Surface Acoustic Wave Liquid Sensors Based on One-Port Resonator

A one-port resonator utilizing shear horizontal surface acoustic waves (SH-SAWs) has been used for sensing applications in liquids. SH-SAWs have been excited on a 36°-rotated Y-cut X-propagating LiTaO3 substrate using interdigital transducers and the one-port resonator configuration has been used as a sensing element in liquids. The sensitivity of the resonance frequency and the Q value for the viscosity of liquids have been measured. Experimental results showed that the resonance frequency and the Q value of the SH-SAW resonator varied with the viscosity of the loaded sample liquid.