11292 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 20, NO.

19, OCTOBER 1, 2020

Enhanced Performance Love Wave

Magnetic Field Sensors With
Temperature Compensation
Yang Yang , Graduate Student Member, IEEE, Harshad Mishra, Member, IEEE, Prince Mengue,
Sami Hage-Ali , Member, IEEE, Sébastien Petit-Watelot, Daniel Lacour, Michel Hehn, Hamid M’Jahed,
Tao Han , Member, IEEE, and Omar Elmazria , Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract —Temperature compensation is critical and impor-

tant for surface acoustic wave (SAW) magnetic field sen-
sors. In this study, a Love wave mode based SAW device
is investigated as a magnetic field sensor. The considered
structure is composed of a CoFeB magnetostrictive film as
sensitive layer, SiO2 , and ZnO film as insulating and tem-
perature compensation layers and ST+90◦ -cut quartz as
substrate. A theoretical model is proposed to study the mag-
netic field sensitivity and temperature coefficient of frequency
(TCF) variations. Optimized structures by calculation were
fabricated and characterized and obtained results show a
good agreement between experiments and our model sim-
ulation. We clearly shown that signal performances as well
as the flexibility of the resonator design were improved by adding the isolating SiO2 layer. Thus, a sensor showing
a near zero TCF (0.1 ppm/◦ C) and a magnetic field sensitivity of −420 ppm/mT was achieved with the structure
CoFeB(100 nm)/SiO2 (250 nm)/ZnO(300 nm)/ Quartz(ST-X+90◦ ). This multi-layered structure is beneficial to design reliable
SAW magnetic field sensors.
Index Terms — Love wave resonator, magnetostriction, magnetic field sensor, temperature compensation.

I. I NTRODUCTION energy [1]–[3]. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices based

on magnetostrictive films have been extensively studied for
M AGNETOSTRICTIVE materials are widely applied
in the areas of sensors and actuators owing to their
ability to transduce between the magnetic and mechanical
the development of magnetic field sensors, current sensors,
and tunable SAW filters [4]–[9]. The frequency of the SAW
resonator is sensitive to the applied surface strain, stress, and
Manuscript received March 10, 2020; revised April 23, 2020; accepted the changes of elastic constants. The magnetostriction effect
May 19, 2020. Date of publication June 1, 2020; date of current and E effect are intrinsic properties of magnetostrictive
version September 3, 2020. This work was supported in part by the materials. On the one hand, magnetostriction effect generates
National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant
2016YFB0402700, in part by the National Natural Science Foundation magnetostrictive strain and stress when an external magnetic
of China under Grant U1837210, Grant 11774230, and Grant 61531008, field is applied; On the other hand, the elastic constants of
in part by the Key Research and Development Program of Jiangsu magnetostrictive materials change dependent on the applied
Province under Grant BE2018008-5, in part by the French PIA Project
Lorraine Université d’Excellence under Grant ANR-15-IDEX-04-LUE, magnetic field (E effect), thus affecting the resonance
and in part by ANR JCJC SAWGOOD under Grant ANR-18-CE42- frequency. In previous reported studies, a lot of efforts
0004-01. The associate editor coordinating the review of this article and have been made towards the development of reliable SAW
approving it for publication was Dr. Anuj K. Sharma. (Corresponding
authors: Tao Han; Omar Elmazria.) based magnetic field sensors with different magnetostrictive
Yang Yang and Tao Han are with the School of Electronic Information materials, such as Nickel (Ni), Terbium-Iron (TbFe2 ), Iron-
and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Cobalt (FeCo), Galfenol (FeGa), and Metglas (FeCoSiB)
200240, China (e-mail: yangyang2015@sjtu.edu.cn; than@sjtu.edu.cn).
Harshad Mishra, Prince Mengue, Sami Hage-Ali, Sébastien Petit- [10]–[15]. A magnetic field sensitivity of 2.17 ppm/mT was
Watelot, Daniel Lacour, Michel Hehn, Hamid M’Jahed, and Omar obtained by Kadota et al. on a Ni/quartz structure [10].
Elmazria are with the Institut Jean Lamour UMR CNRS 7198, Université A SAW velocity change of −0.27% at the field of 400 mT
de Lorraine, 54000 Nancy, France (e-mail: harshad.vr1@gmail.com;
omar.elmazria@univ-lorraine.fr). was achieved by Yamaguchi et al. in a delay line consisting
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/JSEN.2020.2998826 of an amorphous TbFe2 film [11]. An FeCo coated sensor

