Modeling, simulation, and design of SAW grating filters

A systematic procedure for modeling, simulating, and designing SAW (surface acoustic wave) grating filters, taking losses into account, is described. Grating structures and IDTs (interdigital transducers) coupling to SAWs are defined by cascadable transmission-matrix building blocks. Driving point and transfer characteristics (immittances) of complex architectures consisting of gratings, transducers, and coupling networks are obtained by chain-multiplying building-block matrices. This modular approach to resonator filter analysis and design combines the elements of lossy filter synthesis with the transmission-matrix description of SAW components. A multipole filter design procedure based on a lumped-element-model approximation of one-pole two-port resonator building blocks is given and the range of validity of this model examined. The software for simulating the performance of SAW grating devices based on this matrix approach is described, and its performance, when linked to the design procedure to form a CAD/CAA (computer-aided design and analysis) multiple-filter design package, is illustrated with a resonator filter design example.<>