Any and all applications, if any, for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet of the present application are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.
Embodiments of the invention relate to surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices with temperature coefficient of frequency correction, particularly to SAW devices with layers of silicon dioxide to correct the temperature coefficient of frequency of the Saw device.
Simple SAW devices consist of a set of interleaved electrodes disposed at a first end of a piezoelectric substrate and a second set of interleaved electrodes disposed at a second end of the piezoelectric substrate. Surface acoustic waves are propagated by the transmitting electrodes, across the surface of the piezoelectric material, and then converted back from physical waves to electrical signals via the piezoelectric effect.
Prior art SAW devices are tuned to receive, or band-pass a particular frequency. This tuning is performed by selecting materials which make up the interdigital transducer (IDT) transmitter or receiver of the SAW device, or the piezoelectric substrate along which the waves pass.
However, these prior art SAW devices become inaccurate when the temperature of the device changes. This can occur when the device is implemented in an electronic circuit containing heat generating components. The temperature chance can change the band-pass of the filter. This means that the filter may tune into a different signal, or that signals need to be spaced far enough apart within the bandwidth of the carrier so that the margin of error of the SAW device does not matter. This problem therefore either decreases the reliability of the filter or wastes bandwidth of a carrier signal.
According to one embodiment there is provided a temperature coefficient of frequency compensated surface acoustic wave device, which includes: a piezoelectric substrate, an interdigital transducer configured to generate a surface acoustic wave in response to an electrical signal, and a first temperature compensation layer disposed on the piezoelectric substrate, the interdigital transducer being disposed on the temperature compensation layer.
The resonant frequency of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter is set to tune the filter to the particular frequency desired to be processed by the filter. It is therefore beneficial to ensure stability of the resonant frequency of the SAW filter. By providing a temperature compensation layer at the between a substrate and an interdigital transducer (IDT) of the filter, the drift caused by changes in temperature can be reduced and removed.
In one example the first temperature compensation layer is formed from Silicon Dioxide, SiO2. Silicon dioxide when disposed on the piezoelectric substrate and beneath the IDT can be advantageously tuned by modifying the thickness of the compensation layer, so that 0 temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) is achieved at both the resonant and anti-resonant frequencies of the SAW device.
In one example the surface acoustic wave device further includes a second temperature compensation layer disposed beneath the piezoelectric substrate, and in a further example the second temperature compensation layer is formed from Silicon Dioxide, SiO2.
This layer allows for greater tuning of the TCF so that both the anti-resonant and resonant TCF can be altered to achieve zero TCF at both.
In one example the surface acoustic wave device further includes a silicon base layer disposed beneath the second temperature compensation layer.
In one example the piezoelectric substrate is formed from Lithium Niobate. In a further example the piezoelectric substrate is 20YX—LiNbO3. The Lithium Niobate structure allows for waves generated on the surface of the piezoelectric material to propagate across to an adjacent IDT. The rotated 20 degrees Y cut X propagation LiNbO3 is advantageous for the piezoelectric effect required for the SAW device to operate.
In one example the IDT is formed from aluminum. As the IDT physically creates waves across the surface of the SAW device, the physical properties of the wave generating device, which is an IDT, affects the wavelength of the waves propagated across the SAW device. Other metals can be used for the IDT, depending on the wavelength or frequency of signals required. Heavier IDTs can be used, which can shorten the wavelengths of the SAW device and therefore allow the SAW device to be minimized.
In one example the interdigital transducer comprises a pair of busbars disposed on opposite edges of the piezoelectric substrate.
In one example each busbar has a plurality of electrode fingers extending therefrom towards the opposing busbar.
In one example the electrode fingers of each busbar interleave with one another.
In one example the IDT includes a first layer and a second layer above the first layer. In a further example the first layer is formed from aluminum and in a further example the second layer is formed from any of one of tungsten, copper, gold, silver, platinum, ruthenium, molybdenum. By providing a two layer IDT it is possible to tune the IDT to achieve both zero TCF and also the wavelength required by the SAW device. By providing a heavier top layer the wavelength of the induced wave is reduced due to the physical inertia required to move the IDTs to generate waves. As there is a relationship between the wavelength of the SAW and the distance between IDT fingers, the device can be made smaller when the wavelength of the induced SAW is smaller.
In one example the distance from the centre of one electrode finger to the centre of the adjacent electrode finger has a length L, and in a further example the length L is equivalent to one wavelength of a wave propagated by the surface acoustic wave device. As noted above the relationship between wavelengths and the distance between IDTs is related. In this example, the relationship is such that one wavelength is propagated in the distance between matching sections of electrode fingers of the IDTs. That is, as the IDT is formed from interleaving fingers from opposing busbars, which are arranged such that along the length of the SAW device, the IDT is formed from adjacent fingers which are arranged a first finger from a first busbar then a second finger from the second busbar, then a third finger from the first busbar and so on. The SAW wavelength is equal to the distance from the first finger leading edge to the second finger leading edge, i.e. the SAW wavelength is equal to the width of an IDT and then the gap to the next IDT.
