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In this work, we present the low-loss acoustic delay lines (ADLs) at 5 GHz, using the first-order antisymmetric (A1) mode in 128° Y-cut lithium niobate thin films. The ADLs use a single-phase unidirectional transducer (SPUDT) design with a feature size of quarter acoustic wavelength. The design space is analytically explored and experimentally validated. The fabricated miniature A1 ADLs with a feature size of $0.45~\mu \text{m}$ show a high operating frequency at 5.4 GHz, a minimum insertion loss (IL) of 3 dB, a fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 1.6%, and a small footprint of 0.0074 mm2. The low IL and high operating frequency have significantly surpassed the state-of-the-art performance of ADLs. The propagation characteristics of A1 acoustic waves have also been extracted. The demonstrated designs can lead to low-loss and high-frequency transversal filters for future 5G applications in the sub-6-GHz bands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present a new paradigm for enabling gigahertz higher-order Lamb wave acoustic devices using complementarily oriented piezoelectric (COP) thin films. Acoustic characteristics are first theoretically explored with COP lithium niobate (LiNbO3) thin films, showing their excellent frequency scalability, low loss, and high electromechanical coupling ($k^{2}$). Acoustic resonators and delay lines are then designed and implemented, targeting efficient excitation of higher-order Lamb waves with record-breaking low loss. The fabricated resonator shows a $2^{\mathbf {nd}}$ -order symmetric (S2) resonance at 3.05 GHz with a high quality factor ($Q$) of 657, and a large $k^{2}$ of 21.5% and a $6^{\mathbf {th}}$ -order symmetric (S6) resonance at 9.05 GHz with a high $Q$ of 636 and a $k^{2}$ of 3.71%, both among the highest demonstrated for higher-order Lamb wave devices. The delay lines show an average insertion loss (IL) of 7.5 dB and the lowest reported propagation loss of 0.014 dB/ $\mu \text{m}$ at 4.4 GHz for S2. Notable acoustic passbands up to 15.1 GHz are identified. Upon further optimizations, the proposed COP platform can lead to gigahertz low-loss wideband acoustic components. [2020-0127] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present first-order antisymmetric (A1) mode resonators in 128° Y-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO3) thin films with electromechanical coupling coefficients ($k^{2}$) as large as 46.4%, exceeding the state-of-the-art. The achievable $k^{2}$ of A1 in LiNbO3 substrates of different orientations is first explored, showing X-axis direction in 128° Y-cut LiNbO3 among the optimal combinations. Subsequently, A1 resonators with spurious mode mitigation are designed and fabricated. In addition to the large $k^{2}$ , the implemented devices show a maximum quality factor ($Q$) of 598 at 3.2 GHz. Upon further optimization, the reported platform can potentially deliver a wideband acoustic-only filtering solution in 5G New Radio. [2020–0003] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]