10.1109/ULTSYM.2010.

0073

A General Nonlinear Mason Model of Arbitrary Nonlinearities

in a Piezoelectric Film
In this paper, we present the construction of an exact
nonlinear circuit model of a nonlinear piezoelectric plate
Dong S. Shim and David A. Feld from a careful inspection of its governing equations and the
Wireless Semiconductor Division well known Mason equivalent circuit [1-3] without solving
Avago Technologies nonlinear differential equations explicitly. This model is
San Jose, CA 95131 applicable to arbitrary piezoelectric nonlinearity without
[email protected] requiring extra effort. In this regard, we claim our model a
nonlinear Mason model as opposed to the classic linear
The widely used Mason equivalent circuit is an exact 1- Mason model after over 60 years since Mason developed his
dimensional linear acousto-electric solution for a model [1].
piezoelectric plate of finite thickness. When the
nonlinear property of the piezoelectric medium cannot II. REVIEW OF LINEAR MASON MODEL OF PIEZOEELCTRIC
be ignored, an appropriate modification has to be made First, we will review the standard derivation of Mason
to the piezoelectric constitutive equations. An exact model [2]. In a piezoelectric medium, the electric field and
solution, within the desired numerical accuracy, to the mechanical strain/stress are coupled together via
nonlinear acousto-electric problem may be readily piezoelectricity. Their relationship is given by the material
obtained from a careful inspection of the Mason model property, i.e., piezoelectric constitutive equations. In the
and its governing equations. The resulting nonlinear linear approximation, they are
equivalent circuit consists of a linear Mason circuit for
the linear part of the constitutive equations and an T = c E S − eE (1)
additional nonlinear voltage source to each of the
acoustic and electrical branches. D = eS + ε S E (2)
where T, E, and D are the stress, strain, electric field,
dielectric displacement, respectively.
I. INTRODUCTION
Strain field, S, is defined by
Being passive devices, bulk acoustic wave (BAW) 1
devices exhibit mostly a linear behavior in typical radio ∂u
frequency signal processing applications as opposed to many S= (3)
active devices which are subject to turn-on signal levels or ∂x
saturation effects. However, they begin to show nonlinear where u and x are the displacement and spatial coordinate
behaviors, albeit weak, with higher power levels. This is which is fixed to the medium at rest, respectively.
especially true and often trouble-some in the presence of
high power transmitter (TX) signals in portable wireless They are tensors in general, but we will consider a 1-
applications. Emission of harmonics and de-sense of a dimensional case here. We will also follow the IEEE
receiver section are typical problems caused by nonlinearity. standard notations 2 for various material-specific coefficients.
The mechanical motion is subject to the Newton’s 2nd law of
In a well designed and manufactured BAW resonator, it motion. If body force is ignored, we have
is widely assumed that the piezoelectric layer of the
resonator is the dominant source of the nonlinear problem. ∂ 2u ∂T
To properly study the piezoelectric nonlinearity, the linear ρ = (4)
material properties, i.e., piezoelectric constitutive relations, ∂t 2 ∂x
have to be modified to reflect the nonlinear physics by
adding the necessary nonlinear terms in a self consistent where ρ is the mass density of the medium.
way. Inevitably, this leads to nonlinear differential equations The electric field follows Maxwell’s equations. In the
which usually have no known solution. Accurate and quasi-static approximation in which the electric field is
efficient linear equivalent circuits have been in existence for assumed to be static, we only have to use
a long time [1-4] and there have been extensive research
efforts in search of such nonlinear circuit models in recent ∂D
years [5-10]. = ρm (5)
∂x
where ρm is the mobile charge density.