1558-1748 © 2020 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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YANG et al.: ENHANCED PERFORMANCE LOVE WAVE MAGNETIC FIELD SENSORS 11293

with the sensitivity of 17.72 kHz/mT was developed at of the sensor are improved. Finally, the accuracy of the model
300 MHz by Wang et al. [12]. Smole et al. obtained a for the magnetic field sensitivity is validated by experiments.
frequency variation of −1.21% for the magnetically tunable The remaining of paper is as follows: In section II, a model
SAW resonator at 1.2 GHz with the applied magnetic field analysis for the SAW magnetic field devices in an externally
between 0 and 5 mT [13]. A maximum velocity change applied magnetic field is investigated. In section III, the model
of 0.64% was obtained on a SAW delay line by Li et al. is verified in experiments, and the magnetic field sensitivities
using a 500 nm thick FeGa thin film with the coercivity [14]. of the Love wave mode magnetic field resonators are studied.
A measured phase change of 300◦ is achieved from 0 to Conclusions are discussed in section IV.
2 mT on a delay line structure with a 200 nm thick FeCoSiB
film by Kittmann et al. [15]. As noted in these research work, II. T HEORETICAL M ODEL
the properties of magnetostrictive films play crucial roles. A three-dimensional model of a magnetostrictive
Moreover, the environment temperature is a factor affecting film/isolating layers/IDT/quartz multi-layered structure
the performance of SAW sensors [16]. Thermal expansions is established in the finite element analysis. The magnetic
and material constants dependent on temperatures affect the field, solid mechanical field, and static electric field are
resonance frequency of SAW resonators. An unavoidable fact added into the model. The magnetostrictive effect with
is that the SAW magnetic field sensors without temperature geometry deformation is considered with the coupling of the
compensation are sensitive to both magnetic field and magnetic field and the mechanical field. The magnetostrictive
temperature. The changes of temperature will cause the CoFeB film converts the applied external magnetic field into
frequency drifts of sensors [17]. Therefore, a SAW magnetic mechanical perturbations that disturbs the acoustic wave
field sensor with a high sensitivity and a zero temperature velocity. The magnetic mechanical coupling model is based
coefficient of frequency (TCF) is essential for applications. on the perturbation theory and is expressed in Lagrange
One-port Love wave mode resonators have the potential description.
of being wireless sensing platforms for measuring magnetic The deformation is related to the magnetization rotation
field. On the one hand, the wave-guiding layer of a Love towards the direction of the applied magnetic field. During
wave mode resonator can protect the interdigital transduc- this rotation, the magnetostrictive strain of the CoFeB film
ers (IDTs) and reflector gratings naturally; On the other hand, due to the magnetostriction effect is defined as follows (1),
the magnetostrictive thin film is deposited directly on the as shown at the bottom of this page, where λ100 and λ111 are
wave-guiding layer as sensitive medium that enhances the magnetostrictive coefficients. For CoFeB, λ100 = 139 ppm,
sensing areas and thus improves the sensitivity to the magnetic λ111 = 22 ppm [19]. The 100 nm CoFeB film deposited at a
field [18]. However, the frequency variation of a Love wave high sputtering power in experiments is magnetic anisotropic
magnetic sensor caused by the environmental temperature is and has a polycrystalline lattice structure. Ms is the satura-
a critical factor that affects the measurement accuracy. Thus, tion magnetization. Mx , M y , and Mz are the magnetization
temperature compensated structures for the zero TCF along components along X, Y, and Z directions. When a magnetic
with a large magnetic field sensitivity attract much attention. field is applied parallel to the hard axis, the changes of elastic
In this work, a theoretical model is proposed to study constant due to E effect as a function of the magnetic field
the sensitivity of SAW resonance frequency to a magnetic are defined as follows [20]:
field. The model also describes the frequency-temperature ⎧
⎪
⎪ 2( H )
2
characteristics. The model is validated by the study of a ⎪
⎨ b
CoFeB/ZnO/quartz Love wave based structure. Thereafter, Hs2
C11 = − (H ≤ Hs ) (2)
a proposal is made to develop a new structure based on ⎪
⎪ μ M (H + H + H )
⎪
⎩
0 s s me
CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/quartz. This later structure allows more 0 (H > Hs )
flexibility of film thickness choice and is more suitable to ⎧
⎪
⎪ H2
operate at high frequencies in MHz range. The ZnO and ⎪
⎪ b2 (1 − 2 2 )
⎪
⎪ Hs
CoFeB have negative temperature coefficients. However, ⎪
⎨− (H ≤ Hs )
SiO2 has positive temperature coefficients. The temperature C66 = H2
⎪ μ M
0 s (H + H s (1 − 2 ) + H me )
coefficient of frequency (TCF) of ST+90◦ -cut quartz is also ⎪
⎪ Hs2
⎪
⎪
positive. Therefore, the temperature compensation is realized ⎪
⎪ b 2
⎩− (H > Hs )
due to the combination of ST+90◦ -cut quartz, ZnO, SiO2 , and μ0 Ms (H − Hs + Hme )
CoFeB films. The S11 response and magnetic field sensitivity (3)

