Microfabricated bulk wave acoustic bandgap device

• US 7,733,198 B1
• Filed: 05/15/2007
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Technology & Engineering Solutions Of Sandia LLC (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sandia Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Fleming, James G., El-Kady, Ihab F., Fleming, legal representative, McCormick, Frederick, Olsson, Roy H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tan; Vibol
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hammond; Crystal L
• Application Number:
  US11/748,832
• Time in Patent Office: 1,120 Days
• Field of Search: 333/187, 310/312, 310/318, 257/53
• US Class Current: 333/187
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/20 Reflecting arrangements G10K11/28 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/42 Piezoelectric device making

Abstract

A microfabricated bulk wave acoustic bandgap device comprises a periodic two-dimensional array of scatterers embedded within the matrix material membrane, wherein the scatterer material has a density and/or elastic constant that is different than the matrix material and wherein the periodicity of the array causes destructive interference of the acoustic wave within an acoustic bandgap. The membrane can be suspended above a substrate by an air or vacuum gap to provide acoustic isolation from the substrate. The device can be fabricated using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technologies. Such microfabricated bulk wave phononic bandgap devices are useful for acoustic isolation in the ultrasonic, VHF, or UHF regime (i.e., frequencies of order 1 MHz to 10 GHz and higher, and lattice constants of order 100 μm or less).

Claims

1. A bulk wave acoustic bandgap device, comprising:

a substrate;

a membrane comprising a matrix material, suspended above the substrate, that propagates a longitudinal acoustic wave in the plane of the membrane; and

a two-dimensional periodic array of scatterers embedded within the matrix material, wherein the periodic array comprises a cermet topology and wherein the scatterer material has a higher acoustic impedance than the matrix material and wherein the periodicity of the array causes destructive interference of the longitudinal acoustic wave within an acoustic bandgap.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the frequency of the acoustic wave is greater than 1 MHz.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the periodicity of the periodic array is less than 100 microns.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the scatterer material has a higher density than the matrix material.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the scatterer material has higher elastic constant than the matrix material.

6. The device of claim 1, where the volume filling fraction of the scatterers in the membrane is approximately 0.3.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the periodic array comprises a square, hexagonal, triangular, or honeycomb lattice.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the scatterers comprise parallel inclusions having axes perpendicular to the plane of the membrane.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the close-sectional shape of the inclusions is a cylinder, square, triangle, diamond, or polygon.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises silicon, semiconductor, glass, ceramic, or metal.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the matrix material comprises silicon dioxide, silicon, polymer, gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, zinc oxide, lithium niobate, lithium tantalite, quartz, and silicon-germanium.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the scatterer material comprises tungsten, tungsten carbide, platinum, polycrystalline diamond, or molybdenum.

13. The device of claim 1, further comprising at least one integrated piezoelectric coupler that couples the longitudinal acoustic wave into or out of the membrane.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the at least one integrated piezoelectric coupler comprises aluminum nitride, zinc oxide, or lead zirconate titanate.

15. The device of claim 1, further comprising at least one defect within the periodic array of scatterers.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the at least one defect comprises a phononic waveguide that provides at least one guided mode within the acoustic bandgap.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the at least one defect comprises a phononic splitter that splits a guided mode in an input waveguide into at least two output waveguides.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the at least one defect comprises a phononic channel drop filter that selectively transfers a guided mode between two parallel coupled waveguides.