Influence of spinel substrate and over-layer for enhanced SAW and AO properties with KNbO3 thin film

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) propagation characteristics have been studied using modeling calculations for a potassium niobate (KNbO/sub 3/) thin film-layered structure with 001] and 110] orientation on a single crystal spinel (MgAl/sub 2/O/sub 4/) substrate, and a spinel buffer layer on silicon. Variation in the electromechanical coupling and acoustic attenuation has been compared. A significantly high value of coupling factor (k/sub max//sup 2/=23%) is obtained for the 001]KNbO/sub 3//spinel structure by introducing an optimum thickness of spinel over-layer for potential wide bandwidth SAW device applications. The dispersion characteristics with the 110] KNbO/sub 3/ orientation indicate an initial peak in the coupling coefficient value (k/sub max//sup 2/=8.8%) at a relatively low KNbO/sub 3/ film thickness that appears attractive for fabricating devices with thinner films. The KNbO/sub 3/ film with 001] orientation is found attractive for efficient acousto-optic (AO) device application with the formation of a symmetric waveguide structure (spinel(0.5 /spl mu/m)/KNbO/sub 3/(1.0 /spl mu/m)/spinel). A high value of k/sup 2/=23.5% with 50% diffraction efficiency has been obtained for the spinel(0.5 /spl mu/m)/KNbO/sub 3/(1.0 /spl mu/m)/spinel structure at 1 GHz SAW frequency and 633 nm optical wavelength at a very low input drive power of 15.4 mW.