ABSTRACTWe report on fabrication and measurement of a surface acoustic wave resonator prepared on ∼10m thick GaN(0001) films. The films were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy on a c-plane sapphire substrate. The surface morphology of the films were examined with scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. A metallic bilayer of Al/Ti was subsequently evaporated on the nitride film surface. Definition of the resonator interdigital transducers, designed for a wavelength of λ=7.76m, was accomplished with standard UV lithography and lift-off. S-parameter measurements showed a resonator center frequency f0=495MHz at room temperature, corresponding to a surface acoustic wave velocity of 3844m/s. The insertion loss at center frequency was measured at 8.2dB, and the loaded Q-factor was estimated at 2200. Finally, measurements of the resonator center frequency for temperatures in the range 25–155°C showed a temperature coefficient of -18ppm/°C. The intrinsic GaN SAW velocity and electromechanical coupling coefficient were estimated at νSAW=383 1m/s and K2=1.8±0.4·10−3.
