micromachines

Article
Tunable Electromechanical Coupling Coefficient of a Laterally
Excited Bulk Wave Resonator with Composite Piezoelectric Film
Ying Xie 1 , Yan Liu 1 , Jieyu Liu 1 , Lei Wang 1 , Wenjuan Liu 1,2 , Bo Woon Soon 3 , Yao Cai 1,2, *
and Chengliang Sun 1,2, *

1 The Institute of Technological Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China;

[email protected] (Y.X.); [email protected] (Y.L.); [email protected] (J.L.);
[email protected] (L.W.); [email protected] (W.L.)
2 Hubei Yangtze Memory Laboratories, Wuhan 430205, China
3 School of Microelectronics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected] (Y.C.); [email protected] (C.S.)

Abstract: A resonator with an appropriate electromechanical coupling coefficient (Kt2 ) is crucial for
filter applications in radio communication. In this paper, we present an effective method to tune
the Kt2 of resonators by introducing different materials into a lithium niobate (LiNbO3 ) piezoelectric
ef f ef f
matrix. The effective piezoelectric coefficients e33 and e15 of composite materials with four different
ef f
introduced materials were calculated. The results show that the e15 of SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite
piezoelectric material was mostly sensitive to an increase in the width of introduced SiO2 material.
Simultaneously, the simulation of a laterally excited bulk wave resonator (XBAR) with SiO2 /LiNbO3
composite material was also carried out to verify the change in the Kt2 originating from the variation in
ef f
e15 . The achievable n79 filter using the SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite material demonstrates the promising





 prospects of tuning Kt2 by introducing different materials into a LiNbO3 piezoelectric matrix.
Citation: Xie, Y.; Liu, Y.; Liu, J.; Wang,
L.; Liu, W.; Soon, B.W.; Cai, Y.; Sun, C. Keywords: composite piezoelectric material; electromechanical coupling coefficient Kt2 ; laterally
Tunable Electromechanical Coupling excited bulk wave resonator (XBAR); filter
Coefficient of a Laterally Excited Bulk
Wave Resonator with Composite
Piezoelectric Film. Micromachines
2022, 13, 641. https://doi.org/ 1. Introduction
10.3390/mi13040641
To balance the needs of wide-area coverage and high data rates, 5G new radio (NR) has
Academic Editor: Giancarlo C. been proposed [1,2]. Laterally excited bulk acoustic wave resonators (XBAR) are promising
Righini candidates for application in fifth-generation mobile communication due to their high
Received: 23 March 2022
frequency, large electromechanical coupling coefficient (Kt2 ), low cost and complementary
Accepted: 15 April 2022
metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility [3–7]. Victor Plessky realized a XBAR
Published: 18 April 2022
based on Z-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO3 ) thin plate with a resonance frequency of approxi-
mately 4.9 GHz [8]. Ruochen Lu presented first-order antisymmetric (A1) mode resonators
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
in thin 128◦ Y-cut LiNbO3 films with a Kt2 of 46.4% [9]. Bohua Peng designed and fabricated
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
a solid-mounted-type XBAR on ZY-LiNbO3 , operating at 5 GHz [5]. The Kt2 of XBAR has
published maps and institutional affil-
a significant influence on the bandwidth of filters. However, delicate control of the Kt2 of
iations.
XBARs is crucial for designing filters; for example, the Kt2 of LiNbO3 -based XBARs is too
large for specific n79 filters (4.4 GHz–5.0 GHz) [10].
The Kt2 of XBAR can be adjusted by structural optimization and tuning the piezoelectric
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
coefficients. Gianluca Piazza found that the Kt2 can be tuned by changing the electrical
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. boundary conditions imposed by the excitation electrodes, obtaining a range varying from
This article is an open access article 3% to 7% [11]. Jie Zou investigated the influence of the Euler angle and thickness of LiNbO3
distributed under the terms and film on the Kt2 of the resonator. It was found that the Kt2 of the A1 mode acoustic wave
conditions of the Creative Commons varied rapidly with changes in the Euler angle [12]. V. Plessky analyzed the influence of
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// pitch and duty factor on frequency and Kt2 [13]. Using piezoelectric composite materials is
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ another feasible method for Kt2 tuning. In our previous work, we adopted a ScAlN/AlN
4.0/). composite piezoelectric film to achieve a Lamé Mode resonator with a high Kt2 of 7.83% [14].

