Evaluation of Lab-based Lithium Niobate Surface Acoustic Wave Test Structure Using Efficient Maskless Lithography and SMA Connection Approach for Microfluidic Applications

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) devices, particularly those made of Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3), are extensively used in telecommunications and microfluidic applications. This work describes the fabrication of a LiNbO3-based SAW test structures using maskless photolithography for rapid device dimension changes as well as introduces a cost-effective technique to solder Sub-Miniature version A (SMA) connectors to delicate substrates such as LiNbO3-based SAWs, without the need to fully create printed circuit boards. The SMA connected device facilitated improved characterization results compared to simple copper tape connections. The characterization accuracy is then validated through simulation.