P2G-4 Suppression of Acoustic Energy Leakage in FBARs with Al Bottom Electrode: FEM Simulation and Experimental Results

One of the most challenging issues in designing film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs) is how to realize high-Q resonators. According to our experimental results, an acoustic leakage is the dominant loss factor at antiresonance frequency for FBARs with an aluminum bottom electrode. In this paper, we report simulation results obtained using the 2-dimensional finite element method (2D FEM), which was employed in order to confirm the above-mentioned acoustic loss mechanisms and optimize the design parameters of the resonator. As a result, optimizing the aluminum bottom electrode thickness and properly designing an attenuation structure that reflects the laterally propagating Lamb waves inside the resonator areas suppress the acoustical leakage significantly. Comparisons between FEM simulation and measured results in terms of the relationship between the Q-factors at antiresonance frequency and the structural parameters of the resonators are shown.