⎡ ⎤
M y2 + Mz2 3 3
⎢ λ100 Mx2 − λ111 Mx M y λ111 Mx Mz ⎥
⎢ 2 2 2 ⎥
1 ⎢ Mx2 + Mz2 3
λ111 M y Mz ⎥
σ = 2⎢ 3 λ100 M y2 − ⎥ (1)
Ms ⎢
⎢ λ111 Mx M y 2 2 ⎥
⎥
⎣ 2 Mx2 + M y2 ⎦
3 3 λ100 Mz2 −
λ111 Mx Mz λ111 M y Mz 2
2 2

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11294 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 20, NO. 19, OCTOBER 1, 2020

where H is the external applied magnetic field. Hs is the

saturation field. Hme represents the magneto-elastic field. b is
the magneto-elastic coefficient. μ0 is a vacuum permeability.
It can be found that the changes of elastic constants are
dependent on the magneto-elastic coefficient and the saturation
magnetization. Rayleigh wave is mainly sensitive to C11 of the
magnetostrictive film. Love wave is mainly sensitive to C66 of
the magnetostrictive film.
The magnetostrictive stresses and strains are superimposed
to the surface acoustic wave motion. The fundamental elas-
tic and piezoelectric constants are replaced by the effective
material constants dependent on the stress and strain biasing.
The third-order elastic constants are imported into the effective
material constants. Strain tensors and geometry deformation
are calculated at the applied magnetic field using the sta- Fig. 1. The calculated and experimental frequency-temperature curves
tionary analysis. For the piezoelectric film and the substrate, of Love wave mode on ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz as a function of
ZnO thicknesses. The wavelength is 10 μm. The dotted lines are the
the effective elastic constants c Lγ Mα , piezoelectric constants experimental data (exp), and the solid lines are the calculated data (cal).
e M Lγ , dielectric constants ε L M are defined as follows [21]:
c Lγ Mα = c0Lγ Mα + TL0M δγ α + c Lγ Mα AB S 0AB changes of the temperature. Sk , w , and E k are the thermal
strain, displacement gradient, and initial electrical field. The
+ c0L K Mα wγ ,K + c0Lγ K M wα,K temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) is calculated as
e M Lγ = e0M Lγ + e M Lγ AB S 0AB + e0M L K wγ ,k + X AM Lγ E 0A follows:
f − f 0
ε L M = ε0L M + X L M AB S 0AB + ε L Mk E k0 (4) TCF = (7)
f 0 ( − 0)
where c0Lγ Mα , e0M Lγ , and ε0L M are the fundamental elas- where f 0 is the resonance frequency at the reference tem-
tic, piezoelectric, and dielectric constants, respectively. TL0M perature 0 , and f is the resonance frequency at the given
denotes the stress generated by the magnetostrictive film. δγ α temperature .
is a Kronecker delta. S 0AB , E 0A and wγ ,K are the initial strain,
electrical field and deformation gradient caused by the mag- III. E XPERIMENTS AND D ISCUSSION
netostriction effect, respectively. X AM Lγ is the electrostrictive A. Model Validation With the CoFeB/ZnO/Quartz
constant. c Lγ Mα AB , e M Lγ AB , and ε L Mk are the third-order Structure
elastic, piezoelectric, and dielectric constants, respectively.
Using photolithography and a lift-off based fabrication
In the analysis, the electrical boundary condition for the ZnO
process, synchronous one-port Love wave mode resonators
and SiO2 top surface is the charge conservation condition.
were fabricated for ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz structure. Inter-
The wave propagation is solved based on the simultaneous
digital transducers (IDTs) were patterned in the interface
solution of the nonlinear constitutive equations and the motion
ZnO/quartz. The thickness of the Al electrode was 100 nm.
equation. The magnetic field sensitivity is defined as follows:
The wavelength was set to 10 μm and will be considered for
f 1 df all devices studied in this paper. This value allows a direct and
Smag = = (5)
f 0 H f0 d H simple calculation of velocity from frequency values that are
expressed in MHz. The metallization ratio is 0.5. Fig. 1 shows
where f 0 is the resonance frequency at the zero magnetic
the variation of resonance frequency of the Love wave mode
field, and  f is the frequency shift when the magnetic field
in the ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz resonator versus temperatures
changes H .
and for various thicknesses of ZnO layers. The dotted lines
The frequency-temperature characteristic of the SAW mag-
in Fig. 1 are the experimental data, and the solid lines are
netic field sensor is calculated using the prestress analysis
the calculated results. The experimental results for the 0 nm
based on the nonlinear thermomechanical coupling model [18].
ZnO and 510 nm ZnO are adapted from Ref. [17]. Here, more
The effective material constants under a thermal biasing field
samples with other thicknesses were measured and calculated
are defined by:
to verify the accuracy of the model. We can note the good
c Lγ Mα = c0Lγ Mα + c1Lγ Mα  + c0Lγ Mα AB S AB agreement obtained between experimentally measured data
and calculated ones using our numerical model. Experimental
+ c0L K Mα wγ ,K + c0Lγ K M wα,K
and calculated TCF values were then determined from theses
ei j = ei0j + ei1j  + ei0j k Sk + ei0j w curves and reported in Fig. 2, that shows the evolution of
εi j = εi0j + εi1j  + εi0j k E k (6) TCF versus ZnO film thickness. The ZnO thickness (hZnO)
is normalized by the wavelength value (λ = 10 μm). We can
where c1Lγ Mα , ei1j , and εi1j are the first-order temperature note that the zero TCF is obtained when the ZnO thickness
derivatives of the fundamental elastic constants, piezoelectric is around 500 nm. The TCF of the structure is positive for
constants, and dielectric constants, respectively.  is the ZnO thickness lower than 500 nm (+19.7 ppm/◦ for 200 nm)

