The present invention relates to an acoustic wave device and a multiplexer.
Heretofore, acoustic wave devices have been widely used in filters of mobile phone devices and so forth. International Publication No. 2017/209131 discloses an example of an acoustic wave device. The acoustic wave device includes a composite substrate including a piezoelectric single crystal substrate composed of lithium tantalate or the like and a silicon single crystal substrate bonded together. As the silicon single crystal substrate, an example is disclosed in which the plane orientation is Si(111) and Ψ in the Euler angles (φ, θ, Ψ) is 60°±15°. In addition, as the silicon single crystal substrate, an example is disclosed in which the plane orientation is Si(110) and Ψ is 0°±15°.
However, higher-order modes may be generated and the characteristics of the acoustic wave device may be degraded depending on the conditions under which the composite substrate is used in the acoustic wave device.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide acoustic wave devices and multiplexers that are each able to effectively reduce or prevent higher-order modes.
An acoustic wave device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a support substrate including silicon and having a plane orientation of (111), a piezoelectric layer directly or indirectly provided on the support substrate and in which rotated Y-cut X-propagation lithium tantalate is included, and an IDT electrode including a plurality of electrode fingers and directly or indirectly provided on the piezoelectric layer. A film thickness of the piezoelectric layer is less than or equal to about 1λ, where λ is a wavelength defined by an electrode finger pitch of the IDT electrode. The piezoelectric layer includes a positive surface and a negative surface defined by a polarization direction. When (XLT, YLT, ZLT) are crystal axes of the lithium tantalate of the piezoelectric layer, k111 is a directional vector obtained by projecting the ZLT axis onto the (111) plane of the support substrate, α111 is an angle between the directional vector k111 and an [11-2] direction of the silicon of the support substrate, and n is an arbitrary integer (0, ±1, ±2, . . . ), the angle α111 is in a range of about 0°+120°×n≤α111≤45°+120°×n or is in a range of about 75°+120°×n≤α111≤120°+120°×n when the IDT electrode is provided on the positive surface of the piezoelectric layer, and the angle α111 is in a range of about 15°+120°×n≤α111≤105°+120°×n when the IDT electrode is provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer.
An acoustic wave device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a support substrate including silicon and having a plane orientation of (110), a piezoelectric layer directly or indirectly provided on the support substrate and in which rotated Y-cut X-propagation lithium tantalate is included, and an IDT electrode including a plurality of electrode fingers and provided on the piezoelectric layer. A film thickness of the piezoelectric layer is less than or equal to about 1λ, where λ is a wavelength defined by an electrode finger pitch of the IDT electrode. When (XLT, YLT, ZLT) are crystal axes of the lithium tantalate of the piezoelectric layer, k110 is a directional vector obtained by projecting the ZLT axis onto the (110) plane of the support substrate, α110 is an angle between the directional vector k110 and a [001] direction of the silicon of the support substrate, and n is an arbitrary integer (0, ±1, ±2, . . . ), the angle α110 is in a range of about 0°+180°×n≤α110≤40°+180°×n or is in a range of about 140°+180°×n≤α110≤180°+180°×n.
An acoustic wave device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a support substrate including silicon and having a plane orientation of (100), a piezoelectric layer directly or indirectly provided on the support substrate and in which rotated Y-cut X-propagation lithium tantalate is included, and an IDT electrode including a plurality of electrode fingers and provided on the piezoelectric layer. A film thickness of the piezoelectric layer is less than or equal to about 1λ, where λ is a wavelength defined by an electrode finger pitch of the IDT electrode. When (XLT, YLT, ZLT) are crystal axes of the lithium tantalate of the piezoelectric layer, k100 is a directional vector obtained by projecting the ZLT axis onto the (100) plane of the support substrate, α100 is an angle between the directional vector k100 and a [001] direction of the silicon of the support substrate, and n is an arbitrary integer (0, ±1, ±2, . . . ), the angle α100 is in a range of about 20°+90°×n≤α100≤70°+90°×n.
A multiplexer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a signal terminal, and a plurality of filter devices commonly connected to the signal terminal and each including an acoustic wave device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and having different pass bands from each other. A cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the acoustic wave device of one filter device among the plurality of filter devices and a cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the acoustic wave device of at least one other filter device among the plurality of filter devices are different from each other.
With acoustic wave devices and multiplexers according to preferred embodiments of the present invention, higher-order modes are able to be effectively reduced or prevented.