Micromachines 2022, 13, 641. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13040641 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/micromachines

Micromachines 2022, 13, 641 2 of 9

In this paper, we propose an effective method for tuning the Kt2 of XBARs by applying
composite film consisting of LiNbO3 piezoelectric material and other materials. The tuning
range was as high as 62%, which is efficient compared with other studies, as shown
ef f ef f
in Table 1. We used FEM to analyze the effective piezoelectric coefficients e33 and e15
of composite piezoelectric films with different volume fractions of different materials
embedded in LiNbO3 piezoelectric material. FEM simulative analysis of XBAR utilizing
those composite piezoelectric films was also carried out. Finally, an n79 filter was designed
using SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite thin film-based XBARs with an adjustable Kt2 . The proposed
XBAR with LiNbO3 -based composite piezoelectric film shows promising prospects for
constructing filters with different bandwidths at high frequency.

Table 1. Comparison of the tuning effectiveness between our work and previous works.

Ref. Method Kt2 (%) Frequency Tuning Effect

Change electrical
[12] 19% 484 MHz 10% to 19%
boundary conditions
[13] Change the Euler angle of LiNbO3 55% 3.3 GHz 0% to 55%
[14] Tuning structural parameters 25% 5 GHz 23% to 25%
This work Composite piezoelectric material 32% 6 GHz 12% to 32%

2. Theoretical Calculation of Piezoelectric Coefficient

The theory of linear piezoelectricity couples the interaction between the electric and
elastic variables via the following constitutive equations [15]:

σij = Cijkl ε kl − elij Ei (1)

Di = eikl ε kl + κik Ek (2)

where ε kl and σij are the components of the elastic strain and the components of the stress
tensor, respectively; Ei and Di are the components of the electric field and the components
of the electric displacement, respectively; Cijkl is the components of the fourth-order elastic
stiffness tensor obtained in the absence of an applied electric field; elij is the components
of the piezoelectric modulus tensor obtained without an applied strain; and κik is the
components of the dielectric modulus obtained without an applied strain.
It is convenient to treat the elastic and the electric variables in a similar fashion
when modeling the piezoelectric behavior. This is accomplished by employing a notation
introduced by Barnett and Lothe [16] and a generalized Voigt two-index notation [17].
Therefore, the constitutive equations can be represented as:

eT
    
σ C ε
= (3)
D e −κ −E

The calculation of the effective properties of composite films is then realized utilizing
the homogenization method, which relates the volume-averaged strain, stress, electric field,
and electric displacement to the effective properties of the composite film. The composite
films can thus be modeled as homogenized media. Using FEM, volume averages can be
calculated as follows [18]:

1 1 nel
∑n=1 σij
(n)
σij = Sσ dV = V (n) (4)
V ij V
1 1 nel (n) (n)
V ∑n=1 ij
ε ij =Sε dV = ε V (5)
V ij
1 1 nel
V ∑ n =1 i
(n)
Di = SDi dV = D V (n) (6)
V
Micromachines 2022, 13, 641 3 of 9

1 1 nel
∑n=1 Ei
(n)
Ei = SE dV = V (n) (7)
V i V
where V is the volume of the representative volume elements (RVE). σij , ε ij , Di , and
Ei are the volume-averaged values of stress, strain, electric displacement, and electric
field, respectively.
Micromachines 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 10
In terms of these average values, the constitutive equations of linear piezoelectricity
for composite material can be expressed in matrix form as follows:
 ef f e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f f𝑒𝑓𝑓 ef f ef f

  C11 C12𝐶11 C13𝐶12 C14𝐶13 0𝐶14𝑒𝑓𝑓 00 00 −0e22 −𝑒e22 𝑒𝑓𝑓
31
𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝑒  
σ11   ef f e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f𝑒𝑓𝑓
f ef f ef f 31 ε 11 
𝐶12 C13𝐶11 −C14
𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝜀11 
̅̅̅̅
 
 C12̅̅̅̅
 e f 𝜎f 11 C11 𝐶13 0 14 0 0
−𝐶 00 e022 e31 
𝑒22 𝑒31 

 
  
