Surface load induced electrical impedance shift in relaxor-PbTiO3 crystal piezoelectric resonators

The effect of surface loads on Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystal piezoelectric resonators was studied. Electrical impedance shifts at both resonance and anti-resonance frequencies due to surface loads were recorded for comparison among face-shear mode, thickness-shear mode, and thickness mode resonators. It was observed that electrical impedances of face shear mode resonators exhibited significantly higher sensitivity to surface load changes comparing with other resonators with similar dimensions, because of enhanced energy dissipation in face shear mode resonators, indicating a promising innovative face-shear mode single crystal piezoelectric sensing mechanism.