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YANG et al.: ENHANCED PERFORMANCE LOVE WAVE MAGNETIC FIELD SENSORS 11295

Fig. 2. The TCF variations of Love wave mode on ZnO/ST+90◦ -

cut quartz as a function of ZnO thicknesses (hZnO ) normalized by the
wavelength. The wavelength (λ) is 10 μm.

Fig. 4. The measured magnetizations of the 100 nm and 200 nm CoFeB

films.
Fig. 3. The schematic of the CoFeB/ZnO/quartz multi-layered structure.

along the hard axis. The magnetostrictive layer with a higher

and negative for thicker films (−4.89 ppm/◦ for 600 nm). The thickness has a larger mass. Love waves are sensitive to
device achieved with 510 nm thick of ZnO shows a TCF value the mass loading. When the thickness of the magnetostric-
that is as expected close to zero and could be adjusted by tive film increases, more energy of the Love wave mode is
decreasing slightly the ZnO film thickness. Note that the real concentrated in the magnetostrictive film according to the
value measured with a profilometer on this device was 510 nm displacement distributions. Therefore, it is understandable that
and not 500 nm. This result is then consistent with measured a higher thickness of the magnetostrictive layer would imply
TCF value. a higher sensitivity. However, due to the thickness-driven
The magnetostrictive CoFeB thin film is used as the sen- spin-reorientation transition [22], the magnetic properties of
sitive medium for magnetic field sensing. Using magnetron CoFeB films are related to the thicknesses [23]. The 100 nm
sputtering technology, one-port Love wave mode resonators thick CoFeB film exhibits in-plane magnetic anisotropy that
with CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz structure were fabri- causes the magnetization to be parallel to the film plane. Our
cated, as shown in Fig. 3. 100 nm thick CoFeB was deposited experimental analysis revealed that increasing the thickness to
over ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz by DC magnetron sputtering at 200 nm resulted in an in-plane isotropic magnetic behavior.
300 W with 5 × 10−3 mbar pressure of argon (Ar). Upon increasing the thickness of a CoFeB film, the redistri-
In the fabrication, a bias magnetic field was used to control bution of accumulated internal stress in the film induced by
the easy and hard axes of the CoFeB film specifically with the deposition increases the degree of local disorder in the
respect to substrate coordinates. The easy axis is parallel to easy axis and increases the coercive field [23]. Furthermore,
the aperture direction and perpendicular to the Love wave the coercive field is 0.18 mT along the hard axis when
propagation. The hard axis is perpendicular to the aperture the CoFeB film is 100 nm. Nevertheless, the coercive field
direction and parallel to the Love wave propagation. Vibrating increases a lot to 3 mT along the hard axis when the CoFeB
sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements were performed film is 200 nm. Hence, in order to give our device a good
to get the magnetization of CoFeB thin films. Fig. 4 presents directionality and a low coercive field, we chose to work with
the anisotropy axis magnetization measured on a 100 nm a thickness of 100 nm of the CoFeB layer.
CoFeB film and 200 nm CoFeB film at the room temperature. Fig. 5 illustrates the calculated frequency-temperature char-
The advantage of using CoFeB lies in its low saturation field acteristics of Love wave mode on CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦-cut

