Design and Modelling of Solidly-Mounted Resonators for Low-Cost Particle Sensing

Farah-Helúe Villa-López, Girish Rughoobur, Andrew J. Flewitt, Marina Cole, Julian W. Gardner

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    31 Citations (Scopus)
    188 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This work presents the design and fabrication of Solidly Mounted Resonator (SMR) devices for the detection of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) in order to develop a smart low-cost particle sensor for air quality. These devices were designed to operate at a resonant frequency of either 870 MHz or 1.5 GHz, employing zinc oxide as the piezoelectric layer and an acoustic mirror made from molybdenum and silicon dioxide layers. Finite element analysis of the acoustic resonators was performed using COMSOL Multiphysics software in order to evaluate the frequency response of the devices and the performance of the acoustic mirror. The zinc oxide based acoustic resonators were fabricated on a silicon substrate using a five mask process. The mass sensitivity of the acoustic resonators was estimated using a 3D finite element model and preliminary testing has been performed. The theoretical and observed mass sensitivity were similar at ca. 145 kHz ng−1 for the 870 MHz resonator when detecting PM2.5 suggesting that SMR devices have potential to be used as part of a miniature smart sensor system for airborne particle detection.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article number025101
    JournalMeasurement Science and Technology
    Volume27
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 18 Dec 2015

    Bibliographical note

    This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication/published in Measurement Science and Technology. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at 10.1088/0957-0233/27/2/025101

    Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Design and Modelling of Solidly-Mounted Resonators for Low-Cost Particle Sensing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this