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Piezoelectric thin films for double electrode CMOS MEMS surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator

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Abstract

CMOS integration for RF-MEMS is desired to yield compact, low-power and portable devices. In this work, we illustrate the usage of double electrode CMOS SAW resonators using both ZnO and AlN as its piezoelectric material. Double electrode transducers were chosen, as they are better at suppressing undesired acoustic reflections compared to single electrodes. The structure and dimension of the device is based on 0.35 μm CMOS process where the IDTs are fabricated using standard CMOS fabrication process. 2D Finite element modeling of the CMOS SAW resonator using COMSOL Multiphysics® is presented. Two-step eigenfrequency and frequency domain analyses were performed. The acoustic velocities generated are 3,925 and 5,953 m/s for ZnO and AlN CMOS SAW resonator respectively. Higher acoustic displacement and surface potential were observed in ZnO compared to AlN. It can be concluded that ZnO thin films have higher electromechanical coupling coefficients and are more efficient than AlN thin films.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Exploratory Research Grant Scheme: ERGS 11-009-009 under the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, International Islamic University
Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Aliza Aini Md Ralib, Anis Nurashikin Nordin & AHM Zahirul Alam

  2. Nano fabrication Laboratory, Institute of Nanoelectronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Perlis, Malaysia

    Uda Hashim

  3. Science Engineering Department, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Raihan Othman

Authors
  1. Aliza Aini Md Ralib
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  2. Anis Nurashikin Nordin
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  3. AHM Zahirul Alam
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  4. Uda Hashim
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  5. Raihan Othman
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Correspondence to Anis Nurashikin Nordin.

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Ralib, A.A.M., Nordin, A.N., Alam, A.Z. et al. Piezoelectric thin films for double electrode CMOS MEMS surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator. Microsyst Technol 21, 1931–1940 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-014-2319-0

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