Error analysis of quartz crystal resonator applications

Quartz crystal resonators in chemical sensing applications are usually configured as the frequency determining element of an electrical oscillator. By contrast, the shear modulus determination of a polymer coating needs a complete impedance analysis. The first part of this contribution reports the error made if common approximations are used to relate the frequency shift to the sorbed mass. In the second part we discuss different error sources in the procedure to determine shear parameters.