1
BAW refers to both membrane-based FBAR and solidly mounted SMR in
2
this paper. ANSI/IEEE Std 176-1987, IEEE Standard on Piezoelectricity

978-1-4577-0381-2/10/$25.00 ©2010 IEEE 295 2010 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings
 We may assume that there is no space charge in x2
commonly used piezoelectric materials such as AlN and the V = − ∫ Edx (12)
resulting D field is uniform, i.e., constant in value.
x1
Combining (1)-(5) yields a wave equation,
∂D
⎛ D ∂2 ∂2 ⎞ I = −A (13)
⎜⎜ c − ρ ⎟u = 0 (6) ∂t
2 ⎟
⎝ ∂ x 2
∂ t ⎠ Finally terminal electromechanical field quantities are
where expressed by

e2 i sin Δθ 1 − cos Δθ ⎤ ⎡ − T2 ⎤
cD = cE + (7) ⎡ − T1 ⎤ ⎡ cos Δθ ⎢ Z oν 2 ⎥
ε S
⎢ Z oν 1 ⎥ = ⎢ i sin Δθ cos Δθ − i sin Δθ ⎥⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥ ⎢
V ⎢ − Δθ − Δθ Δθ ⎥ ⎢ e D⎥
A general solution to (7) is well known. For sinusoidal ⎣ ⎦ ⎣ i sin 1 cos i sin ⎦ ⎣⎢ ε S ⎦⎥
time dependence, it may be expressed as a linear
combination of two counter-propagating plane waves Fig. 2 Terminal electromechanical field quantities

u = Ae ( − ikx
+ Be ikx
)e iω t
(8)
where the acoustic impedance Zo, particle velocity ν, and
where ω is the angular frequency, and A and B are constants phase delay Δθ are defined by
to be determined. Wave vector k is defined as
Zo = ρ c D (14)
ω
k= (9)
υ ∂u
ν= (15)
where υ is the wave propagation velocity defined as ∂t

cD Δθ = k ( x2 − x1 ) (16)
υ= (10)
ρ Fig. 2 may be represented by the Redwood version of
Mason equivalent circuit as shown in Fig. 3 [3]. This circuit
The rest of the field quantities may be readily may also be transformed into other forms such as the KLM
determined once u is determined. model [4], but the Mason model is most directly related to
the underlying governing equations.
Now we will apply the above result to a piezoelectric
plate of area A as shown in Fig. 1.
ν1 ν2
x n .T2 F2 T.L.
σ I −T −
eD
= −c D S ν1 –ν2
εS el -T2
2 − S
v2=-U2 e εs
− :1 I = − D&
V D l -Co
-T1
1 v1=U1 eD
εS
C0 =
εS V
.
n T1 F1 l

Fig. 1 One-dimensional piezoelectric plate Fig. 3 Mason equivalent circuit

Next, we will construct a Mason equivalent circuit from

The surface charge density σ originates from the an inspection of (1)-(5) without solving the wave equation
termination of the electrical polarization at the boundary of (6). In acoustics, it is well known that -T and ν form a
the medium complete set of state variables. They are continuous over all
media including material boundaries. By using the two state
σ = P⋅n (11) variables, the system of equations (1)-(5) may be reduced to
a pair of 1st order differential equations instead of a 2nd order
where σ, P, and n are the bound surface charge density, and
differential equation (6). There are many similarities between
the electrical polarization, and the surface normal,
(-T, ν) and (V, I); their product is the power flow rate and
respectively.
their ratio may be viewed as the characteristic impedance of
The terminal voltage and current are found by a uniform medium per mode. By recognizing that V may be

