A laser probe based on a sagnac interferometer with fast mechanical scan for RF surface and bulk acoustic wave devices

This paper describes the development of a phase-sensitive laser probe with fast mechanical scan for RF surface and bulk acoustic wave (SAW/BAW) devices. The Sagnac interferometer composed of micro-optic elements was introduced for the selective detection of RF vertical motion associated with RF SAW/BAW propagation and vibration. A high-pass characteristic of the interferometer makes the measurement very insensitive to low-frequency vibration. This feature allows us to apply the fast mechanical scan to the interferometric measurement without badly sacrificing its SNR and spatial resolution. The system was applied to the visualization of a field pattern on the vibrating surface of an RF BAW resonator operating in the 2 GHz range. The field pattern was obtained in 17 min as a 2-D image (500 × 750 pixel with 0.4 μm resolution and SNR of 40 dB). The system was also applied to the characterization of an RF SAW resonator operating in the 1 GHz range, and the applicability of the system was demonstrated.