 σ22   ε̅̅̅̅
𝜀22 

𝜎
̅̅̅̅ e f f e f f e f f
   
22 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 22
   

 σ

  C 13̅̅̅̅ C 13 13𝐶 C33 13𝐶 0 𝐶 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 e
0 33 𝑒
 
33  ε̅̅̅̅
 


 33 
 
e f 𝜎f 33 e f f e f
33
f e f f
  𝜀33
33 

C 𝜎23 −C14𝐶14 0−𝐶14 C44 0𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e015 𝑒𝑓𝑓
     
0𝐶44 00 00 𝑒150 0  2ε
 14̅̅̅̅ 2𝜀̅̅̅̅
   
 σ23 
     23 
e f f e f f e f f

σ13 =  0 ̅̅̅̅
 𝜎13 = 0 0 0 0 0 0 C440 C14 𝐶44
𝑒𝑓𝑓
e𝐶15
𝑒𝑓𝑓
14
𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝑒150 0 0 0 
 2𝜀
2ε ̅̅̅̅
13 (8)(8)

σ
 𝜎12
̅̅̅̅ ef f e f 𝑒𝑓𝑓
f e 𝑒𝑓𝑓
ff 𝑒𝑓𝑓 2𝜀
2ε ̅̅̅̅
12

12   0 ̅̅̅ 0 0 0 0 0 0 C140 C66 𝐶14 e𝐶22 𝑒220 00 12 
     
  0   
̅̅̅1 
𝐷1 66 −𝐸

D1  − E
   
ef f e f f𝑒𝑓𝑓 ef f
   
𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 1 
0 ̅̅̅ 0 0 0 e e − 0 0
  
  
𝐷 0 0 0 15 0 22𝑒 15 𝑒κ 11
22 −𝜅 11 0  0 
−𝐸 ̅̅̅

−
   

 D 2

 
e f f
2
e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓
 
 E 2 
2 
− e{ ̅̅̅
𝐷 } e 0 e 0 0 0 − 0 ̅̅̅
     


D3

  22 3 22 −𝑒 22 𝑒 22 15 0 𝑒 15 0 0 0κ 11 −𝜅 11
 0 
 {−−𝐸 E 3 }

ef f e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓 ef f 3
𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓
e31 e31[ 𝑒31 e33 𝑒31 0𝑒33 00 00 00 00 −0κ33 −𝜅33 ]
Asshown
As shownin inFigure
Figure 1,
1, the
the RVE
RVE consisted
consisted of of Z-cut
Z-cut LiNbO
LiNbO33 andandother
othermaterials.
materials.Other
Other
materials were embedded in the thin LiNbO 3 film, and the width of the
materials were embedded in the thin LiNbO3 film, and the width of the other materials isother materials
is expressed
expressed as P. P. Here,
asHere, fourfour different
different materials
materials commonly
commonly used in used in MEMS
MEMS wereunder
were taken taken
under consideration, including SiC, Al 2 O3 , AlN and SiO 2 . The boundary
consideration, including SiC, Al2O3, AlN and SiO2. The boundary conditions applied to conditions
applied to the six surfaces of the RVE are in the form of prescribed displacements and
the six surfaces of the RVE are in the form of prescribed displacements and prescribed ef f
prescribed electric For
potentials. For ofcalculation of the piezoelectric and 𝑒 e33 , and
coefficients coefficients
𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓
electric potentials. calculation the piezoelectric 𝑒 the33 15
ef f
e15 , the boundary
boundary conditionsconditions
applied toapplied to the sixand
the six surfaces surfaces and the postprocessing
the postprocessing steps for
steps for assessing
𝑒𝑓𝑓 e f 𝑒𝑓𝑓
f ef f
the piezoelectric coefficients 𝑒
assessing the piezoelectric coefficients
33 and 𝑒 listed in Table 2. In Table 2, 𝑢,
e3315and e15 are listed in Table 2. In Table 2, u,and
are v, 𝑤
v, and
are thethe
w are displacement components
displacement components along the 𝑥-,
along the𝑦-, y-, 𝑧-coordinate
x-,and axes, axes,
and z-coordinate respectively, and
respectively,
𝑉0
andis V0
theisapplied electric
the applied potential.
electric potential.