The above and other elements, features, steps, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Hereafter, the present invention will be made clearer by describing preferred embodiments of the present invention while referring to the drawings.
The preferred embodiments described in the present specification are illustrative examples and portions of the configurations illustrated in different preferred embodiments can be substituted for one another or combined with one another.
An acoustic wave device 1 includes a piezoelectric substrate 2. An IDT electrode 3 is provided on the piezoelectric substrate 2. Acoustic waves are excited by applying an alternating-current voltage to the IDT electrode 3. In the present specification, the propagation direction of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) is an X direction, a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the X direction is a Y direction, and a direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the X direction and the Y direction is a Z direction. The Z direction is the thickness direction of the piezoelectric substrate 2. A pair of reflectors, particularly, a reflector 8A and a reflector 8B are provided on the piezoelectric substrate 2 on both sides of the IDT electrode 3 in the X direction. The acoustic wave device 1 of the present preferred embodiment is an acoustic wave resonator, for example. However, the acoustic wave device 1 according to the present preferred embodiment is not limited to being an acoustic wave resonator, and may be a filter device including a plurality of acoustic wave resonators, for example.
The IDT electrode 3 includes a first busbar 16 and a second busbar 17 facing each other. The IDT electrode 3 includes a plurality of first electrode fingers 18 including first ends connected to the first busbar 16. In addition, the IDT electrode 3 includes a plurality of second electrode fingers 19 including first ends connected to the second busbar 17. The plurality of first electrode fingers 18 and the plurality of second electrode fingers 19 are interdigitated with each other. The first electrode fingers 18 and the second electrode fingers 19 extend in the Y direction.
The IDT electrode 3 includes a single-layer Al film, for example. The material of the reflector 8A and the reflector 8B is the same as the material of the IDT electrode 3. The materials of the IDT electrode 3, the reflector 8A, and the reflector 8B are not limited to the above-described material. Alternatively, the IDT electrode 3, the reflector 8A, and the reflector 8B may include, for example, multilayer metal films in which a plurality of metal layers are stacked.
The piezoelectric substrate 2 of the acoustic wave device 1 includes a support substrate 4 and a piezoelectric layer 7 provided directly on the support substrate 4. The IDT electrode 3 and the reflector 8A and the reflector 8B are provided on the piezoelectric layer 7. In the present preferred embodiment, the IDT electrode 3 is directly provided on the piezoelectric layer 7. However, the IDT electrode 3 may instead be indirectly provided on the piezoelectric layer 7 with a dielectric film interposed therebetween.
The piezoelectric layer 7 is, for example, a lithium tantalate layer. More specifically, 55° Y-cut X-propagation LiTaO3 is preferably used for the piezoelectric layer 7. The cut angle of the piezoelectric layer 7 is not limited to the above-described cut angle. The film thickness of the piezoelectric layer 7 is, for example, less than or equal to about 1λ , where λ is a wavelength defined by the electrode finger pitch of the IDT electrode 3.
The piezoelectric layer 7 includes a negative surface and a positive surface in the polarization direction. In this specification, a direction from “−” to “+” in a polarized state is defined as a +ZLT direction. The +ZLT direction is a polarization direction of the LiTaO3 of the piezoelectric layer 7.
The LiTaO3 layer (LT layer) illustrated in
According to the definitions illustrated in
Next, the definitions of the Euler angles will be described. When the Euler angles are (φ, θ, Ψ), (1) (x, y, z) is rotated around the z axis by “φ” to give (x1, y1, z1). Next, (2) (x1, y1, z1) is rotated around the x1 axis by “θ” to give (x2, y2, z2). Next, (3) (x2, y2, z2) is rotated around the z2 axis by “Ψ” to give an orientation (x3, y3, z3). Here, a right-hand screw direction is a positive rotation direction. (x, y, z) becomes (x3, y3, z3) through the above-described rotational operations (1) to (3). The coordinate systems of (x, y, z) and (x3, y3, z3) have a common origin. Hereafter, a case where the Euler angles are (φ, θ, Ψ) may be written as a crystal orientation of (φ, θ, Ψ). The Euler angles and the coordinate transformation method are also described in “Danseihasoshigijutsu Handobukku, pg. 549”.
