Propagation of Love waves with surface effects in an electrically-shorted piezoelectric nanofilm on a half-space elastic substrate

•Dispersion equation of Love waves is derived when surface effects are considered.•Love waves dispersion is found thickness-dependent.•Phase velocity increases with the decrease of the thickness of nanofilm.•Surface effects relies on wave dispersion mode and position of surface effects.•Phase velocity increases with the increase of surface parameters.

The propagation of Love waves in the structure consisting of a nanosized piezoelectric film and a semi-infinite elastic substrate is investigated in the present paper with the consideration of surface effects. In our analysis, surface effects are taken into account in terms of the surface elasticity theory and the electrically-shorted conditions are adopted on the free surface of the piezoelectric film and the interface between the film and the substrate. This work focuses on the new features in the dispersion relations of different modes due to surface effects. It is found that with the existence of surface effects, the frequency dispersion of Love waves shows the distinct dependence on the thickness and the surface constants when the film thickness reduces to nanometers. In general, phase velocities of all dispersion modes increase with the decrease of the film thickness and the increase of the surface constants. However, surface effects play different functions in the frequency dispersions of different modes, especially for the first mode dispersion. Moreover, different forms of Love waves are observed in the first mode dispersion, depending on the presence of the surface effects on the surface and the interface.