A micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) guided wave device includes a plurality of electrodes arranged below a piezoelectric layer (e.g., either embedded in a slow wave propagation layer or supported by a suspended portion of the piezoelectric layer) and configured for transduction of a lateral acoustic wave in the piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer permits one or more additions or modifications to be made thereto, such as trimming (thinning) of selective areas, addition of loading materials, sandwiching of piezoelectric layer regions between electrodes to yield capacitive elements or non-linear elastic convolvers, addition of sensing materials, and addition of functional layers providing mixed domain signal processing utility.

Improved surface acoustic wave structures (or elements) that can be used to realize any of a wide variety of dispersive or non-dispersive transversal SAW filters that are distinct from prior known means for producing such filters are disclosed. The devices and structures may include stepped acoustic wave delay modification elements that can be used to implement transversal filter impulse response functions in a manner analogous to the use of interdigital transducers. The structures disclosed are of particular usefulness to implement SAW devices at high frequencies where normal photolithographic resolution would prove limiting. Aspects and embodiments of the present invention would be useful to produce SAW devices for use in a wide variety of applications, including as components in cell phones, in radar and other communications and electronic systems, and as wired or wireless sensors or sensor-tags.

An acoustic wave device comprises a substrate including a piezoelectric material, and interdigital transducer (IDT) electrodes disposed on a surface of the substrate. The IDT electrodes have gap regions, edge regions, and center regions. A maximum width of the IDT electrodes in the gap regions is greater than the maximum width of the IDT electrodes in the edge regions, thereby achieving a velocity of an acoustic wave in the gap regions being greater than the velocity of the acoustic wave in the center regions, and the velocity of the acoustic wave in the center regions being greater than the velocity of the acoustic wave in the edge regions.

Embodiments of a Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) device having a guided SAW structure that provides spurious mode suppression and methods of fabrication thereof are disclosed. In some embodiments, a SAW device includes a non-semiconductor support substrate, a piezoelectric layer on a surface of the non-semiconductor support substrate, and at least one interdigitated transducer on a surface of the piezoelectric layer opposite the non-semiconductor support substrate. A thickness of the piezoelectric layer, a SAW velocity of the piezoelectric layer, and an acoustic velocity of the non-semiconductor support substrate are such that a frequency of spurious modes above a resonance frequency of the SAW device is above a bulk wave cut-off frequency of the SAW device. In this manner, the spurious modes above the resonance frequency of the SAW device are suppressed.

Embodiments of a Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) device having a guided SAW structure that provides spurious mode suppression and methods of fabrication thereof are disclosed. In some embodiments, a SAW device includes a non-semiconductor support substrate, a piezoelectric layer on a surface of the non-semiconductor support substrate, and at least one interdigitated transducer on a surface of the piezoelectric layer opposite the non-semiconductor support substrate. A thickness of the piezoelectric layer, a SAW velocity of the piezoelectric layer, and an acoustic velocity of the non-semiconductor support substrate are such that a frequency of spurious modes above a resonance frequency of the SAW device is above a bulk wave cut-off frequency of the SAW device. In this manner, the spurious modes above the resonance frequency of the SAW device are suppressed.

A guided surface acoustic wave (SAW) device includes a substrate, a piezoelectric layer on the substrate, and a transducer on the piezoelectric layer. The substrate is silicon, and has a crystalline orientation defined by a first Euler angle (ϕ), a second Euler angle (θ), and a third Euler angle (ψ). The first Euler angle (ϕ), the second Euler angle (θ), and the third Euler angle (ψ) are chosen such that a velocity of wave propagation within the substrate is less than 6,000 m/s.

A guided surface acoustic wave (SAW) device includes a substrate, a piezoelectric layer on the substrate, and a transducer on the piezoelectric layer. The substrate is silicon, and has a crystalline orientation defined by a first Euler angle (), a second Euler angle (), and a third Euler angle (). The first Euler angle (), the second Euler angle (), and the third Euler angle () are chosen such that a velocity of wave propagation within the substrate is less than 6,000 m/s.

An acoustic wave device comprises a substrate including a piezoelectric material, and interdigital transducer (IDT) electrodes disposed on a surface of the substrate. The IDT electrodes have gap regions, edge regions, and center regions. A maximum width of the IDT electrodes in the gap regions is greater than the maximum width of the IDT electrodes in the edge regions, thereby achieving a velocity of an acoustic wave in the gap regions being greater than the velocity of the acoustic wave in the center regions, and the velocity of the acoustic wave in the center regions being greater than the velocity of the acoustic wave in the edge regions.

A guided surface acoustic wave (SAW) device includes a substrate, a piezoelectric layer on the substrate, and a transducer on the piezoelectric layer. The substrate is silicon, and has a crystalline orientation defined by a first Euler angle (), a second Euler angle (), and a third Euler angle (). The first Euler angle (), the second Euler angle (), and the third Euler angle () are chosen such that a velocity of wave propagation within the substrate is less than 5,400 m/s.

A longitudinally coupled resonator acoustic wave filter includes first, second, and third IDT electrodes disposed on a piezoelectric substrate. The first, second, and third IDT electrodes include first electrode fingers and second electrode fingers. The first, second, and third IDT electrodes include narrow-pitch electrode finger portions in which the pitch between electrode fingers is narrower than in the remaining electrode finger portions. In the first, second, and third IDT electrodes, an overlap area includes a central area and first and second edge areas at opposite ends of the central area in the direction in which the first and second electrode fingers extend. In the remaining electrode finger portions the first electrode fingers and the second electrode fingers include wide portions in the first or second edge area.