The support substrate 4 is a silicon substrate. As illustrated in
The plane orientation of the support substrate 4 in the present preferred embodiment is Si(111). “Si(111)” indicates that the substrate has been cut along the (111) plane perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the crystal axis represented by the Miller index [111] in a silicon crystal structure having a diamond structure. The (111) plane is the plane illustrated in
Here, n is an arbitrary integer (0, ±1, ±2, . . . ). In the present preferred embodiment, when the IDT electrode 3 is provided on the positive surface of the piezoelectric layer 7, the angle α111 defined from the relationship between the crystal axes of the piezoelectric layer 7 and the support substrate 4 is in the range of about 0°+120°×n≤α111≤45°+120°×n or in the range of about 75°+120°×n≤α111≤120°+120°×n. On the other hand, when the IDT electrode 3 is provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer 7, the angle α111 is in the range of about 15°+120°×n≤α111≤105°+120°×n. Hereafter, the angle Um and a directional vector k111, which will be described later, are described in detail.
In
Here, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The present preferred embodiment has the following features. 1) The present preferred embodiment includes the support substrate 4 having a plane orientation of Si(111) and the piezoelectric layer 7 in which rotated Y-cut X-propagation LiTaO3 is used. 2a) When the IDT electrode 3 is provided on the positive surface of the piezoelectric layer 7, the angle α111 is in the range of about 0°+120°×n≤α111≤45°+120°×n or is in the range of about 75°+120°×n≤α111≤120°+120°×n. 2) When the IDT electrode 3 is provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer 7, the angle α111 is in the range of about 15°+120°×n≤α111≤105°+120°×n. As a result, a higher-order mode can be effectively reduced or prevented. This will be explained below.
The relationship between the angle α111 and the phase of a higher-order mode was determined for the case where the IDT electrode is provided on the positive surface of the piezoelectric layer and the case where the IDT electrode is provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer. The higher-order mode for which the relationship with the angle α111 was obtained is a higher-order mode generated in the vicinity of about 2500 MHz to about 3000 MHz. The conditions of the acoustic wave device are listed below. Note that, for example, when the film thickness is about 1% λ, the film thickness is about 0.01λ.
Support substrate: Material . . . silicon (Si), Plane orientation . . . Si(111)
Piezoelectric layer: Material . . . rotated Y-cut X-propagation LiTaO3, Film thickness . . . 0.2λ, Crystal orientation of LiTaO3 of piezoelectric layer: (0°, −35°, 0°), (0°, −35°, 180°), (0°, 145°, 0), or (0, 145°, 180°)
IDT electrode: Material . . . Al, Film thickness . . . about 5% λ, Wavelength λ of IDT electrode: about 2 μm
As illustrated in
Furthermore, it is clear that the higher-order mode can be more greatly reduced or prevented when the angle α111 is in the range from about 10° to about 40° or in the range from about 80° to about 110°, for example. Thus, when the IDT electrode is provided on the positive surface of the piezoelectric layer, it is preferable that α111 is in the range of about 10°+120°×n≤α111≤40°+120°×n or in the range of about 80°+120°×n≤α111≤110°+120°×n.
It is clear that the relationships between the angle am and the phase of the higher-order mode are different in the case where the IDT electrode is provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer as illustrated in
Furthermore, it is clear that the higher-order mode can be more greatly reduced or prevented when the angle α111 is in the range from about 20° to about 50° or in the range from about 70° to about 100°, for example. Thus, when the IDT electrode is provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer, it is preferable that α111 is within the range of about 20°+120°×n≤α111≤50°+120°×n or within the range of about 70°+120°×n≤α111≤100°+120°×n.
An uneven structure may be provided on a surface of the support substrate 4 illustrated in
The present preferred embodiment differs from the First Preferred Embodiment in that a low-acoustic-velocity film 26 is provided between the support substrate 4 and the piezoelectric layer 7. Thus, the piezoelectric layer 7 may be indirectly provided on the support substrate 4 with the low-acoustic-velocity film 26 interposed therebetween. In other respects, the acoustic wave device of the present preferred embodiment has the same or substantially the same configuration as the acoustic wave device 1 of the First Preferred Embodiment.
The low-acoustic-velocity film 26 is a film having a relatively low acoustic velocity. More specifically, the acoustic velocity of bulk waves propagating through the low-acoustic-velocity film 26 is lower than the acoustic velocity of bulk waves propagating through the piezoelectric layer 7. The low-acoustic-velocity film 26 in the present preferred embodiment is a silicon oxide film, for example. The silicon oxide is expressed as SiOx. x is an arbitrary integer. The silicon oxide of the low-acoustic-velocity film 26 in the present preferred embodiment is SiO2, for example. The material of the low-acoustic-velocity film 26 is not limited to the above material and, for example, a material having glass, silicon oxynitride, tantalum oxide, or a compound obtained by adding fluorine, carbon, or boron to silicon oxide as a main component can be used.
