Finite element simulation for sensitivity measurement of a shear horizontal surface acoustic wave micro pressure sensor with a groove structure

Abstract Shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) sensors have great application potential due to their advantages of easy integration, miniaturization and suitability in liquid environments. In this paper, the finite element method is used to analyse a new SH-SAW micro pressure sensor, in which there are many groove structures along the direction of wave propagation on the delay path. We use the transient response simulation method to calculate and analyse the output voltage signal at the output interdigital transducer and surface average stress at the delay path of this new SH-SAW sensor, and its pressure sensitivity is analysed by uniformly applying an appropriate surface pressure on the resonant beam formed after grooving. The simulation results show that the surface average stress can be enhanced in a certain range of groove depth during the vibration of the groove structure. When the groove depth and width are set to 0.7 μm and 0.5 μm, respectively, the sensitivity of the SH-SAW sensor with a groove structure is four times higher than that of the traditional SH-SAW sensor. The increase of pressure sensitivity is the result of the increase of average stress caused by the groove structure. The new groove structure SH-SAW sensor provides a new basis for research on high-sensitivity micro-pressure sensors and lays a foundation for subsequent device design and manufacture.