Decreased Nonlinear Harmonic Generation in Longitudinal Leaky SAW Resonators Based on YZ-cut LiNbO3 Substrate

The second (H2) and third (H3) harmonic generations in surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators based on the YZ-cut LiNbO 3 operating in both longitudinal leaky SAW (LLSAW) mode and Rayleigh SAW mode were investigated and compared. For the Rayleigh SAW mode, the patterns and trends of nonlinearly excited harmonics in the YZ-cut LiNbO 3 were the same as those of 128° YX LiNbO 3 except that the peaks of nonlinear harmonic responses in YZ-cut LiNbO 3 were denser than the latter. However, for the YZ-cut LiNbO 3 LLSAW resonators, the peaks of the nonlinear harmonic responses would be 20 to 30 dBm lower than those in the Rayleigh SAW resonators. For the YZ-cut LiNbO 3 LLSAW resonators, we found that the quasi-periodic peaks in the nonlinear harmonics response would disappear at a substrate thickness of 500 μm. Results showed that the nonlinear harmonic generation concerns in SAW filters and duplexers may be substantially reduced by the use of longitudinal leaky SAW based on YZ-cut LiNbO 3 .