The relationship between the angle α111 and the phase of the higher-order mode was obtained for a case in which the IDT electrode was provided on the positive surface of the piezoelectric layer and a case in which the IDT electrode was provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer under conditions differing from the those under which the relationships in
Low-acoustic-velocity film: Material . . . SiO2, Film thickness . . . about 0.15λ
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The present preferred embodiment differs from the Second Preferred Embodiment in that a high-acoustic-velocity film 35 is provided between the support substrate 4 and the low-acoustic-velocity film 26. In other respects, the acoustic wave device of this preferred embodiment has the same or substantially the same configuration as the acoustic wave device of the Second Preferred Embodiment.
The high-acoustic-velocity film 35 is a film having a relatively high acoustic velocity. More specifically, the acoustic velocity of bulk waves propagating through the high-acoustic-velocity film 35 is higher than the acoustic velocity of acoustic waves propagating through the piezoelectric layer 7. The high-acoustic-velocity film 35 in the present preferred embodiment is a silicon nitride film, for example. For example, the material of the high-acoustic-velocity film 35 is not limited to this material and a medium mainly including any material of aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, silicon oxynitride, silicon, sapphire, lithium tantalate, lithium niobate, quartz, alumina, zirconia, cordierite, mullite, steatite, forsterite, magnesia, diamond-like carbon (DLC), and diamond can be used.
The relationship between the angle α111 and the phase of the higher-order mode was obtained for a case in which the IDT electrode was provided on the positive surface of the piezoelectric layer and a case in which the IDT electrode was provided on the negative surface of the piezoelectric layer under conditions differing from the those under which the relationships in
High-acoustic-velocity film: Material . . . SiN, Film thickness: about 0.15λ
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the First to Third Preferred Embodiments described above, a case is described in which the plane orientation of the support substrate is Si(111). In the present invention, the plane orientation of the support substrate is not limited to Si(111). Hereafter, a case in which the plane orientation of the support substrate is Si(110) and a case in which the plane orientation of the support substrate is Si(100) will be described as examples.
An acoustic wave device according to a Fourth Preferred Embodiment of the present invention differs from the First Preferred Embodiment illustrated in
Here, k110 denotes a directional vector obtained when the ZLT axis of the LiTaO3 of the piezoelectric layer is projected onto the (110) plane of the support substrate. α110 denotes the angle between the directional vector k110 and a [001] direction of the silicon of the support substrate. In the present preferred embodiment, α110 is in the range of about 0°+180°×n≤α110≤40°+180°×n or in the range of about 140°+180°×n≤α110≤180°+180°×n, where n is an arbitrary integer (0, ±1, ±2, . . . ), for example. As a result, a higher-order mode can be effectively reduced or prevented. This will be described in more detail.
The relationship between the angle α110 and the higher-order mode was obtained. The conditions of the acoustic wave device are listed below.
Support substrate: Material . . . silicon (Si), Plane orientation . . . Si(110)
Piezoelectric layer: Material . . . rotated Y-cut X-propagation LiTaO3, Film thickness . . . about 0.2λ, Crystal orientation of LiTaO3 constituting piezoelectric layer: (0°, 145°, 0°)
IDT electrode: Material . . . Al, Film thickness . . . about 5% λ, Wavelength λ of IDT electrode: about 2 μm
As illustrated in
An acoustic wave device according to a Fifth Preferred Embodiment of the present invention differs from the First Preferred Embodiment illustrated in
Here, k100 denotes a directional vector obtained when the ZLT axis of the LiTaO3 of the piezoelectric layer is projected onto the (100) plane of the support substrate. α100 denotes the angle formed between the directional vector k100 and a [001] direction of the silicon constituting the support substrate. In the present preferred embodiment, α100 is in the range of about 20°+90°×n≤α100≤70°+90°×n, where n is an arbitrary integer (0, ±1, ±2, . . . ), for example. As a result, a higher-order mode can be effectively reduced or prevented. This will be described in more detail.
The relationship between the angle α100 and the higher-order mode was obtained. The conditions of the acoustic wave device are listed below.