Figure 1.
Figure Imagesof
1. Images of full
full representative
representative volume
volumeelements
elements(RVEs).
(RVEs). The
Thegreen
greenregions
regionsrepresent
representthe
the
LiNbO3
LiNbO3material,
material,whereas
whereas the the blue
blue region
region represents
represents the other material.

Table 2.
Table Boundary conditions
2. Boundary conditions for
for evaluating
evaluating the
the effective
effective properties
properties of
of the
the composite.
composite.

Effective Property B1 EffectiveB2

Property B3 B1 B2 B4B3 B4 B5 B5 B6B6 Formula
Formula
ef f 𝒆𝒇𝒇 v=0 v=0v = 0 v = 0 𝑒𝑓𝑓 f f 𝜎̅23
e15 u=0 𝒆u𝟏𝟓= 0 𝑢=0 𝑢=0 w =𝑤 0 = 0 𝑤 =w0= 0 𝑒15 ee= − − σ23
ϕ=0 ϕ =φV0= 0 φ = V0 15 =𝐸 ̅2 E
2

ef f w =𝑤 0 = 0 𝑤 =w0= 0 ef f 𝜎̅33 σ33

u=0 u𝒆𝒇𝒇 v=0
e33 =0
𝑢 = 0 𝑢 = 0v =v0= 0 v = 0ϕ = 0 e −= − E3
𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝒆𝟑𝟑 ϕ = V0 𝑒33 33
=
φ = 0 φ = V0 𝐸̅3

𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓
The calculated effective piezoelectric coefficients 𝑒33 and 𝑒15 of LiNbO3 compo-
sites using all four kinds of materials are presented as a function of the width of material
(P) in Figure 2. The P of the other material ranged from zero to a maximum of 19 µ m. It is
𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓
shown that the effective piezoelectric coefficients 𝑒33 and 𝑒15 declined predictably
Micromachines 2022, 13, 641 4 of 9

ef f ef f
The calculated effective piezoelectric coefficients e33 and e15 of LiNbO3 composites
using all four kinds of materials are presented as a function of the width of material (P)
in Figure 2. The P of the other material ranged from zero to a maximum of 19 µm. It is
ef f ef f
shown that the effective piezoelectric coefficients e33 and e15 declined predictably with an
increase in P for all four kinds of LiNbO3 -based composite film. Among the four different
Micromachines 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 10
ef f ef f
composite materials, the effective piezoelectric coefficients e33 and e15 of the SiO2 /LiNbO3
ef f
composite material had the largest variation. The e33 of AlN/LiNbO3 composite film
ef f 𝑒𝑓𝑓
composite
changed thefilm changed
most the most
gradually, gradually,
while the e15 ofwhile the 𝑒153 composite
SiC/LiNbO of SiC/LiNbO composite
film3had film
the smallest
e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓
had the smallest
variation. variation.
The effective The effective
piezoelectric piezoelectric
coefficient coefficient
e15 of SiO 𝑒 of SiO2/LiNbO3
2 /LiNbO315composite material
composite material varied from 3.65 to 1.31 as P increased from 0 to 19
varied from 3.65 to 1.31 as P increased from 0 to 19 µm, for which the tuning µ m, forrange
which the
could
tuning range could reach
reach as high as 64.1%. as high as 64.1%.

(a) (b)
SiC AlN SiC AlN
Al2O3 SiO2 Al2O3 SiO2
(c/m2)

(c/m2)

P (µm) P (µm)

ef f ef f
Effectivepiezoelectric
Figure2.2.Effective coefficients𝑒 𝑒𝑓𝑓
piezoelectriccoefficients e (a) and e𝑒𝑓𝑓 (b) of
of four
four different
different LiNbO
LiNbO33-based
-based
Figure 3333 (a) and 𝑒1515 (b)
compositematerials
composite materialsasasfunction
functionof
ofthe
thewidth
widthof ofnonpiezoelectric
nonpiezoelectricmaterials
materials(P).
(P).

