An investigation of Love wave devices based on ZnO:Mg/LiNbO3 structure

Love wave devices are very promising for sensing applications because of high sensitivity. In this paper, ZnO thin films doped with 3 mol% Mg were deposited on the 64° YX-LiNbO3 substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technique. XRD, SEM, and AFM measurements investigated characteristics of the films. Under different condition such as layer thickness and substrate temperature, the phase velocity, sensitivity, temperature coefficient of frequency and phase shift of Love wave devices in a MZO/LiNbO3 structure are presented. The maximum sensitivity of MZO/LiNbO3 appears at unheated temperature and is higher than that of the SiO2/Quartz and SiO2/LiTaO3 structures reported.