Intrinsically Switchable Ferroelectric Scandium Aluminum Nitride Lamb-Mode Resonators

Abstract

This letter reports intrinsically switchable ultra- and super-high-frequency Lamb-mode resonators based on the use of ferroelectricity in scandium aluminum nitride (Sc <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">x</sub> Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1-x</sub> N) films. Highly crystalline 200nm-thick Sc <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.22</sub> Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.78</sub> N film is sputtered using segmented-target reactive magnetron sputtering, and interdigitated electrodes are patterned to create one-port resonators operating in symmetric Lamb modes. The resonators are intrinsically switched using the ferroelectric behavior in Sc <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.22</sub> Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.78</sub> N film and through polarization switching at one of the terminals, resulting in a zero-sum electromechanical coupling factor ( k <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ). Resonators with frequencies over 0.45 - 6 GHz, frequency × quality factor product ( f <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">s</sub> ×Q) as high as 4×10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">12</sup> , and and k <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">t</sub> <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ×Q product exceeding29 aredemonstrated. The intrinsic switchability of resonators is characterized using 100ms triangular monopolar pulses, resulting in an admittance switching isolation as high as 15dB.