Piezoelectricity induced defect modes for shear waves in a periodically stratified supperlattice

Properties of shear waves in a piezoelectric stratified periodic structure with a defect layer are studied for a superlattice with identical piezoelectric materials in a unit cell. Due to the electro-mechanical coupling in piezoelectric materials the structure exhibits defect modes in the superlattice with full transmission peaks both for full contact and electrically shorted interfaces. The results show an existence of one or two transmission peaks depending on the interfacial conditions. In the long wavelength region where coupling between electro-magnetic and elastic waves creates frequency band gaps the defect layer introduces one or two defect modes transmitting both electro-magnetic and elastic energies. Other parameters affecting the defect modes are the thickness of the defect layer, differences in refractive indexes and the magnitude of the angle of the incident wave. The results of the paper may be useful in the design of narrow band filters or multi-channel piezoelectric filters.