3.3.FEM
FEMSimulation
Simulationof ofXBAR
XBAR
FEM simulation of an XBAR with LiNbO3 composite material was also carried out
FEM simulation of an XBAR2with LiNbO3 composite material was also carried out to
to demonstrate tuning of the Kt . As illustrated in Figure 3a, the XBAR consisted of a
demonstrate tuning of the 𝐾𝑡2 . As illustrated in Figure 3a, the XBAR consisted of a sus-
suspended 300 nm-thick LiNbO3 composite platelet and a set of 100 nm-thick Mo electrodes
pended 300 nm-thick LiNbO3 composite platelet and a set of 100 nm-thick Mo electrodes
on top. The electrical potentials were alternatingly applied to adjacent electrodes, as
on top. The electrical potentials were alternatingly applied to adjacent electrodes, as illus-
illustrated by the “+” and “−” signs in Figure 3b, creating a lateral electric field along the X
trated by the “+” and “−” signs in Figure 3b, creating
ef f a lateral electric field along the X
axis. Due to the strong piezoelectric coefficient e15 of LiNbO3 , the alternating lateral electric
𝑒𝑓𝑓
axis. Due to the strong piezoelectric coefficient 𝑒15 of LiNbO 3, the alternating lateral
field could excite vertical shear vibration in A1 mode within the platelet [19]. Structural
electric field could excite vertical shear vibration in A1 mode within the platelet [19].
optimization was implemented by adjusting the P of the SiO2 embedded in the thin LiNbO3
Structural optimization was implemented by adjusting the P of the SiO2 embedded in the
film within a range from 0 to 15 µm, while the thickness of SiO2 (t) remained 150 nm, as
thin LiNbO3 film within a range from 0 to 15 µ m, while the thickness of SiO2 (t) remained
shown in Figure 3c.
150 nm, as shown in Figure 3c.
The series frequency of XBAR with thin LiNbO3 film (p = 0) is approximately 6.14 GHz
and the parallel frequency is 7.25 GHz. As the value of p increased, the parallel frequency of
XBAR declined consistently, while the (b)
series frequency remained almost the same, as shown
in Figure 4. The parallel frequency declined from 7.25 GHz Piezoelectric
to 6.52 GHzmaterial
as P increased from
0(a)
to 15 µm. The series frequency of XBAR can be + expressed as the following formula [20]:
-
P +
vz 2  v x -2
r
fs = +
2hCavity2G
+ (9)
Port 1
where h is the thickness of the piezoelectric thin
SiO
2 film and G is the gap between two

adjacent electrodes. In our simulations,

Port 2 the thickness of the piezoelectric thin film and
Si substrate
the gap between two adjacent electrodes remained the same; therefore, it is reasonable to
(c)

t
 𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓
Figure 2. Effective piezoelectric coefficients 𝑒33 (a) and 𝑒15 (b) of four different LiNbO3-based
composite materials as function of the width of nonpiezoelectric materials (P).

3. FEM Simulation of XBAR

Micromachines 2022, 13, 641 5 of 9
FEM simulation of an XBAR with LiNbO3 composite material was also carried out to
demonstrate tuning of the 𝐾𝑡2 . As illustrated in Figure 3a, the XBAR consisted of a sus-
pended 300 nm-thick LiNbO3 composite platelet and a set of 100 nm-thick Mo electrodes
assume
on thatelectrical
top. The the seriespotentials
frequencywereremained almost constant.
alternatingly applied The effectiveelectrodes,
to adjacent electromechanical
as illus-
coupling coefficient (K 2 ) can be calculated using the following formula [21,22]:
trated by the “+” and “−” t signs in Figure 3b, creating a lateral electric field along the X
𝑒𝑓𝑓
axis. Due to the strong piezoelectric coefficient 𝑒 of LiNbO
3, the alternating lateral
2 K2 π2 f s 15 f p − f s
electric field could excite K vertical
t = shear= ×
vibration ×
in A1 mode within the platelet [19].
(10)
1 + K2 4 fp fp
Structural optimization was implemented by adjusting the P of the SiO2 embedded in the
Micromachines 2022, 13, x FOR PEERthin LiNbO3 film within a range from 0 to 15 µ m,
REVIEW 2 while the thickness of SiO2 (t) remained 6 of 10
e15
150 nm, as shown in Figure 3c. K2 = (11)
ε r ε 0 C44

The series frequency of XBAR(b)with thin LiNbO3 film (P = 0) is approximately 6.14

