Love waves in SiO2 layers on STW-resonators based on LiTaO3

We present first studies of sensitivity increase of commercially available Murata SAF 380-type surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices by the excitation of Love waves. Sputtered SiO2 is studied as wave-guiding layer. Excitation of Love waves on such devices is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It is demonstrated that the application of an optimized wave-guiding layer increases the sensitivity. Both theoretical predictions and experiments yield an optimum layer thickness for maximum mass sensitivity between 3 and 4 μm for the given system.