RF Bulk Acoustic Wave Filters for Communications
Ken-ya Hashimoto, Editor
RF-BAW devices employing a piezoelectric thin membrane were proposed in 1980. Although their excellent performance was well recognized, the majority of engineers believed that their applicability was limited due to extremely tight requirements given to device fabrication. However, RF-BAW devices have progressed surprisingly in the last decade and are now mass produced. They are currently attempting to take over the current RF-SAW filter market. The devices also receive much attention from Si-IC industries for their use as a core element in sophisticated RF front-end and/or one-chip radio modules based on the system-on-chip (SoC) or system-in-package (SiP) integration with active circuitry.
This book deals with key technologies and information necessary for the realization of high-performance RF-BAW resonators and filters. All the authors are prominent professionals in this field, and they attempt to transfer their knowledge to the younger generation as various chapters are written by different experts in the field.
The first several chapters review BAW’s background, history, topologies, fabrication and device basics to provide the foundation to understand the more detailed information in the later chapters. The book then covers FBAR resonators and filters with a comparison to SAW devices. The book then segues into thin film deposition of BAW devices and characterization. Finally, the last couple of chapters review practical applications of the devices through monolithic and SiP integration.
The editor notes that the term film bulk acoustic wave resonator (FBAR) might be more familiar to many readers, although he states that its use is often limited to the category of a free-standing membrane fabricated by the surface or bulk micromachining technology. Namely, the solidly mounted BAW resonator (SMR) employing the multilayered reflector(s) is excluded from this category. For this reason, the RF-BAW resonator categorization is used as the whole set of these two categories throughout the book.
This book is invaluable for young engineers and students who wish to acquire this exotic technology and covers the subject thoroughly. In addition, it is for more advanced engineers who wish to further extend their knowledge, as experts in various areas have written each chapter. The last two chapters are very useful as they review actual designs and integration techniques that would be utilized in actual applications.
To order this book, contact:
Artech House
685 Canton St.
Norwood, MA 02062
(781) 769-9750 ext. 4030
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London SW1V 4RW, UK
+44 (0) 20 7596-8750
275 pages; $139 / £75
ISBN: 978-1-59693-321-7