Lithium niobate thin films on diamond/silicon substrates for surface acoustic wave filter device applications

Piezoelectricity and surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagation of a LiNbO3/diamond/silicon multilayer structure are reported for the first time. Theoretical calculations predict lithium niobate thin films on diamond/silicon substrates have both high SAW propagation velocities and high electromechanical coupling coefficients. The metal-organic decomposition (MOD) technique is used to grow lithium niobate thin films on diamond/silicon substrates. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the lithium niobate films are polycrystalline. SAW devices are fabricated by depositing interdigital transducers (IDTs) onto the LiNbO3/diamond/silicon films. The SAW activities are observed by measuring the frequency response of the SAW device.