A 5.9 GHz Sezawa SAW Acoustic Delay Line Based on Al0.6Sc0.4N-on-Sapphire with Propagation Q-factor > 3,000

Abstract: In this work, we demonstrate a high-performance surface acoustic wave (SAW) delay line based on a Scandium alloyed aluminum nitride (AlScN)-on-sapphire platform operating at 5.9 GHz with an exceptionally high acoustic propagation Q-factor. An 800 nm AlScN thin film with 40% scandium alloying concentration was deposited on a thick sapphire substrate to achieve strong acoustic energy confinement and large electromechanical coupling effect, thereby minimizing the insertion loss (IL) and propagation loss (PL) of the acoustic delay line (ADL). The proposed ADL was designed to operate in the Sezawa mode using a Single-Phase Unidirectional Transducer (SPUDT) electrode configuration for better unidirectionality. The fabricated ADLs with different delay lengths, after conjugate matching, exhibited delay times spanning 13 to 214 ns and IL ranging from 7.6 to 18.3 dB. The extracted PL reached as low as 9.2 dB/mm at 5.9 GHz, with a group velocity (v_g) of around 5,779 m/s. Based on these results, the proposed ADLs exhibit a high acoustic propagation Q-factor of 3,044. These findings highlight the potential of AlScN-on-sapphire platforms for high operational frequency, low-loss SAW ADL devices in advanced RF applications.