Electrical tuning of dc bias induced acoustic resonances in paraelectric thin films

A theoretical model for the dc bias dependence of induced acoustic resonances in paraelectric materials is presented. The field dependent piezoelectric constitutive equations were derived from the Landau free energy expansion with respect to the ferroelectric part of the polarization P. To derive the field dependent coefficients correctly, we demonstrate that it is important to take both linear and nonlinear electrostriction as well as the background permittivity into account. Two different resonator geometries, corresponding to the thickness excitation (TE) and the lateral field excitation (LFE) modes, are discussed and compared. In the TE mode the resonance frequency is expected to be much stronger dc bias dependent than the antiresonance frequency. In the LFE mode, both resonance and antiresonance frequencies may exhibit comparable dc bias dependences. In this case the antiresonance frequency shows a stronger tuning with increasing dc bias than the resonance frequency. We model the behavior of the field dependent acoustic resonances in BaxSr1-xTiO3 thin films addressing different compositions and orientations of the films. Our theoretical model corroborates the experimental results available in the literature. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.2999642]