296 2010 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

represented by E for an infinitesimally thin section, we circuit in Fig. 3 for a piezoelectric layer of a finite thickness
substitute (1) and (2) with expressions for T and E as by cascading circuits of Fig. 3 of an infinitesimally thin
functions of S and D, layer.
e
T = cDS − D (17) III. DERIVATION OF NONLINEAR MASON MODEL OF
εS PIEZOEELCTRIC
1 In section II, we constructed the Mason equivalent circuit
E=− (eS − D ) (18) from an inspection of the telegrapher’s equations. A salient
ε S
feature in the derivation process is that only the mechanical
problem needs to be solved using (19) and (20), while the
We re-write the equation of motion (4) as
electrical counterpart requires no effort since the D field is
∂
(− T ) = − ρ ∂ν
uniform (constant value) according to (5). We should also
(19) notice that spatial differentiations apply to the transmission
∂x ∂t line portion only. As long as we keep the transmission line
unmodified, the Mason model may be extended freely.
Substituting (3) for S into (17) and taking a time
derivative yields If we add a voltage source at the acoustic terminal of the
transformer in Fig. 3, the only effect will be raising the
∂ν 1 ∂ ⎛ e ⎞ potential of the acoustic transmission by the same amount
=− D ⎜−T − S D⎟ (20) while the rest of the circuit is not affected. We may represent
∂x c ∂t ⎝ ε ⎠ this situation by subtracting the same amount from the inside
Upon examination of (19) and (20), one will immediately of the parentheses in (20). In a similar way, if we add a
recognize that they form a familiar pair of telegrapher’s voltage source between the shunt capacitor and the electrical
equations of a uniform transmission line as shown in the un- terminal, it will simply raise the voltage at the terminal by
shaded portion of fig. 3. This completes the mechanical part the same amount without affecting the rest of the circuit.
of the problem. However, the acoustic potential –T is offset This situation may be represented by adding the same
from the potential drop across the transmission line by eD/εS. amount to the right hand side of (21). In neither of the two
On the electrical side, the change in the electrical potential exercises, the transmission line itself is not modified. There
over thickness δx of the piezoelectric layer is found by is also no restriction to the extra acoustic or electrical voltage
substituting (18) into (12), sources and they may be any nonlinear functions. Finally, we
have a nonlinear Mason circuit for arbitrary nonlinear
1 constitution equations.
δV = (eS − D )δx
εS For the sake of completeness, we will show a formal
(21) derivation of the nonlinear Mason model.
δx ⎛ e ⎞
= S ∫ ⎜ I + δν ⎟dt Nonlinear piezoelectric constitutive equations are written
ε ⎝ δx ⎠ as
First, we recognize that the factor in front of the integral
in (21) may be extracted as a shunt capacitor across the T = c E S − eE + ΔT (22)
electrical terminals. It is the inverse of the static capacitance
of the piezoelectric plate. Equation (21) also shows that the D = eS + ε S E + ΔD (23)
net current flowing through the capacitor has another where ΔT and ΔD the arbitrary nonlinear terms, each a
contribution besides the terminal electrical current I. It function of E and S.
indicates a mechanical origin and may be viewed as being
supplied by the leakage of the acoustic current over the The nonlinear terms also have to satisfy the Lippmann’s
thickness of the piezoelectric section. An ideal transformer relation as required by the conservation of energy, if we
may be used to match the strengths of the two currents. The ignore body force,
transformer also serves to isolate the two branches from each
∂T ∂D
other due to the difference in their physical origins. The =− (24)
voltage drop at the acoustic side of the transformer eD/εS is ∂E S ∂S E
independent of the acoustic current flowing into the
transformer winding. This condition may be realized by There are in general n+2 independent nonlinear
adding a negative series capacitor of same value as the shunt coefficients in the nth power nonlinearity. For example, 2nd
capacitor placed earlier. With the three lumped circuit order nonlinearity may be expressed as
components we added so far, we also have the correct ΔT = −δ1eSE + δ 2ε S E 2 / 2 + δ 3c E S 2 / 2 (25)
voltage drop at the acoustic side of the transformer. We
completed the inter-dependence between the mechanical and
electrical branches. Finally we fully duplicated the
ΔD = δ1eS 2 / 2 − δ 2ε S SE + δ 4 ε S e c E ⋅ E 2 / 2 (26)
equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 3 for an infinitesimally thin
piezoelectric layer. It is also straightforward to obtain the

