Evidence of large high frequency complete phononic band gaps in silicon phononic crystal plates

We show the evidence of the existence of large complete phononic band gaps (CPBGs) in two-dimensional phononic crystals (PCs) formed by embedding cylindrical air holes in a solid plate (slab). The PC structure is made by etching a hexagonal array of air holes through a freestanding plate of silicon. A fabrication process compatible with metal-oxide-semiconductor technology is used on silicon-on-insulator substrate to realize the PC devices. Measuring the transmission of elastic waves through eight layers of the hexagonal lattice PC in the ΓK direction, more than 30dB attenuation is observed at a high frequency; i.e., 134MHz, with a band gap to midgap ratio of 23%. We show that this frequency region matches very well with the expected CPBG found through theoretical calculations.