{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T10:09:36Z","timestamp":1789034976884,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788912000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["12374449"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["12374449"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["12374449"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["12374449"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012226","name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["020414380244"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["020414380244"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012226","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Micromachines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The escalating demand for high-frequency acoustic devices in 5G\/6G communications imposes stringent requirements on surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators, including high operating frequency, large electromechanical coupling coefficient K2, and high quality factor Q. However, conventional SAW devices suffer from severe trade-offs among these metrics. This work proposes and theoretically analyzes an embedded-electrode LiNbO3\/SiC heterostructure SAW resonator tailored for high-order modes, with its frequency response evaluated via finite-element modeling. A quasi-three-dimensional periodic model consisting of LiNbO3\/IDT\/SiC structure is established, and the effects of LiNbO3 crystallographic orientation, normalized LiNbO3 thickness, and embedded-Al-electrode thickness on the resonator performance are then systematically investigated. For the selected design with Euler angle \u03b2 = 30\u00b0, the optimal normalized LiNbO3 thickness is found to be hLN\/\u03bb=0.2. Under this crystal orientation, the optimized normalized embedded-electrode thickness is hIDT\/\u03bb = 0.06. The optimized resonator achieves a resonant frequency of fr = 12.792 GHz, a phase velocity of V = 12,792 m\/s, a K2 of 9.16%, and a Q of 1004.4. These investigation results validate the proposed LiNbO3\/IDT\/SiC heterostructure as a viable platform for pushing SAW technology into the 10 GHz regime, thereby bridging the gap between acoustic-wave devices and millimeter-wave RF systems for next-generation communications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mi17091072","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T15:01:56Z","timestamp":1788966116000},"page":"1072","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Toward a 10 GHz High-Order Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator: A Finite-Element Study on LiNbO3\/SiC Heterostructure Incorporating Embedded Electrodes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Yixuan","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Information, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200233, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Hao","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Information, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200233, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Qiong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Information, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200233, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Tianxiang","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Information, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200233, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6180-6441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qiaozhen","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Information, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200233, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Modern Acoustics, MOE, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1109\/MNANO.2023.3340382","article-title":"Acoustic filters for RF communication","volume":"18","author":"Qian","year":"2024","journal-title":"IEEE Nanotechnol. Mag."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1109\/PROC.1979.11210","article-title":"Surface-acoustic-wave resonator filters","volume":"67","author":"Coldren","year":"1979","journal-title":"Proc. IEEE"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"06F401","DOI":"10.1116\/1.4935561","article-title":"High performance lithium niobate surface acoustic wave transducers in the 4\u201312 GHz super high frequency range","volume":"33","author":"Chen","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"222","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jallcom.2018.01.049","article-title":"Enhanced power durability of surface acoustic wave filter with Al\/Ti\/Cu\/Ti electrodes","volume":"740","author":"Li","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Alloys Compd."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"575","DOI":"10.1109\/JMEMS.2019.2922935","article-title":"4.5 GHz lithium niobate MEMS filters with 10% fractional bandwidth for 5G front-ends","volume":"28","author":"Yang","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Microelectromechanical Syst."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"054003","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6439\/abf1b5","article-title":"Thin-film lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI) shear horizontal surface acoustic wave resonators","volume":"31","author":"Hsu","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Micromech. Microeng."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3653","DOI":"10.1109\/TMTT.2020.3006294","article-title":"Surface acoustic wave devices using lithium niobate on silicon carbide","volume":"68","author":"Zhang","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242201","DOI":"10.1063\/5.0091352","article-title":"High-performance SH-SAW resonator using optimized 30\u00b0 YX-LiNbO3\/SiO2\/Si","volume":"120","author":"Wu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Appl. Phys. Lett."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5185","DOI":"10.1109\/TMTT.2022.3194554","article-title":"Surface-acoustic-wave devices based on lithium niobate and amorphous silicon thin films on a silicon substrate","volume":"70","author":"Yang","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"604","DOI":"10.1109\/JMEMS.2024.3423768","article-title":"C-band lithium niobate on silicon carbide SAW resonator with figure-of-merit of 124 at 6.5 GHz","volume":"33","author":"Hsu","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Microelectromechanical Syst."