Piezoelectric
GHz and the parallel frequency is 7.25 GHz. As the value material
of P increased, the parallel fre-
(a)
quency of XBAR declined consistently, while the
+ series frequency remained almost the
same, as shown in Figure 4. The parallel frequency - declined from 7.25 GHz to 6.52 GHz
P +
as P increased from 0 to 15 µ m. The series frequency -of XBAR can be expressed as the
Cavity +
following
Portformula
1 [20]:
𝑣𝑧SiO2 𝑣𝑥
𝑓𝒔 = √( )2 + ( )2 (9)
Port 2 2ℎ Si substrate
2𝐺
where h is the thickness of the piezoelectric thin film and G is the gap between two adja-
(c)
cent electrodes. In our simulations, the thickness of the piezoelectric thin film and the gap
between two adjacent electrodes remained the same; therefore, it is reasonable to assume
that the series frequency remained almost constant. The effective electromechanical
t cou-
pling coefficient (𝐾𝑡2 ) can be calculated using the following formula [21,22]:
𝐾2 𝜋 2 𝑓𝑠 (𝑓𝑝 − 𝑓𝑠 )
𝐾𝑡2 = 2
= × × (10)
1+𝐾 4 𝑓𝑝 𝑓𝑝
Figure
Figure 3.
3. (a) Schematic drawing
(a) Schematic drawing ofof laterally
laterally excited
excited bulk
bulk acoustic wave resonator using composite
2 acoustic wave resonator using composite
piezoelectric material. (b) Sectional view of the 𝑒15
resonator cut
2
piezoelectric material. (b) Sectional view of the𝐾resonator
= cut across
across the
the dashed line. (c)
dashed line. (c) 2D
2D schematic
(11)
schematic
of the effective working area along the dashed line. 𝜀𝑟 𝜀0 𝐶44
of the effective working area along the dashed line.

Figure4.4.The
Figure Theimpedance
impedancecurves
curvesof
ofXBARs
XBARswith
withdifferent
differentwidths
widthsofofnonpiezoelectric
nonpiezoelectricmaterials
materials(P)
(P)
rangingfrom
ranging from00toto15
15µm.
µ m.

Asshown
As shownin inFigure
Figure5,
5, when
when PP increased
increased to µ m, K𝐾t2𝑡2decreased
to 1 µm, decreasedsharply
sharplyfrom
from32% 32%toto
2 2
20.7%, andKt𝐾then
20.7%,and 𝑡 then declined
declined slowly
slowly withwith the increase
the increase in P 2from
in P from to 112µm.
to 11 µ m. PWhen
When P in-
increased
creased11
beyond µm, Kt211noµ m,
beyond 𝐾𝑡2 changed.
longer no longer The
changed. Thetrend
variation of Kt2trend
variation is highly 2
of 𝐾consistent
𝑡 is highlywith con-
e f f 𝑒𝑓𝑓
sistent with
the change in the change in the calculated effective piezoelectric coefficient
calculated effective piezoelectric coefficient e15 , which demonstrates 𝑒15 , which
that
demonstrates
introducing thatmaterials
other introducing
to aother
LiNbOmaterials to a LiNbO
3 piezoelectric matrix 3 piezoelectric matrix
is an effective methodis anfor
ef-
fectivethe
tuning Kt2 of for
method tuning the 𝐾𝑡2 of XBARs.
XBARs.
(c/m2)
(%)
 As shown in Figure 5, when P increased to 1 µ m, 𝐾𝑡2 decreased sharply from 32% to
20.7%, and 𝐾𝑡2 then declined slowly with the increase in P from 2 to 11 µ m. When P in-
creased beyond 11 µ m, 𝐾𝑡2 no longer changed. The variation trend of 𝐾𝑡2 is highly con-
𝑒𝑓𝑓
sistent with the change in the calculated effective piezoelectric coefficient 𝑒15 , which
Micromachines 2022, 13, 641 6 of 9
demonstrates that introducing other materials to a LiNbO3 piezoelectric matrix is an ef-
fective method for tuning the 𝐾𝑡2 of XBARs.