In one example the first temperature compensation layer is between 0.002 and 0.02 L in thickness. In this range the anti-resonant frequency TCFp drift stays approximately at zero percent, where the resonant frequency TCFs drift changes from round −10 to +5% drift. This can be considered acceptable for TCF drift for certain applications.
In one example the first temperature compensation layer is 0.008 L in thickness. This thickness allows for exactly 0% TCF drift at both resonant and anti-resonant frequencies.
In one example the second temperature compensation layer is approximately 0.4 L in thickness. In a further example the silicon base layer is greater than 2 L in thickness.
In one example the acoustic wave device further includes a passivation layer disposed between the temperature compensation layer and the interdigital transducer. The passivation layer provides mechanical protection for the temperature compensation layer.
According to another embodiment there is provided a method of reducing the temperature coefficient of frequency of a surface acoustic wave device comprising disposing a temperature compensation layer between a piezoelectric substrate and an interdigital transducer of the surface acoustic wave device.
According to another embodiment there is provided a filter, comprising: a plurality of low velocity surface acoustic wave devices, each of the plurality of low velocity surface acoustic wave devices including: a piezoelectric substrate, an interdigital transducer configured to generate a surface acoustic wave in response to an electrical signal, and a temperature compensation layer disposed on the piezoelectric substrate, the interdigital transducer being disposed on the temperature compensation layer.
According to another embodiment there is provided a front end module for installation in a wireless device, comprising a low velocity surface acoustic wave device, the low velocity surface acoustic wave device including: a piezoelectric substrate, an interdigital transducer configured to generate a surface acoustic wave in response to an electrical signal, and a temperature compensation layer disposed on the piezoelectric substrate, the interdigital transducer being disposed on the temperature compensation layer.
Various aspects of at least one embodiment are discussed below with reference to the accompanying figures, which are not intended to be drawn to scale. The figures are included to provide illustration and a further understanding of the various aspects and embodiments, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, but are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. In the figures, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every figure. In the figures:
Aspects and embodiments described herein are directed to multi chip modules, particularly front end modules. In the following description, the term multi chip module (MCM) and front end module may be used interchangeably.
The SAW device works as a filter by generating a signal at a first IDT and receiving that signal at a second IDT. The first IDT creates a physical wave in the piezoelectric substrate which is turned back into an electrical signal at the second IDT. The medium used to propagate the waves as well as the spacing between IDT fingers sets the passing frequency of the SAW device. Because of the physical properties of the device, and the physical manifestation of the RF waves, temperature can affect the resonant frequency of the device. As the temperature of the device increases, the physical properties of the piezoelectric substrate change, and thus the resonant frequency of the SAW device changes.
The temperature compensation layer 203 can mitigate temperature drift from the SAW device at both the resonant and anti resonant frequencies.
The temperature compensation layer 203 can be applied to the substrate by chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, electron cyclotron resonance sputtering or radio frequency sputtering.
As can be seen in
As can be seen in the enlarged portion 310, there is little or no frequency drift between the resonant frequencies at 25° C., as shown by the line 302, and at 85° C., as shown by the line 304.
What can be seen is that the resonant frequency and anti-resonant frequency of the SAW device 200 is higher than that of the SAW device 100a, however this frequency change can be tunes out by adjusting the spacing of the IDTs.
It will be noted that there was little frequency drift at the anti-resonant frequencies of the SAW device, shown at the bottom of the chart 300 in either the prior art SAW device 100a or the improved SAW device 200. It will also be noted that the frequency response 312 of the improved SAW device 200 is more attenuated than the prior art device.
It can be seen that the TCFp or anti-resonant TCF, represented by line 420 stays largely at zero regardless of the thickness of the temperature compensation layer 203
By adjusting the thickness of the temperature compensation layer from 0 up to 0.02 L the TCFs or resonant frequency drift shown by line 418 changes from between −10 to 5, where zero is the aim. At around 0.08 L the “double zero” point 422 is met where both the resonant and anti-resonant frequency drift is 0, and thus the TCFz and TCFp are both 0. The window 416 represents the acceptable range of temperature compensation layer thickness to produce a workable SAW device.
In addition to the thickness of the temperature compensation layer 203, the other layers are specified in terms of thickness relative to the wavelength L, where the piezoelectric substrate 205 is approximately 0.4 L, the temperature compensation layer 207 is approximately 0.4 L thick and the silicon base layer is greater than 2 L thick.
