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A. Alamin Dow, C. Popov, U. Schmid, N. Kherani:
"Super-High-Frequency SAW Transducer Utilizing AlN/Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Architectures";
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 60 (2013), 8; 1581 - 1586.

SAW devices have been used in a variety of applications
including high-volume telecommunications, electronic
devices, and advanced sensors. Recently, high-bit-rate data
processing in the gigahertz frequency range and ultrahigh-sensitivity
sensors have called for the development of advanced
SAW transducers. Because of its high acoustic velocity, ultrananocrystalline
diamond (UNCD) with a crystal size of 3 to
5 nm, embedded in an amorphous carbon matrix with grain
boundaries of 1 to 1.5 nm, is integrated with AlN to extend
the operating frequency of SAW devices. We utilize this attractive
property of UNCD through the facile synthesis of bilayer
architectures consisting of sputtered AlN deposited on
UNCD film. The UNCD films were synthesized using microwave
plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The SAW
devices were fabricated by electron beam lithography and lift
off processes. The fabricated SAW nanodevices exhibit resonance
frequencies up to 15.4 GHz. Multiple SAW transducers
were fabricated with spatial periods ranging from 580 nm to
3.2 μm.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TUFFC.2013.2738