
–40
–45
–50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
frequency, GHz

Fig. 5 Wideband wafer-probe measurements of an improved XBAR filter

showing good rejection and well-behaved response from 1–10 GHz

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 22nd August 2019 Vol. 55 No. 17 pp. 942–944