(c/m2)
(%)

Micromachines 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 10

P (µm)
𝑒𝑓𝑓
Figure 5. The variation in 𝐾𝑡2 ande f𝑒f15 with different widths (P) of nonpiezoelectric materials.
Figure 5. The variation in Kt2 and e15 with different widths (P) of nonpiezoelectric materials.
Here, we
Here, we provide
provide aa possible
possible fabrication
fabrication process
process flow
flow for
for our
our devices,
devices, as
as shown
shown in
in
Figure 6. The substrate wafer consists of a thin Z-cut LiNbO 3 film and a Si substrate.
Figure 6. The substrate wafer consists of a thin Z-cut LiNbO3 film and a Si substrate. Firstly,
Firstly,
the the thin film
thin LiNbO LiNbO 3 film is etched via electron beam lithography; the depth is con-
is etched via electron beam lithography; the depth is controlled by the
3
trolled by the etching time.
etching time. A 150 nm-thick layer A 150 nm-thick
of SiO2 islayer of SiO2on
deposited is the
deposited
surfaceonof the
the surface
LiNbO3offilm
the
LiNbO 3 film and then polished to a smooth plate. Then, molybdenum (Mo) electrodes are
and then polished to a smooth plate. Then, molybdenum (Mo) electrodes are deposited
deposited
on on the
the surface surface
of the thin of
SiOthe/LiNbO
thin SiO2film
/LiNbO film and patterned
and3 patterned by lithography
by lithography and
and reactive
2 3
reactive ion etching technology. Subsequently, the release holes are realized
ion etching technology. Subsequently, the release holes are realized via electron beam via electron
beam lithography,
lithography, which enables
which enables formationformation of the
of the cavity bycavity by removing
removing the Siwith
the Si substrate substrate
Xef2 .
with
By Xef2. By
exactly exactly controlling
controlling the releasethe release
time, time, resonators
resonators with onlywith only a suspended
a suspended workingwork-
area
ingrealized.
are area are realized.

Figure6.6.The
Figure Thefabrication
fabricationprocess
processflow
flowfor
forthe
theproposed
proposeddevices.
devices.
4. Design of N79 Filters
4. Design of N79 Filters 2 of XBAR can be adjusted by introducing other
As discussed in Section 3, the K 2t
As discussed in Section 3, the
materials into the LiNbO3 piezoelectric 𝐾 𝑡 of XBAR
film, can enables
which be adjusted by introducing
the construction of other ma-
different
terials into the LiNbO 3 piezoelectric film, which
2 enables the construction
bandwidth filters for 5G. For example, the Kt of an XBAR based on pure LiNbO3 film is of different
2
bandwidthasfilters
calculated beingfor 5G. For example,
approximately 35%theand𝐾the
𝑡 of−an XBAR
3 dB based on
bandwidth ofpure LiNbO3 film is
the corresponding
calculated
filter is 1050asMHz,
beingasapproximately
shown in Figure35%7a,c,
andwhich
the −3exceeds
dB bandwidth of the corresponding
the bandwidth requirements
filter is 1050 MHz, as shown in Figure 7a,c, which
2 exceeds the bandwidth
of the n79 filter. As seen from Figure 5, the Kt of XBARs decreased to approximatelyrequirements of
21%
the n79 filter. As seen from Figure 5, the 𝐾𝑡2 of XBARs decreased to approximately 21%
when the P of the SiO2 in the SiO2/LiNbO3 composite film was 1 µ m, which is suitable for
the bandwidth requirement of the n79 filter. Therefore, we designed a filter based on thin
SiO2/LiNbO3 composite film with a P of 1 µ m. The resonant and anti-resonant frequencies
of the series resonator were 4.71 GHz and 5.17 GHz, respectively, and those of the parallel
 Micromachines 2022, 13, 641 7 of 9

when the P of the SiO2 in the SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite film was 1 µm, which is suitable for
the bandwidth requirement of the n79 filter. Therefore, we designed a filter based on thin
SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite film with a P of 1 µm. The resonant and anti-resonant frequencies
of the series resonator were 4.71 GHz and 5.17 GHz, respectively, and those of the parallel
hines 2022, 13, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 10
resonator were 4.35 GHz and 4.7 GHz, respectively, as shown in Figure 7b. As shown in
Figure 7d, the transmission response of the filter showed a −3 dB bandwidth of 600 MHz,
ranging from 4.4 GHz to 5.0 GHz, which satisfies the requirements of the n79 very well.