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11296 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 20, NO. 19, OCTOBER 1, 2020

Fig. 5. The calculated and experimental dependence of frequency on

temperature for Love wave mode on CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz. Fig. 6. The calculated and experimental TCF variations of Love
The dotted lines are the experimental data (exp), and the solid lines are wave mode on CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz as a function of ZnO
the calculated data (cal). thicknesses (hZnO ) normalized by the wavelength. The wavelength (λ)
is 10 μm.

quartz versus different ZnO thicknesses. CoFeB film thickness

is fixed to 100 nm. The dotted lines are the experimental data the CoFeB film due to the low thickness of the insulator
adapted from Ref. [17]. It is found that the CoFeB film has layer (ZnO). When the thickness of ZnO is set to 600 nm,
negative temperature coefficients. Indeed, when the 100 nm the amplitude of S11 signal is improved as it can be shown
CoFeB film is deposited on the 510 nm of ZnO layer, the TCF in Fig. 7(c) [17]. However, for this structure, the TCF is not
value decreases to −14.6 ppm/◦C. The structure achieved with compensated and is equal to −16.9 ppm/◦ C.
200 nm of ZnO shows a near zero TCF (+1.77 ppm/◦ ) and will Fig. 8 illustrates the displacement distributions for the Love
be considered for next experiment. According to the exper- wave mode at the resonance frequency on ZnO/ST+90◦-cut
imental frequency-temperature data, the temperature coeffi- quartz and CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz structures. The
cients of the CoFeB film are extracted as follows: Tc11 = − thicknesses of the ZnO films are both fixed at 200 nm.
5.3 × 10−4 /◦ C, Tc12 = −3.1 × 10−4 /◦ C, Tc66 = −1.09 × The energy of the Love wave mode is mostly concentrated in
10−4 /◦ C. The solid lines are the calculated results. It can the top surface, and this concentration is improved by presence
be seen that the calculated results relatively agree with the of the CoFeB layer.
experimental data. Incertitude observed in experimental curves Although the signal amplitude is weak on the 100 nm
is mainly due to the weak signal quality and especially for the CoFeB/200 nm ZnO/quartz resonator, the temperature
device with 200 nm ZnO. Thus, fitted parameters will be con- compensation is obtained. The magnetic field sensitivity of
sidered in the next of this study to optimize high performances this resonator was characterized under an applied magnetic
sensor. field. Fig. 9 illustrates the simulation and experimental
The TCF evolution with ZnO film thickness of Love frequency variations of the Love wave mode as a function
wave mode for CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz is illustrated of the applied magnetic field that is parallel to the hard axis
in Fig. 6. The ZnO thickness (hZnO) is normalized by the at the room temperature. The constants of CoFeB are as
wavelength value (λ = 10 μm). Additional points are added follows: Young’s modulus = 160 GPa, Poisson’s ratio = 0.37,
in simulation using extracted parameters from experimental b = −3 × 106 J/m3 , Ms = 954.9 kA/m, λ100 = 139 ppm,
characterization. λ111 = 22 ppm [19]. The solid line in Fig. 9 is the simulation
In order to maintain a near zero TCF characteristic, result, and the dotted lines are experimental results [17].
the 100 nm thick CoFeB film and 200 nm ZnO film are The arrows indicate the magnetic field directions. The
selected for the Love wave sensor in measurements under simulation results match well with the experimental data.
the magnetic field. The measured S11 of the resonators at The relative variation of the resonance frequency decreases
the room temperature is shown in Fig. 7. The Love wave to the minimum of −541 ppm when the magnetic field
mode on ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz operates at 460 MHz. After increases from 0 to 27 mT. The magnetic field sensitivity
depositing 100 nm thick CoFeB, the resonance frequency is −20 ppm/mT in this range. Subsequently, the frequency
declines to 430 MHz that was our target to operate in 433 MHz increases when the magnetic field is above 27 mT.
ISM band. However, we can notice a strong degradation of the
signal, as shown in Fig. 7(b) [17]. The base line of S11 signal is B. CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/Quartz Structure
around −2.85 dB and the amplitude decreases a lot due to the Our study showed that a zero TCF magnetic field
power loss. This is due to the equivalent capacitance between sensor could be achieved with CoFeB/ZnO/quartz structure.
the ZnO and CoFeB layers. Indeed, CoFeB is conductive, and Our numerical model was validated in comparison with
hence capacitive and inductive losses are very high when the experimental results and will be then used to optimize
CoFeB is very close to the IDTs. The performance of the magnetic field sensors with less thermal drift and with an
device therefore is affected. A part of the current flows to enhanced magnetic field sensitivity. To improve the signal