297 2010 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

where δ1, δ2, δ3, and δ4 are dimensionless material-specific only. The δ3 nonlinearity is such an example in which (32) is
constants. reduced to
The presence of the nonlinear terms changes (17), (18), ∂ν 1 1 ∂ ⎛ e ⎞
and (20) to =− D ⎜−T − S D⎟ (33)
∂x c c E
∂t ⎝ ε ⎠
e 1+ δ3 D S
T = cDS − D + Tc (27) c
εS The factor in front of the time differentiation differs
1 ΔD from that in (30). This may be modeled as a voltage-
E=− (eS − D ) − (28) dependent nonlinear capacitor loading the acoustic
εS εS transmission line.
∂ν 1 ∂ ⎛ e ⎞
=− D ⎜ − T − S D + Tc ⎟ (29) IV. DISCUSSION
∂x c ∂t ⎝ ε ⎠ The existence of equivalence is well known between the
where wave behavior of an acoustic signal in a uniform acoustic
medium and that of an electrical signal in a uniform
e electrical transmission line. This equivalence is preserved in
Tc = ΔT + ΔD (30) the linear Mason model when piezoelectricity is introduced.
εS Piezoelectricity requires an additional circuit block to
By combining (19), (27)-(29) and using a similar accommodate piezoelectric effects besides a purely
reasoning used earlier in this section, we arrive at a nonlinear mechanical behavior, i.e., an acoustic transmission line, and
Mason equivalent circuit shown in Fig.4. a purely electrical origin, i.e., a shunt capacitor across the
electrical terminals.
ν1 ν2 In the new nonlinear circuit model, the linear Mason
T.L. model is retained and the nonlinear terms are modeled as
eD ν1 –ν2
additional voltage sources. While a piezoelectric plate of
−T − = −c D S -T2 finite thickness may also be represented by one linear Mason
εS
el circuit, a nonlinear case needs a cascading of nonlinear
− S
Tc εs models of thin sub-sections due to the local field dependence
+ e I = − D&
− :1
l -Co +
of the nonlinear voltage sources. However, since the rapid
-T1 spatial variation of fields is represented by the acoustic
eD Vc
transmission line, an excessive number of sub-sectioning is
εS V
C0 =
εS not necessary. Generally, eight to sixteen sub-sections were
l found to yield the desired numerical accuracy. By taking
advantage of uniform (constant) D field, the cascaded model
may be further simplified if necessary as shown in Fig. 5.
Fig. 4 Nonlinear Mason Circuit

Acoustic port Acoustic port

The nonlinear electrical voltage source is given by U1 U2
...
1 − C D S1 A

∫ ΔDdx
− C D S2 A − C D Sn A
Vc = (31)
ε S
l VA1 V A2 ... V An
+ + +

It is also possible to derive a different nonlinear Mason

− C DSn A
equivalent circuit by moving Tc out of the time -T1A -T2A
I
-TnA

differentiation in (29) −
eA
t
:1 − Co Vc
+

∂ν 1 ∂ ⎛ e ⎞ 1 ∂T ieI
=− D ⎜−T − S D⎟ − D c
eAD Dt
(32) ωε S
or
εS
−
εS Co
V

∂x c ∂t ⎝ ε ⎠ c ∂t
Electrical port

After some mathematical manipulations, we arrive at a Co =

εSA
Acoustic GND
nonlinear Mason model consisting of nonlinear electrical t

voltage and current sources, and a nonlinear capacitor

loading of the acoustic transmission. Unfortunately, it is Fig. 5 Cascaded nonlinear Mason model for a piezoelectric layer of a
more complicated than the circuit shown in Fig. 4 except for finite thickness
special cases in which nonlinearity exits only in the stress
expression with a nonlinear term which depends on strain

