High-order mode bulk acoustic wave resonators based on polarity-inverted SiAlN/AlN multilayered films for high-frequency operation

AlN film bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators operating at above 5 GHz for next generation mobile communications present some problems, such as the very thin thickness of the piezoelectric film and electrode films. These cause degradations of the power handling capability, electromechanical coupling factor, and Q value in film BAW resonators. Polarity-inverted multilayered AlN film BAW resonators can operate in high-order mode resonance. Therefore, an n-layer polarity-inverted film BAW resonator has n-times thicker piezoelectric film thickness than a standard BAW resonator with a monolayer piezoelectric film operating at same frequency. However, fabrication methods for polarity-inverted multilayered AlN films have not been established. This paper examines the effect of Si doping on AlN films on the crystal orientation, polarity direction, and electromechanical coupling factor (k(t)(2)). Furthermore, we fabricated and evaluated two- to eight-layer polarity-inverted SiAlN/AlN film high-overtone bulk acoustic wave resonators (HBARs). The polarity of the SixAl1-xN films inverted around x = 0.024-0.13. The crystal orientation and k(t)(2) of the SixAl1-xN films were degraded with increasing Si concentration x. The eight-layer polarity-inverted SiAlN/AlN film HBAR resonated in the eighth mode. Moreover, the experimental longitudinal wave insertion loss exhibited a similar trend to the theoretical curve calculated by a Mason's equivalent circuit model considering the polarity inverted structure. The eight-layer polarity-inverted HBARs had approximately eight-times thicker piezoelectric film thickness than the monolayer AlN film HBAR. The insertion loss improved with increasing the number of polarity-inverted layers. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effect of Si doping on AlN films and fabricated polarity-inverted SiAlN/AlN film high-overtone bulk acoustic wave resonators (HBARs). The polarity of the films inverted with increasing Si concentration, leading to degradation in crystal orientation and electromechanical coupling factor. Experimental results showed that insertion loss improved with an increasing number of polarity-inverted layers.