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YANG et al.: ENHANCED PERFORMANCE LOVE WAVE MAGNETIC FIELD SENSORS 11297

Fig. 8. (a) The displacement distribution of Love wave mode along

the depth of ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz at the resonance frequency.
(b) The displacement distribution of Love wave mode along the depth
of CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz.

Fig. 9. The calculated and experimental relative frequency shifts of

Love wave mode on CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz as a function of an
applied external magnetic field along the hard axis.
Fig. 7. (a) The measured S11 of ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz. The thickness
of ZnO is 200 nm. (b) The measured S11 of CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut excellent electrical insulation characteristic than the ZnO.
quartz. The thickness of CoFeB is 100 nm, and the thickness of ZnO is The combination of this structure, therefore would lead to
200 nm. (c) The measured S11 of CoFeB/ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz. The
thickness of CoFeB is 100 nm, and the thickness of ZnO is 600 nm. better electrical insulation of the electrodes from the metallic
CoFeB layer and thus a stronger response from the device.
performance of the sensor and to simultaneously realize a The SiO2 layer is proposed to be deposited as an insulating
temperature compensation, a CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦-cut layer between the CoFeB and the ZnO layers.
quartz multi-layered structure is proposed, as shown in The first-order TCF variation of the Love wave mode on the
Fig. 10. Because the SiO2 has a positive TCF, it can be CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦-cut quartz is illustrated in Fig. 11
easily compensated for the negative TCF of the ZnO and where TCF is calculated versus SiO2 thickness for two thick
CoFeB layers. Additionally, because of adding SiO2 , we ZnO layer (300 nm and 400 nm). The wavelength is 10 μm.
expect to have a higher thickness of ZnO for a compensated The thickness of the CoFeB film is 100 nm. As illustrated in
structure with less parasitic capacitance. The SiO2 has a more Fig. 11, the near zero TCF is obtained for two combinations of

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11298 IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, VOL. 20, NO. 19, OCTOBER 1, 2020

Fig. 10. The schematic of the CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/quartz multi-layered

structure.

Fig. 12. The measured frequency-temperature characteristics of

Love wave mode on CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz and
SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz.

Fig. 11. The TCF variations of Love wave mode on

CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz as a function of SiO2 thicknesses.

ZnO and SiO2 thicknesses: hZnO = 300 nm; hSiO2 = 250 nm

Fig. 13. The measured S11 of CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz.
and hZnO = 400 nm; hSiO2 = 400 nm. The couple of hZnO
and hSiO2 will be chosen depending on aimed application. Note
that for additional ZnO thicknesses, new couples of hZnO and frequency-temperature characteristics of Love wave mode
hSiO2 leading to achieve zero TCF could be obtained. This on CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz and SiO2 / ZnO/
enable more flexibility to design SAW device when operating ST+90◦-cut quartz. The measured TCF value of CoFeB/SiO2 /
frequency is fixed by application aimed. Moreover, in the ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz is 0.1 ppm/◦C. The temperature
both cases, the total thickness (hZnO + hSiO2 ) are respectively compensation is achieved well. The measured S11 of the
550 nm and 800 nm. This total thickness is enough to ensure CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz resonator is shown in
a good electrical isolation between IDTs and the CoFeB layer. Fig. 13. The Love wave mode on CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦-
Note that thicknesses leading to achieve zero TCF SAW device cut quartz operates at 409.63 MHz. It can be seen that there
are proportional to considered wavelength. Thus operating at is little frequency change at 25 ◦ C and 60 ◦ C. The base line
high frequency will requires thinner film. The combination of the S11 signal is around −2.6 dB. The S11 signal quality
of SiO2 and ZnO will be also the choice solution for higher is improved and more reliable than those in Fig. 7 (b) and (c)
frequency bands. due to the SiO2 layer with a good electrical isolation.
One-port CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz resonators The displacement distribution for the Love wave mode at the
were fabricated using lithography and lift-off process. The resonance frequency on CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz
300 nm ZnO layer was deposited by RF sputtering at 150 W is shown in Fig. 14. The ZnO thickness is 300 nm, and SiO2
with 3×10−3 mbar and 8 cm3 /min flow rate of both argon (Ar) thickness is 250 nm. It is found that the most of the energy of
and oxygen (O2 ). Then, 250 nm SiO2 was deposited on the the SH component is concentrated in the top surface, and the
ZnO layer by RF sputtering at 100 W with 4 × 10−3 mbar concentration is improved by adding SiO2 layer compared to
and 8 cm3 /min flow rate of Ar. The 100 nm thick CoFeB the displacement distribution in Fig. 8(b).
film was deposited on the top surface of the SiO2 layer Fig. 15 illustrates the frequency variations of the Love
by DC magnetron sputtering of a 2-inch target at 300 W wave mode on CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz as a
with 5 × 10−3 mbar pressure of Ar. The used apparatus is function of the applied magnetic field along the hard axis
an ultra-high vacuum equipment “DP 850” from Alliance at the room temperature. The ZnO thickness is 300 nm,
Concept, Annecy, France. Fig. 12 illustrates the measured and SiO2 thickness is 250 nm. The hard axis is parallel

