Surface acoustic wave devices on bulk ZnO at low temperature

Abstract

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices based on thin films of ZnO are a well established technology. However, SAW devices on bulk ZnO crystals are not practical at room temperature due to the significant damping caused by finite electrical conductivity of the crystal. Here, by operating at low temperatures, we demonstrate effective SAW devices on the (0001) surface of bulk ZnO crystals, including a delay line operating at SAW wavelengths of λ = 4 and 6 μm and a one-port resonator at a wavelength of λ = 1.6 μm. We find that the SAW velocity is temperature dependent, reaching $v\simeq 2.68$ km/s at 10mK. Our resonator reaches a maximum quality factor of $Q_i\simeq 1.5\times 10^5$, demonstrating that bulk ZnO is highly viable for low temperature SAW applications. The performance of the devices is strongly correlated with the bulk conductivity, which quenches SAW transmission above about 200 K.

4 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Propagating phonons coupled to an artificial atom
• Coherent spin control by electrical manipulation of the magnetic anisotropy

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Phononic band structure engineering for high-Q gigahertz surface acoustic wave resonators on lithium niobate
• Surface acoustic wave unidirectional transducers for quantum applications
• Controlling of ZnO nanostructures by solute concentrationand its effect on growth, structural and optical properties
• Prospects for quantum acoustics with phononic crystal devices