A benefit of the invention over prior art solutions to the TCF problem is that the quality K{circumflex over ( )}2 metric of the filter is increased with respect to these prior art solutions K{circumflex over ( )}2 represents the coupling coefficient of the filter, where a higher number indicates better coupling of the IDTs of the SAW device. Typically, a non-stacked SAW device (i.e. one without multiple layers) which deals with TCF using the piezoelectric substrate materials may have a K{circumflex over ( )}2 of 8 to 9. This in comparison to a SAW device which does not mitigate against TCF but has a K{circumflex over ( )}2 of around 25 or more.
The SAW device 200 of the present invention, using the temperature compensation layer 203 achieves a K{circumflex over ( )}2 of 16 to 17, representing a significant improvement over the prior art.
This can optimally be used to tune out the resonant frequency change which is shown on
This means that the cross sectional views shown in
Moreover, examples and embodiments of SAW devices discussed herein can be implemented in a variety of packaged modules. Some example packaged modules will now be discussed in which any suitable principles and advantages of the SAW resonators discussed herein can be implemented.
As discussed above, SAW devices, such as those of
Various examples and embodiments of the SAW device 800 can be used in a wide variety of electronic devices. For example, the SAW device 800 can be used in an antenna duplexer, which itself can be incorporated into a variety of electronic devices, such as RF front-end modules and communication devices.
Referring to
The antenna duplexer 950 may include one or more transmission filters 900a connected between the input node 945 and the common node 941, and one or more reception filters 900b connected between the common node 941 and the output node 947. The passband(s) of the transmission filter(s) are different from the passband(s) of the reception filters. Examples of the SAW device 800 can be used to form the transmission filter(s) 900a and/or the reception filter(s) 900b. An inductor or other matching component 943 may be connected at the common node 941.
The front-end module 940 further includes a transmitter circuit 949 connected to the input node 945 of the duplexer 950 and a receiver circuit 951 connected to the output node 947 of the duplexer 950. The transmitter circuit 949 can generate signals for transmission via the antenna 960, and the receiver circuit 951 can receive and process signals received via the antenna 960. In some embodiments, the receiver and transmitter circuits are implemented as separate components, as shown in
The front-end module 1054 includes a transceiver 1052 that is configured to generate signals for transmission or to process received signals. The transceiver 1052 can include the transmitter circuit 1049, which can be connected to the input node of the duplexer 1050, and the receiver circuit 1051, which can be connected to the output node of the duplexer 1050, as shown in the example of
Signals generated for transmission by the transmitter circuit 1049 are received by a power amplifier (PA) module 1055, which amplifies the generated signals from the transceiver 1052. The power amplifier module 1055 can include one or more power amplifiers. The power amplifier module 1055 can be used to amplify a wide variety of RF or other frequency-band transmission signals. For example, the power amplifier module 1055 can receive an enable signal that can be used to pulse the output of the power amplifier to aid in transmitting a wireless local area network (WLAN) signal or any other suitable pulsed signal. The power amplifier module 1055 can be configured to amplify any of a variety of types of signal, including, for example, a Global System for Mobile (GSM) signal, a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a W-CDMA signal, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) signal, or an EDGE signal. In certain embodiments, the power amplifier module 1055 and associated components including switches and the like can be fabricated on gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates using, for example, high-electron mobility transistors (pHEMT) or insulated-gate bipolar transistors (BiFET), or on a Silicon substrate using complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) field effect transistors.
Still referring to
The wireless device 1000 of
Further examples of the electronic devices that aspects of this disclosure may be implemented include, but are not limited to, consumer electronic products, parts of the consumer electronic products such as packaged radio frequency modules, uplink wireless communication devices, wireless communication infrastructure, electronic test equipment, etc. Examples of the electronic devices can include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone such as a smart phone, a wearable computing device such as a smart watch or an ear piece, a telephone, a television, a computer monitor, a computer, a modem, a hand-held computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a microwave, a refrigerator, a vehicular electronics system such as an automotive electronics system, a stereo system, a digital music player, a radio, a camera such as a digital camera, a portable memory chip, a washer, a dryer, a washer/dryer, a copier, a facsimile machine, a scanner, a multi-functional peripheral device, a wrist watch, a clock, etc.
It is to be appreciated that embodiments of the methods and apparatuses discussed herein are not limited in application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The methods and apparatuses are capable of implementation in other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Examples of specific implementations are provided herein for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use herein of “including,” “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. References to “or” may be construed as inclusive so that any terms described using “or” may indicate any of a single, more than one, and all of the described terms.
Having described above several aspects of at least one embodiment, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure and are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only, and the scope of the invention should be determined from proper construction of the appended claims, and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63327040 | Apr 2022 | US |