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YANG et al.: ENHANCED PERFORMANCE LOVE WAVE MAGNETIC FIELD SENSORS 11299

sensitivity that is more than three times sensitivity of 100 nm

CoFeB/200 nm ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz.
Fig. 16 illustrates the Q variations of the Love wave mode
versus the applied magnetic field along the hard axis. Strong
variations were recorded between −10 mT and 10 mT. How-
ever, the Q factor is almost constant when the magnetic field
magnitude is over 20 mT.

IV. C ONCLUSION
In this study, we developed a numerical model to success-
fully determine the response of multilayered SAW devices to
Fig. 14. The displacement distribution of Love wave mode along the
depth of CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz. both temperature as well as magnetic field. The simulated
responses were also successfully validated by experimental
results.
A Love wave mode on the CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/quartz struc-
ture with a zero TCF is also discussed as an improve-
ment over the CoFeB/ZnO/quartz device with respect to an
enhanced magnetic field sensitivity and S11 response. The
sensor response is improved by adding the SiO2 layer. The
addition of SiO2 layer brings a new degree of liberty leading
to achieve zero TCF devices with various combinations of
ZnO and SiO2 thicknesses. More flexibility is then allowed
to further design reliable and high performance magnetic field
SAW sensors including in Giga Hertz frequency bands.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Fig. 15. The relative frequency shifts of Love wave mode on Part of experiments were carried out on IJL Project TUBE-
CoFeB/SiO2 /ZnO/ST+90◦ -cut quartz as a function of an applied exter- Davm equipment funded by FEDER (EU), Region Grand Est,
nal magnetic field along the hard axis.
Métropole Grand Nancy.

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[12] W. Wang, Y. Jia, X. Xue, Y. Liang, and Z. Du, “Grating-patterned FeCo Prince Mengue was born in Oyem, Gabon,
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Forum, 2003, pp. 903–906. pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the Micro and
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[18] Y. Yang, H. Mishra, Q. Zhang, S. Hage-Ali, T. Han, and O. Elmazria,
“A weak form nonlinear model for thermal sensitivity of love wave Sami Hage-Ali (Member, IEEE) was born in
mode on layered structures,” IEEE Trans. Ultrason., Ferroelectr., Freq. Strasbourg, France, in 1982. He received the
Control, vol. 67, no. 6, pp. 1275–1283, Jun. 2020. Engineering degree from the École Centrale de
[19] H. B. Huang, J. M. Hu, T. N. Yang, X. Q. Ma, and L. Q. Chen, “Strain- Lille, the M.S. degree in micro-nanotechnology
assisted current-induced magnetization reversal in magnetic tunnel junc- and the second master’s degree in interna-
tions: A micromagnetic study with phase-field microelasticity,” Appl. tional projects engineering from Lille 1 University
Phys. Lett., vol. 105, no. 12, Sep. 2014, Art. no. 122407. in 2005 and 2006, respectively, and the Ph.D.
[20] H. Zhou, A. Talbi, N. Tiercelin, and O. B. Matar, “Theoretical and degree in micro-nanotechnology, acoustics and
experimental study of multilayer piezo-magnetic structure based surface telecommunications from the École Centrale de
acoustic wave devices for high sensitivity magnetic sensor,” in Proc. Lille in 2011. He became a Postdoctoral Fellow at
IEEE Int. Ultrason. Symp. (IUS), Jul. 2013, pp. 212–215. the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign,
[21] H. F. Tiersten, “Perturbation theory for linear electroelastic equations USA. Since 2014, he has been an Associate Professor with the Université
for small fields superposed on a bias,” J. Acoust. Soc. Amer., vol. 64, de Lorraine and also with the Micro-Nanosystems Group, Institut Jean
no. 3, pp. 832–837, 1978. Lamour, Nancy, France. His research interests include surface acoustic
[22] B. Miao, Y. Millev, L. Sun, B. You, W. Zhang, and H. Ding, “Thickness- wave sensors, flexible/stretchable electronics, micro-nanosystems, and
driven spin reorientation transition in ultrathin films,” Sci. China Phys., microwaves and antennas. Dr. Hage-Ali was awarded a Fulbright Grant
Mech. Astron., vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 70–84, Jan. 2013. in 2011. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the IEEE France
[23] A. Gayen, G. K. Prasad, S. Mallik, S. Bedanta, and A. Perumal, “Effects Section Sensors Council Chapter.
of composition, thickness and temperature on the magnetic properties
of amorphous CoFeB thin films,” J. Alloys Compounds, vol. 694,
pp. 823–832, Feb. 2017.