298 2010 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

 A BAW resonator also has top and bottom electrodes linear circuit components. Fortunately the new nonlinear
which may be represented by acoustic transmission lines at Mason model may be readily analyzed by using many
their respective acoustic ports. Examination of nonlinear nonlinear circuit analysis software tools such as harmonic
constitutive equations (27) and (28) reveals that an infinite balance solver which may be found in Agilent ADS [11] or
number of harmonics are present along with fundamental AWR Microwave Office.
tones. Such re-mixing is a fundamental property of a
nonlinear system. In a weakly nonlinear medium or with a Each nonlinear term, e.g., δ1, δ2, δ3, and δ4 in the case of
weak excitation, the harmonic fields become progressively 2nd order nonlinearity, produces a nonlinear signal of its own
weaker with the harmonic order. As a result, the nonlinear characteristics. In a real world piezoelectric material, it is
fields of a particular order are affected by those of the lower expected that all or most of the nonlinear terms are present
orders only, but not by those of the higher orders. By taking and this makes the determination of the nonlinear
advantage of this, we may construct a Thévenin’s equivalent coefficients complicated. The question about which terms are
circuit for a given harmonic order shown in Fig. 6. dominant has to be determined by comparing simulation
results against experimental data. As an example, Fig. 8
shows the simulation results with only one δ1, δ2, δ3, or δ4 2nd
Zo order term included at a time. It should be noted that only 2nd
order nonlinear terms produce 2nd order harmonics if the
es input signal is sufficiently weak. Measured 2nd harmonic
(H2) curves of AlN resonators are of an inverted symmetrical
bell shape and this eliminates δ2 and δ4 as a possible
Fig. 6 Thévenin’s equivalent circuit of a resonator for nth dominant 2nd order nonlinear mechanism. The δ3 model
order harmonic produces a 3rd order inter-modulation product (IMD3) level
even higher than the H2 level at this input power level,
contrary to the observation. Unless certain as-yet-unknown
The strength of the voltage source es is determined by the 3rd order terms produce an IMD3 signal which cancels the
voltage at the electrical port of the nonlinear Mason IMD3 signal by over 40 dB, it appears that the δ1 term is the
resonator model while being kept open at the harmonic most likely candidate for the dominant 2nd order nonlinear
frequency. The impedance Zo is the electrical input mechanism in AlN. However, it predicts an IMD3 level
impedance of the corresponding linear Mason resonator at much lower than the measurements. It is believed that other
the harmonic frequency. 2nd or 3rd order nonlinear terms are dominant for IMD3.
Suppression of even order nonlinear signals may be
achieved by the use of two resonators of opposite Simulated and measured H2 and IMD3 (dBm) vs. Frequency (GHz)
piezoelectric polarities, e.g., split bars. However, it does not 0 0

provide improvement for odd order harmonics. This -20

δ1 -20
δ2
phenomenon can be readily explained by using the -40 -40

Thévenin’s circuits shown in Fig. 7. The little vertical arrows -60 -60

represent the polarity of the piezoelectric layer and the -80 -80

circular arrows denote the direction of the current flow to the -100 -100

external load. Cancellation of even harmonics is caused by -120 -120

the odd symmetry of nonlinear sources in a split bar. 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5

0 0

-20 δ3 -20
δ4
-40 -40

-60 -60
Zout ZoutZout Zout
ZL ZL -80 -80

+ + + - -100
-100

-120 -120
1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5

H2 - Red (measured), Pink (simulated)

Even symmetry Odd symmetry (split bar) IMD3 – Blue (measured), Green (simulated)
Odd harmonics Even harmonics
Currents add. Currents cancel. Fig. 8 Comparison of 2nd order nonlinear models
Little effects on odd harmonics Suppression of even harmonics Nonlinear coefficients are adjusted to match the measured H2 peak level.
Inputs: 2 CW tones at +24 dBm each, separated by 10 MHz
Fig. 7 Effects of split bars on even and odd harmonics
Our simulations show a pattern that the nonlinear
acoustic voltage source Tc in Fig. 4 is the dominant nonlinear
The presence of nonlinear voltage sources the strengths source of H2 over the electrical voltage source Vc. The
of which depend on the signal strengths of the equivalent acoustic voltage source originates from nonlinearity in T and
circuit, i.e., electric and strain fields, calls for a non- an omission of nonlinearity in T led to a wrong nonlinear
conventional circuit component model besides the standard model [8, 9]. While an accurate inclusion of Vc is not critical

