A Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator Based on Ferroelectric Aluminum Scandium Nitride Films

• Published in: Journal of microelectromechanical systems Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 741 - 747
• Main Authors: Wang, Jialin, Park, Mingyo, Mertin, Stefan, Pensala, Tuomas, Ayazi, Farrokh, Ansari, Azadeh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.10.2020; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Acoustic resonance; acoustic resonators; Acoustic waves; Acoustics; Aluminum nitride; aluminum scandium nitride; Broadband; Bulk acoustic wave devices; Coercivity; Coupling coefficients; Electric fields; Electric filters; Etching; fbar; Ferroelectric; Ferroelectric materials; Ferroelectricity; Film bulk acoustic resonators; filters; Frequency ranges; Frequency response; frequency tuning; piezoelectric films; Piezoelectricity; Polarization; Resonance; Resonant frequency; Resonators; Scandium; Superhigh frequencies; Switches; Switching; Thickness; Thin films; Tuning; Voltage measurement; Waveforms
• ISSN: 1057-7157; 1941-0158
• DOI: 10.1109/JMEMS.2020.3014584

This work reports on the first demonstration of the frequency tuning and intrinsic polarization switching of film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs), based on sputtered AlScN piezoelectric thin films with Sc/(Al + Sc) ratio of approx. 30%. A box-like ferroelectric hysteresis behavior of 900 nm-thick Al 0.7 Sc 0.3 N sputtered films is obtained, showing a coercive electric field at ~3 MV/cm. The fundamental thickness-mode resonance of the bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator is measured at 3.17 GHz frequency with an excellent electromechanical coupling coefficient (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">k_{t}^{2} </tex-math></inline-formula>) of 18.1%. The FBAR frequency response is studied, in both (i) the linear tuning regime, upon application of DC electric fields below the coercive field; as well as (ii) the polarization switching regime, upon application of electric fields above the coercive field. A large linear tuning range of 215 ppm <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\times \,\,\mu \text{m} </tex-math></inline-formula>/V is obtained in case (i), resulting from the high scandium content. The series resonance frequency of the FBARs is switched ON and OFF in (ii) upon application of 350 V unipolar waveform across the Al 0.7 Sc 0.3 N thickness. This is the first demonstration of the intrinsically switchable AlN-based FBARs with a large tuning range; and record high <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">k_{t}^{2} </tex-math></inline-formula> reported for AlN-based FBARs to date. Furthermore, this work paves the way for realization of tunable and switchable wideband acoustic filters operating at super high frequency ranges (SHF). [2020-0203]