A lateral field excited liquid acoustic wave sensor.

Lateral field excited (LFE) AT-cut quartz acoustic wave sensors in which the electrodes are located on the reference surface have been fabricated and tested in liquid environments. The sensing surface, which is opposite to the reference surface, is free allowing the electric field of the thickness shear mode (TSM) to penetrate into the liquid. This results in increased sensitivity to both mechanical and electrical property changes of the liquid. In the present paper, several 5-MHz LFE sensors with a range of electrode spacings were exposed to liquid environments in which the viscosity, relative permittivity, and conductivity were varied. The LFE sensors demonstrate sensitivity to viscosity that is more than twice that obtained for the standard quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and sensitivity to relative permittivity and conductivity about 1.5 times that of the QCM sensors with modified electrodes. The present results clearly indicate that the LFE sensors may have a wide range of liquid phase applications in which sensitivity is crucial.