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1109\/TUFFC.2024.3522042","article-title":"52-GHz surface acoustic wave resonators in thin-film lithium niobate on silicon carbide","volume":"72","author":"Campbell","year":"2025","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, Y., Wang, H., Zhang, F., Gou, L., Zhang, S., Cao, G., and Zhang, P. (2023). High-performance SAW resonator with spurious mode suppression using hexagonal weighted electrode structure. Sensors, 23.","DOI":"10.3390\/s23249895"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125008","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6641\/ad06c0","article-title":"High performance SAW resonator with spurious mode suppression using double-layer electrode transverse modulation","volume":"38","author":"Zhang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Semicond. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tanaka, S., and Kadota, M. (2026). To Use High Order Modes of SAW and BAW. Proceedings of the 2026 IEEE International Microwave Filter Workshop (IMFW), Hong Kong, China, 7\u20139 February 2026, IEEE.","DOI":"10.1109\/IMFW64610.2026.11418957"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wu, Z., Wu, S., Bao, F., and Zou, J. (2022). High-frequency and spectrum-clean shear-horizontal acoustic wave resonators with AlN overlay. Micromachines, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi13071029"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jiang, G., Shuai, Y., Wei, Z., Yao, J., Luo, W., Pan, X., Wu, C., and Zhang, W. (2024). Modeling for high-frequency spurious responses in incredible high-performance surface acoustic wave devices. Micromachines, 15.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi15010134"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, Q., Chen, Z., Chen, Y., Dong, J., Tang, P., Fu, S., Wu, H., Ma, J., and Zhao, X. (2021). Periodic analysis of surface acoustic wave resonator with dimensionally reduced PDE model using COMSOL code. Micromachines, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi12020141"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, Z., Zhang, Q., Fu, S., Wang, X., Qiu, X., and Wu, H. (2021). Hybrid full-wave analysis of surface acoustic wave devices for accuracy and fast performance prediction. Micromachines, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi12010005"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ma, R., Liu, W., Sun, X., Zhou, S., and Lin, D. (2022). FEM simulation of a high-performance 128\u00b0Y-X LiNbO3\/SiO2\/Si functional substrate for surface acoustic wave gyroscopes. Micromachines, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi13020202"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Deng, M., Chen, J., Zhang, J., Xie, W., Jin, H., Xuan, W., Dong, S., and Luo, J. (2025). Numerical design and optimization of high performance langasite and hetero-acoustic layer-based surface acoustic wave device. Micromachines, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi16020166"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"07SP02","DOI":"10.35848\/1347-4065\/ade54a","article-title":"High frequency 9 GHz third harmonic surface acoustic wave resonator with grooved Al electrodes in LiNbO3","volume":"64","author":"Kadota","year":"2025","journal-title":"Jpn. J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, Q., Han, T., Tang, G., Chen, J., and Hashimoto, K.-Y. (2016). SAW characteristics of AlN\/SiO2\/3C-SiC layered structure with embedded electrodes. Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), Taipei, Taiwan, 21\u201324 October 2015, IEEE.","DOI":"10.1109\/ULTSYM.2015.0116"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3063","DOI":"10.1143\/JJAP.43.3063","article-title":"Ultra-wideband surface acoustic wave devices using Cu-grating\/rotated-YX-LiNbO3-substrate structure","volume":"43","author":"Hashimoto","year":"2004","journal-title":"Jpn. J. Appl. Phys."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kimura, T., Omura, M., Kishimoto, Y., and Hashimoto, K.-Y. (2018). Applicability investigation of SAW devices in the 3 to 5 GHz range. Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE\/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS), Philadelphia, PA, USA, 10\u201315 June 2018, IEEE.","DOI":"10.1109\/MWSYM.2018.8439144"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123262","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2020.3007162","article-title":"3D layout of interdigital transducers for high frequency surface acoustic wave devices","volume":"8","author":"Shen","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1157","DOI":"10.1109\/TUFFC.2023.3299635","article-title":"SAW filters on LiNbO3\/SiC heterostructure for 5G n77 and n78 band applications","volume":"70","author":"Xu","year":"2023","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Caliendo, C., Benetti, M., Cannat\u00e0, D., and Laidoudi, F. (2025). Insight into the propagation of interface acoustic waves in rotated YX-LiNbO3\/SU-8\/Si structures. Micromachines, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/mi16080861"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cheng, C., Lu, Z., Yang, J., Gong, X., and Ke, Q. (2023). Modulating the performance of the SAW strain sensor based on dual-port resonator using FEM simulation. Materials, 16.","DOI":"10.3390\/ma16083269"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"034109","DOI":"10.1063\/1.2838180","article-title":"Fabrication of waveguides by inductively coupled plasma etching on LiNbO3\/LiTaO3 single crystal film by liquid phase epitaxy growth","volume":"103","author":"Ren","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Appl. Phys."}],"container-title":["Micromachines"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-666X\/17\/9\/1072\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T09:28:30Z","timestamp":1789032510000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-666X\/17\/9\/1072"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]},"references-count":29,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["mi17091072"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mi17091072","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-666X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-666X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]]}}}