(a) (b)
Series resonator Series resonator 4.70 GHz 5.17 GHz
Parallel resonator Parallel resonator
4.69 GHz

5.55 GHz

：35.5% ：21.9%
：34.7% ：21.5%

3.87 GHz 4.61 GHz 4.35 GHz 4.71 GHz

(c) (d)

−3dB bandwidth: 600 MHz

4.4GHz-5.0GHz

Figure 7. (a) The impedance curves of an XBAR with pure LiNbO3 film for the n79 filter. (b) The
Figure 7. (a) The impedance curves of an XBAR with pure LiNbO3 film for the n79 filter. (b) The
impedance curves of an XBAR with SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite film for the n79 filter. (c) The response of
impedance curves of an XBAR with SiO2/LiNbO3 composite film for the n79 filter. (c) The response
the proposed filter with pure LiNbO film. (d) The response of the proposed filter with SiO2 /LiNbO3
of the proposed filter with pure LiNbO3 film. (d)3 The response of the proposed filter with
composite
SiO2/LiNbO3 composite film.film.
5. Conclusions
5. Conclusions
In summary, an effective method for 2
tuning the Kt2 of XBARs, by using composite
In summary, an effective method for tuning
piezoelectric materials combining LiNbO the 𝐾 𝑡 of XBARs, by using composite
3 piezoelectric material with other materials, is
piezoelectric materials combining LiNbO3 piezoelectric material with other materials,e fisf ef f
demonstrated in this work. The effective piezoelectric 𝑒𝑓𝑓 coefficients
𝑒𝑓𝑓 e33 and e15 of the
demonstrated infour
thiskinds
work. The effective piezoelectric coefficients
of LiNbO3 -based composite materials were33 𝑒 and 𝑒 of the
calculated15through FEM simulation.
four kinds of LiNbO3-based composite materials were calculated through FEM simula- ef f
Among the four different composite materials, the effective piezoelectric coefficients e33
tion. Among the four edifferent
ff
composite materials, the effective piezoelectric coefficients ef f
𝑒𝑓𝑓 and e The e15 of
SiOof the SiO2 /LiNbO3 material
composite
hadmaterial hadvariation.
the largest
Thevariation.
𝑒𝑓𝑓 𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝑒33 and 𝑒15 of the 15 2/LiNbO3 composite the largest 𝑒15
of SiO2/LiNbO3 SiO 2 /LiNbO
composite 3 composite
material material
declined fromdeclined fromas3.65
3.65 to 1.31 P increased
to 1.31 as from
P increased 0 to 19from 0 to 19 µm.
𝑒𝑓𝑓
ef f
SiOe2/LiNbO
µ m. The 𝑒33 ofThe 33 of SiO 2 /LiNbO3material
3 composite
composite material
declined fromdeclined from
1.72 to 0.19 1.72
as P to 0.19 as P increased
increased
from 0 to 19 µm. Simultaneously, we also carried out the
from 0 to 19 µ m. Simultaneously, we also carried out the simulation of an XBAR using simulation of an XBAR using
SiO2/LiNbO3 composite material to verify the change in the 𝐾𝑡2 , owing to the variation in
𝑒𝑓𝑓
𝑒15 . The 𝐾𝑡2 decreased from 34% to approximately 11% as P increased from 0 to 17 µ m,
𝑒𝑓𝑓
which was highly consistent with the change in 𝑒15 . Finally, we designed a filter made
with SiO2/LiNbO3 composite material, which satisfied the bandwidth requirement of the
Micromachines 2022, 13, 641 8 of 9

SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite material to verify the change in the Kt2 , owing to the variation in
ef f
e15 . The Kt2 decreased from 34% to approximately 11% as P increased from 0 to 17 µm,
ef f
which was highly consistent with the change in e15 . Finally, we designed a filter made
with SiO2 /LiNbO3 composite material, which satisfied the bandwidth requirement of the
n79 very well, demonstrating that XBARs with LiNbO3 -based composite piezoelectric film
show fascinating prospects for fabricating different bandwidth filters at high frequencies in
the future.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, Y.X.; Formal analysis, Y.L.; Investigation, Y.X.; Methodol-
ogy, L.W., Y.C. and C.S.; Writing—original draft, Y.X.; Writing—review & editing, J.L., W.L., B.W.S.,
Y.C. and C.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2020YFB2008803).
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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