The Liquid Sensor Using Thin Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator with C-Axis Tilted AlN Films

Abstract

Dual-mode thin film bulk acoustic resonator (TFBAR) devices are fabricated with c-axis tilted AlN films. To fabricate dual-mode TFBAR devices, the off-axis RF magnetron sputtering method for the growth of tilted piezoelectric AlN thin films is adopted. In this report, the AlN thin films are deposited with tilting angles of 15° and 23°. The frequency response of the TFBAR device with 23° tilted AlN thin film is measured to reveal its ability to provide dual-mode resonance. The sensitivities of the longitudinal and shear modes to mass loading are calculated to be 2295 Hz cm2/ng and 1363 Hz cm2/ng with the mechanical quality factors of 480 and 287, respectively. The sensitivities of the longitudinal and shear modes are calculated to be 0 and 15 Hz cm2/μg for liquid loading.