299 2010 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings

for estimating H2, it is important for an accurate prediction
of IMD3 signals [10]. Both the δ2 and δ4 models have
nonlinear acoustic and electrical voltage sources which ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
include a factor E in (25) and (26). As a BAW resonator
exhibits low impedance near its series resonant frequency The authors would like to thank many at Avago
(fs), the electric field becomes weak and a dip in nonlinear Technologies, especially Messrs. Paul Bradley, Rich Ruby,
signals is expected near fs as shown in Fig. 8. The δ3 model is and John Larson for many illuminating discussions, Hans
unique; it has only an acoustic nonlinear voltage source Rohdin for expert help on harmonic balance, and
which is also strain squared. In the δ1 model, there are both management for the support of this work.
acoustic and electrical nonlinear voltage sources. The
acoustic voltage source consists of two terms; one is strain REFERENCES
squared and the other is a product of electric field and strain. [1] W.P. Mason, Electromechnical Transducers and Wave Filters,
When the resonator is excited near resonance, the strain field Princeton NJ, Van Nostrand, 1948
builds up through resonance, while the electric field [2] J. F. Rosenbaum, Bulk Acoustic Wave Theory and Devices, Artech
undergoes only moderate changes. As a result, the strain- House, Boston, 1988.
squared nonlinear acoustic voltage source from ΔD is the [3] M. Redwood, "Transient performance of a piezoelectric transducer”,
dominant source of the H2 signal in the δ1 model. In the δ3 J. Acoust. Soc. Amer., vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 527-536, April 1961.
model, the strain-squared nonlinear acoustic voltage source [4] R. Krimholtz, D.A. Leedom, G.L. Mathaei, "New Equaivalent Circuit
predicts a strong IMD3 signal. Dc-biasing effects [12] may for Elementary Piezoelectric Transducers", Electron. Lett. 6, pp. 398-
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electric devices. It may also provide a platform for Model for Bulk Acoustic Wave Resonators’ Nonlinear Effects”, Proc.
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nonlinear model we propose herein meets the above needs. It [8] M. Ueda, M Iwaki, T. Nishihara, Y. Satoh, and K Hashimoto,
retains the familiar linear Mason model and is also “Investigation on Nonlinear Distortion of Acoustic Devices for
Radio-Freqquency Applications and Its Suppression,” Proc. 2009
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The nonlinear circuit model has been used to yield [10] D. Feld, “One-Parameter Nonlinear Mason Model for Predicting 2nd
various harmonic and IMD responses which compare well & 3rd Order Nonlinearities in BAW Devices,” Proc. 2009 IEEE
against measurements on a number of BAW devices with a Ultrasonics Symposium, pp. 1082-1087, Sept. 2009.
fixed set of nonlinear terms in the piezoelectric constitutive [11] ADS harmonic balance circuit Solver, Agilent Technologies
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building block resonators all have AlN piezoelectric layers of
various fractional thickness ratios with either Mo or W
electrodes.
For a given piezoelectric material, precise determination
of all the significant nonlinear coefficients responsible for the
nonlinear response of interest, 2nd and 3rd order nonlinearity,
still remains an elusive task. This undoubtedly requires
careful measurements pertinent to the problem. The new
accurate nonlinear model will provide an essential tool for
microwave acousto-electronics and also serve as a stimulant
for further research on other nonlinear analysis. A BAW
resonator is a highly frequency/phase sensitive device and
weak harmonic and IMD signals may be isolated
individually in the frequency domain measurement. This
enables a direct measurement of small nonlinear effect.
Study of BAW nonlinearity is expected to provide scientists
with an excellent tool for research on piezoelectric
nonlinearity.

300 2010 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium Proceedings