Support substrate: Material . . . silicon (Si), Plane orientation . . . Si(100)
Piezoelectric layer: Material . . . rotated Y-cut X-propagation LiTaO3, Film thickness . . . about 0.2λ, Crystal orientation of LiTaO3 constituting piezoelectric layer: (0°, 145°, 0°)
IDT electrode: Material . . . Al, Film thickness . . . 5% λ, Wavelength λ of IDT electrode: about 2 μm
As illustrated in
An uneven structure may be provided on the surface of the support substrate that is on the side adjacent to the piezoelectric layer in the acoustic wave devices having the configurations of the First to Fifth Preferred Embodiments described above. In this case, non-linear characteristics can be improved.
A multiplexer 40 includes an antenna terminal 49, which is a signal terminal, that is connected to an antenna. Note that a signal terminal in the present invention is not limited to being an antenna terminal. The multiplexer 40 includes a first filter device 41A, a second filter device 41B, and a third filter device 41C that are commonly connected to the antenna terminal 49 and have different pass bands from each other. The first filter device 41A includes a first acoustic wave resonator, which is an acoustic wave device having the configuration of the First Preferred Embodiment. The second filter device 41B includes a second acoustic wave resonator, which is an acoustic wave device having the configuration of the First Preferred Embodiment. The third filter device 41C includes a third acoustic wave resonator, which is an acoustic wave device having the configuration of the First Preferred Embodiment. Note that the first to third acoustic wave resonators are not limited to the acoustic wave device of the First Preferred Embodiment, and may be any acoustic wave resonator having the configuration of an acoustic wave device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is sufficient that at least one filter device of the multiplexer 40 include an acoustic wave device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
In the present preferred embodiment, the first filter device 41A, the second filter device 41B, and the third filter device 41C are band pass filters. Note that at least one of the first filter device 41A, the second filter device 41B, and the third filter device 41C may be a duplexer, for example. The number of filter devices included in the multiplexer 40 is not particularly limited. The multiplexer 40 of the present preferred embodiment also includes filter devices other than the first filter device 41A, the second filter device 41B, and the third filter device 41C. It is sufficient that a multiplexer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes at least two filter devices.
Here, the pass band of the first filter device 41A is located at a lower frequency than the pass band of the second filter device 41B. The cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the first acoustic wave resonator of the first filter device 41A is different from the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the second acoustic wave resonator of the second filter device 41B. More specifically, in the present preferred embodiment, the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the first acoustic wave resonator is from about 48° Y to about 60° Y, for example. The cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the second acoustic wave resonator is from about 36° Y to about 48° Y, for example. In addition, for example, if the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the first acoustic wave resonator is about 48° Y, the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the second acoustic wave resonator is an angle other than about 48° Y. Here, the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the second acoustic wave resonator is preferably about 42°, for example. In this case, Rayleigh wave spurious responses can be reduced.
As illustrated in
It is sufficient that the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the first acoustic wave resonator and the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the second acoustic wave resonator are different from each other. For example, the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the first acoustic wave resonator and the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the second acoustic wave resonator may be different from the cut angle of the piezoelectric layer of the third acoustic wave resonator of the third filter device 41C.
An LT layer and a support substrate including silicon may be bonded to each other in order to obtain the structure in the First to Sixth Preferred Embodiments. If there is an intermediate layer, such as a low- or high-acoustic-velocity film, the intermediate layer may be provided and bonded to the LT layer or to the support substrate. As the bonding method, for example, various methods such as, for example, hydrophilic bonding, activated bonding, atomic diffusion bonding, metal diffusion bonding, anodic bonding, and bonding using resin or SOG can be used. In addition, a bonding layer formed during the bonding may be disposed at the interface of the intermediate layer or may be disposed inside the intermediate layer. In the case of the Third Preferred Embodiment, it is preferable that the bonding layer is disposed at the interface between the low-acoustic-velocity film and the high-acoustic-velocity film.
The IDT electrode is preferably provided on the negative surface of the LT layer. Defects, such as ripples, can be reduced or prevented when the IDT electrode is provided on the negative surface.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is to be understood that variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention, therefore, is to be determined solely by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-073692 | Apr 2019 | JP | national |
This application claims the benefit of priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-073692 filed on Apr. 8, 2019 and is a Continuation Application of PCT Application No. PCT/JP2020/015283 filed on Apr. 3, 2020. The entire contents of each application are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2020/015283 | Apr 2020 | US |
Child | 17492750 | US |