Impact of SAW device passivation on RF performance.
Passivation layers consisting of sputtered A12O3 have been deposited onto SAW devices for the purpose of reducing the incidence of shorts. A coupling-of-modes model was used with one-port resonators, coupled resonator filters (CRF), and test structures. The passivation layer stiffens the surface with a velocity increase proportional to tau/lambda, where tau is the passivation layer thickness. Attenuation is increased slightly, producing a 0.25-dB increase in the loss of a one-port resonator at 314 MHz. The effect on reflectivity is minimal and of much lesser importance to the designer.
Marks
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BW
RF Monolithics, Inc, Dallas, TX 75244, USA. marks@rfm.com
Sheddrick
D W
DW
Jen
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