Acoustic resonance techniques for temperature, stress and impurity characterization in piezoelectric materials

Abstract

The resonance frequency of a vibrating structure is sensitive to thermal, mechanical, or electrical perturbations. On account of the high resolution allowed by frequency measurements, very small temperature gradients and stresses can be detected and measured in piezoelectric, and mainly in quartz resonators. Because of piezoelectric coupling, frequency is also sensitive to the relaxation of ionic impurities. The resonant method gives access to the nature and the concentration of the impurities. The interactions between thermal phonons also are characterized, by means of noise measurements and some interpretation of the mechanisms of 1/ f noise will be presented.