University of Florida Research Foundation, Incorporated

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC

Roozbeh Tabrizian

Mayur Ghatge

Swarup Bhunia

Toshikazu Nishida

George T Wang

Kevin S Jones

Glen H Walters

Troy R Tharpe

In one aspect, the disclosure relates to a super high frequency (SHF) or extremely high frequency (EHF) bulk acoustic resonator that includes a nanostructure, wherein the nanostructure includes a substrate, a three-dimensional structure disposed on the substrate, wherein the three-dimensional structure includes a planar structure including at least one nanocomponent and a matrix material contacting the nanocomponent on at least one side, the matrix material including an SiGe alloy or Ge. The disclosed bulk acoustic resonator operates at frequencies of from about 100 MHz to about 100 GHz, is capable of self-amplification upon application of direct current or voltage, and has a Q factor amplification exceeding 1. Also disclosed are methods for amplification of mechanical resonance in the disclosed bulk acoustic resonators and devices incorporating the bulk acoustic resonators.

Self-amplified resonators with embedded piezoresistive elements for high performance, ultra-low SWaP microwave and millimeter-wave applications

An adaptive RF acoustic resonator contains tunable and switchable hybrid surface-bulk acoustic waves (SAW-BAW). The surface and bulk acoustic waves couple for the spectral sensing and configurable filtering. The acoustic resonator includes a piezoelectric or ferroelectric layer, such as a SLAIN layer, which is patterned into interdigital transducers, and an intermediate layer of AlGaN—GaN, which is built on a SiC substrate. The device is protected under a plastic packaging cap. An external tuning voltage applies on the acoustic resonator to generate the tunable frequency and bandwidth of the bulk and surface acoustic waves. An RF switch generates an electric field to suppress a residual polarization during acoustic resonator switching. The bulk acoustic wave excited in the piezoelectric or ferroelectric layer couples with the surface acoustic wave propagating in the intermediate layer. The Sc concentration in the ferroelectric layer exceeds 28%. The transducers are capped with Bragg reflectors made of multiple Al and W layers.

Tunable and switchable SAW-BAW RF resonators

A method for fabricating nano-electro-mechanical tags for identification and authentication includes, in part, forming a protective layer above a substrate, forming a first conductive layer above the protective layer serving as a first electrode, forming a piezoelectric layer above the first conductive layer, forming a second conductive layer above the piezoelectric layer, patterning the second conductive layer to form a second electrode, patterning the piezoelectric layer to expose one or more portions of the first conductive layer, and forming one or more trenches that extends into a plurality layers formed above. In addition, a sacrificial layer can be formed above portions of the substrate, and the sacrificial layer can be removed by etching to release the nano-electro-mechanical tags from the substrate.

Nano-electro-mechanical tags for identification and authentication

A digitally tunable acoustic wave resonator includes, in part, a first electrode positioned above a substrate, a composite stack positioned above the first electrode, and a second electrode positioned above the composite stack. The composite stack may include one or more alternate layers of a ferroelectric layer and a transition-metal nitride layer. The transition-metal nitride layer can be positioned above the ferroelectric layer, except the ferroelectric layer at the top of the composite stack. The ferroelectric layer comprises an aluminum scandium nitride layer AlScN, where 0&#x3c;x&#x3c;1.

Digitally tunable acoustic wave resonators

An acoustic waveguide having high-Q resonator characteristics is disclosed and a fabrication method is described. Various waveguide-based test-vehicles, implemented in single crystal silicon and transduced by thin aluminum nitride films, are demonstrated. Silicon resonators with type-I and type-II dispersion characteristics are presented to experimentally justify the analytical mode synthesis technique for realization of high quality-factor silicon Lamb wave resonators. An analytical design procedure is also presented for geometrical engineering of the waveguides to realize high-Q resonators without the need for geometrical suspension through narrow tethers or rigid anchors. The effectiveness of the dispersion engineering methodology is verified through development of experimental test-vehicles in 20 &#x3bc;m-thick single-crystal silicon (SCS) waveguides with 500 nm aluminum nitride transducers.

Lamb wave resonators in single-crystal substrate

An adaptive filter includes, in part, a linear filter, and a non-linear resonator coupled to the linear filter and adapted to resonate at a frequency that is an integer multiple of the frequency of a received RF signal. The adaptive filter filters out the received RF signal. The resonant frequency may be twice the frequency of the received RF signal. The adaptive filter optionally includes a second non-linear resonator coupled to the linear filter and adapted to resonate at a frequency defined by a sum of the integer multiple of the frequency of the received signal and an offset frequency.

Integrated frequency selective limiter utilizing quadratic and an-harmonic energy scattering

A Fin Bulk Acoustic Resonator (FinBAR) includes a fin integrally fabricated on a substrate of a glass or a semiconductor, an inner electrode deposited on the fin, a piezoelectric layer disposed on the inner electrode, an outer electrode deposited on the piezoelectric layer, a first electrode and a second electrode formed on the top surface of the substrate and connected to the inner and outer electrodes respectfully. The fin is characterized with a larger height than its width. A FinBAR array including a number of the FinBARs with different fin widths sequentially located on one chip is capable of continuously filtering frequencies in UHF and SHF bands.

Fin bulk acoustic resonator technology for UHF and SHF signal processing

A tunable non-reciprocal frequency limiter with an asymmetric micro-electro-mechanical resonator has two independent transducer ports. One port has a film stack including a 10 nm hafnium zirconium oxide (HZO) and another port has a film stack including a 120 nm aluminum nitride (AlN) film. These film stacks are deposited on top of 70 nm single crystal silicon substrate applying CMOS compatible fabrication techniques. The asymmetric transducer architecture with dissimilar electromechanical coupling coefficients force the resonator into mechanical nonlinearity on actuation with transducer having larger coupling. A proof-of-concept electrically-coupled channel filter is demonstrated with two such asymmetric resonators at &#x2dc;253 MHz with individual Qof &#x2dc;870 and a non-reciprocal transmission ratio (NTR) &#x2dc;16 dB and BWof 0.25%.

Micro-electro-mechanical resonators

A nano-mechanical acoustical resonator is designed and fabricated with CMOS compatible techniques to apply to mm-wave RF front-ends and 5G wireless communication systems which have extreme small scale and integrated in 3D sensors and actuators.

Hafnium-zirconium oxide (HZO) ferroelectric transducer and method of making the same

The structure of a frequency synthesizer for acoustic waves includes an input narrow band transducer in its input arm for receiving an input electric signal at an input frequency, a wide band transducer in its output arm for supplying an output signal; and a perforated region formed of a two dimensional array of cavities disposed between the first and second arms. The first arm contains multiple metal fingers, disposed perpendicular to the first arm and spaced apart from one another at a distance of the wavelength of the input signal to ensure acoustic excitation in the first arm at the input frequency. The second arm contains a single finger to accommodate a non-linear output signal oscillating at a harmonic of the first frequency. The frequency synthesizer can be patterned in aluminum nitride (AlN) in a silicon substrate.

Phononic frequency synthesizer

Data is encoded for identification and labeling using a multitude of nano-electro-mechanical structures formed on a substrate. The number of such structures, their shapes, choice of materials, the spacing therebetween and the overall distribution of the structures result in a vibrational pattern or an acoustic signature that uniquely corresponds to the encoded data. A first group of the structures is formed in conformity with the design rules of a fabrication process used to manufacture the device that includes the structures. A second group of the structures is formed so as not to conform to the design rules and thereby to undergo variability as a result of the statistical variations that is inherent in the fabrication process.

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Gainesville, FL, United States of America

Roozbeh Tabrizian