High-frequency, high-sensitivity acoustic sensor implemented on ALN/Si substrate

AlN films, 1.6–6.3 μm thick, were sputtered at 200 °C on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates. The films were crack-free, uniform, and c-axis oriented. The experimental phase velocities of surface acoustic waves (SAW) propagating in the AlN/Si structures were estimated and showed only a small discrepancy (20–40 m/s) compared to the calculated theoretical values. A SAW resonator (SAWR)-based chemical sensor, operating at about 700 MHz, was implemented on AlN/Si. The SAWR surface was covered with a polymer film sensitive to relative humidity (RH) changes, already tested for RH sensing in previous works on SAW delay lines implemented on AlN/Si and ZnO/Si and operating at about 130 MHz. The RH mass sensitivity and the detection limit of the SAWR sensor improved by 38% and by one order of magnitude, respectively, compared to the delay line-based sensors previously tested.