Nonlinearity can give rise to intermodulation distortions in surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices operating at high input power levels. To understand such undesired effects, a finite element method (FEM) simulation model in combination with a perturbation theory is applied to find out the role of different materials and higher order nonlinear tensor data for the nonlinearities in such acoustic devices. At high power, the SAW devices containing metal, piezoelectric substrate, and temperature compensating (TC) layers are subject to complicated geometrical, material, and other nonlinearities. In this paper, third-order nonlinearities in TC-SAW devices are investigated. The materials used are LiNbO 3 -rot128YX as the substrate and copper electrodes covered with a SiO 2 film as the TC layer. An effective nonlinearity constant for a given system is determined by comparison of nonlinear P-matrix simulations to third-order intermodulation measurements of test filters in a first step. By employing these constants from different systems, i.e., different metallization ratios, in nonlinear periodic P-matrix simulations, a direct comparison to nonlinear periodic FEM-simulations yields scaling factors for the materials used. Thus, the contribution of the different materials to the nonlinear behavior of TC-SAW devices is obtained and the role of metal electrodes, substrate, and TC film are discussed in detail.
In the present work, nonlinearities in temperature
compensating (TC) SAW devices are investigated. The materials
used are LiNbO3-rot128YX as the substrate and Copper electrodes covered with a SiO2-layer as the compensating layer.
In order to understand the role of these materials for the
nonlinearities in such acoustic devices, a FEM simulation model
in combination with a perturbation approach [1] is applied.
The nonlinear tensor data of the different materials involved
in TC-SAW devices have been taken from literature, but were
partially modified to fit experimental data by introducing scaling factors. An effective nonlinearity constant is determined
by comparison of nonlinear P-matrix simulations to IMD3
measurements of test filters. By employing these constants in
nonlinear periodic P-matrix simulations a direct comparison to
nonlinear periodic FEM-simulations yields the scaling factors for
the material used. Thus, the contribution of different materials
to the nonlinear behavior of TC-SAW devices is obtained and
the role of metal electrodes is discussed in detail