Abstract
Zinc oxide (ZnO) and its ternary alloy magnesium zinc oxide (Mg x Zn1−x O) are piezoelectric materials that can be used for high-quality-factor bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators operating at GHz frequencies. Thin-film bulk acoustic resonators (TFBARs) are attractive for applications in advanced communication and in various sensors as they offer the capability of monolithic integration of BAW resonators with radio-frequency integrated circuits (RF ICs). In this paper we report Mg x Zn1−x O-based TFBAR biosensors. The devices are built on Si substrates with an acoustic mirror consisting of alternating quarter-wavelength silicon dioxide (SiO2) and tungsten (W) layers to isolate the TFBAR from the Si substrate. High-quality ZnO and Mg x Zn1−x O thin films are achieved through a radio-frequency (RF) sputtering technique. Tuning of the device operating frequency is realized by varying the Mg composition in the piezoelectric Mg x Zn1−x O layer. Simulation results based on a transmission-line model of the TFBAR show close agreement with the experimental results. ZnO nanostructures are grown on the TFBAR’s top surface using metal- organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) to form the nano-TFBAR sensor, which offers giant sensing area, faster response, and higher sensitivity over the planar sensor configuration. Mass sensitivity higher than 103 Hz cm2/ng is achieved. In order to study the feasibility of the nano-TFBAR for biosensing, the nanostructured ZnO surfaces were functionalized to selectively immobilize␣DNA, as verified by hybridization with its fluorescence-tagged DNA complement.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
K.M. Lakin, G.R. Kline, and K.T. McCarron, IEEE Ultrasonics Symp. (1992), p. 471.
R. Ruby, P. Bradley, Y. Oshmyansky, A. Chien, and J.D. Larson III, IEEE Ultrasonics Symp. (2001), p. 813.
L. Mang and F. Hickernell, Proc. IEEE Int. Freq. Control Symp. (1996), p. 363.
C.W. Seabury, P.H. Kobrin, R. Addison, and D.P. Havens, IEEE MTT-S Digest (1997), p. 181.
J. Kaitila, M. Ylilammi, J. Molarius, J. Ella, and T. Makkonen, Proc. IEEE Int. Ultrasonics Symp. (2001), p. 803.
Y.S. Park, S. Pinkett, J.S.Kenney, and W.D. Hunt, Proc. IEEE Int. Ultrasonics Symp. (2001), p. 839.
P. Hauptmann, R. Lucklum, and J. Schröder, Proc. IEEE Int. Ultrasonics Symp. (2003), p. 56.
G.D. Mansfeld and I.M. Kotelyansky, Proc. IEEE Int. Ultrasonics Symp. (2002), p. 909.
R. Gabl, E. Green, M. Schreiter, H.D. Feucht, H. Zeininger, R. Primig, D. Pitzer, G. Eckstein, W. Wersing, W. Reichl, and J. Runck, Proc. IEEE Sensors, Vol. 2 (2003), p. 1184.
L. Mai, D.H. Kim, M. Yim, and G. Yoon, Microwave and Opt. Tech. Lett. 42, 505 (2004). doi:10.1002/mop.20351
H. Zhang, M.S. Marma, E.S. Kim, C.E. McKenna, and M.E. Thompson, 17th IEEE Int. Conf. on Micro Electro Mech. Sys. (2004), p. 347.
Z. Zhang, N.W. Emanetoglu, G. Saraf, Y. Chen, P. Wu, J. Zhong, Y. Lu, J. Chen, O. Mirochnitchenko, and M. Inouye, IEEE Trans. on Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Contr. 53, 786 (2006). doi:10.1109/TUFFC.2006.1665081
Y. Zhang, K. Yu, S. Quyang, L. Luo, H. Hu, Q. Zhang, Z. Zhu, Physica B 368, 94 (2005). doi:10.1016/j.physb.2005.07.001
X. Zhou, J. Zhang, T. Jiang, X. Wang, Z. Zhu, Sensors and Actuators A 135, 209 (2007). doi:10.1016/j.sna.2006.07.001
O. Taratula, E. Galoppini, D. Wang, D. Chu, Z. Zhang, H. Chen, G. Saraf, and Y. Lu, J. Phys. Chem. B., 110, 6506 (2006). doi:10.1021/jp0570317
Z. Zhang, H. Chen, J. Zhong, Y. Chen, and Y. Lu, Proc. IEEE Int. Freq. Contr. Symp. (2006), p. 545.
Z. Zhang, H. Chen, J. Zhong, Y. Lu, J. Elect. Mater 36, 895 (2007). doi:10.1007/s11664-007-0126-4
N.W. Emanetoglu, S. Muthukumar, P. Wu, R. Wittstruck, and Y. Lu, IEEE Intl. Ultrason. Symp. Proc. (2001), p. 253.
N.W. Emanetoglu, S. Muthukumar, P. Wu, R. Wittstruck, Y. Chen, Y. Lu, IEEE Trans. on Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Contr. 50, 537 (2003). doi:10.1109/TUFFC.2003.1201466
R.H. Wittstruck, X. Tong, N.W. Emanetoglu, P. Wu, Y. Chen, J. Zhu, S. Muthukumar, Y. Lu, A. Ballato, IEEE Trans. on Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Contr. 50, 1272 (2003). doi:10.1109/TUFFC.2003.1244743
Y. Yoshino, K. Inoue, M. Takeuchi, K. Ohwada, Vacuum 5, 601 (1998) doi:10.1016/S0042-207X(98)00257-7
H. Chen, J. Zhong, G. Saraf, Z. Zhang, Y. Lu, L.A. Fetter, and C.S. Pai, Proc. SPIE, 5592 (2004), 164. doi:10.1117/12.571509
J. Zhong, G. Saraf, S. Muthukumar, H. Chen, Y. Chen, and Y. Lu, J. Electr. Mater. 33, 654 (2004) doi:10.1007/s11664-004-0062-5
A. Ballato, Transmission-line Analogs for Piezoelectric Layered Structures (Ph.D. dissertation, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, NY, June 1972).
G. Sauerbrey, Z. Phys. 155 (1959), 206 (in German) doi:10.1007/BF01337937
O. Taratula, R. Mendelsohn, E. Galoppini, P.I. Reyes, Z. Zhang, Y. Chen, G. Saraf, and Y. Lu, Langmuir (2009), to appear.
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by the NSF (ECS-0224166), New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology (NJCST) with the Research Excellence Center Grant, and AFOSR’s DCT Grant.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, Y., Reyes, P.I., Duan, Z. et al. Multifunctional ZnO-Based Thin-Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator for Biosensors. J. Electron. Mater. 38, 1605–1611 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-009-0813-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-009-0813-4