Sébastien Petit-Watelot is a Professor with

the Institut Jean Lamour, Université de Lor-
raine, Nancy, France. His research interests
include spintronics, nanomagnetism, nanoelec-
Yang Yang (Graduate Student Member, IEEE) tronics, and nanomagnetic materials.
was born in Jiangsu, China. He received the B.E.
degree from the University of Electronic Science
and Technology of China in 2015. He is currently
pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the School of
Electronic Information and Electrical Engineer-
ing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His cur-
rent research interests include wireless surface
acoustic wave sensors and signal processing.

Daniel Lacour received the Ph.D. degree

in 2002.
He is a Condensed Mater Physicist. After the
Ph.D., he was dedicated to tunnel magneto-
resistance and its applications (done in close
Harshad Mishra (Member, IEEE) was born in collaboration between the Université de Lor-
Odisha, India, in 1989. He received the M.S. raine and the Laboratory of A. Fert). He worked
degree from IIT Madras, India, in 2016, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hitachi GST
the Ph.D. degree from the Institut Jean Lam- Laboratory, San Jose, CA, USA, from 2003 to
our, Université de Lorraine, France, in 2019. 2005. During this period, he studied magnetic
He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher with nano-devices. In 2006, he was appointed to the
Aalto University, Finland. His research interests National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Nancy, France, as a
include the development and optimization of Research Staff Member. His field of expertise addresses spintronic and
magnetic field sensors using micro-structured nano-magnetism. Taking profit of the fundamental knowledge he has
magnetoelastic thin films, devices based on sur- acquired on the behavior of magnetic materials at the micro nanoscale.
face acoustic waves, nanofabrication technolo- He spent a part of his time research time on the development of
gies, and exploring the interactions between elastic waves and magnons sensors having a working principle based on magnetic material. He is
at the mechanical quantum limit. the 2007 Nobel Prize Winner.

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YANG et al.: ENHANCED PERFORMANCE LOVE WAVE MAGNETIC FIELD SENSORS 11301

Michel Hehn received the Ph.D. degree from Tao Han (Member, IEEE) was born in Shan-
the University of Strasbourg in 1996. He joined dong, China, in 1973. He received the Ph.D.
the French National Center of Scientific degree in instrument science and technology
Research in 1998 and became a Professor at from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shang-
the University de Lorraine in 2006. He is hai, China, in 2002. He was a Visiting Scholar
a Specialist in material growth and in with Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, in 2003.
nanomagnetism/spintronics. He has coauthored He is currently a Professor with the School of
more than 240 papers in refereed international Electronic Information and Electrical Engineer-
journals and in proceeding of international ing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His current
conferences. In 2010, he won the Yves Rocard research interests include acoustic wave devices
2010 Price of the French Society of Physics for simulation, wireless surface acoustic wave sen-
the invention and the technological development of a new generation of sors systems, and ultrasound-based measurement. He is a Technical
magnetic sensors for ASB for the SNR Society. Program Committee Member of the IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium.

Omar Elmazria (Senior Member, IEEE) was a

Guest Professor with several Universities around
the world (SFU, Canada, IoA, Chinese Academy
of Sciences, and UCF, USA). He is a Full Pro-
Hamid M’Jahed received the master’s degree fessor (Exceptional Class) with the Université de
in electronics and industrial automation Lorraine (UL) within the Institut Jean Lamour (IJL
in 2003. He joined the Institut Jean Lamour UMR 7198) for research and Polytech Nancy for
as a permanent National Center for Scientific teaching. He is also an Emeritus Member of the
Research (CNRS) Staff. He is also a CNRS Institut Universitaire de France (IUF). His current
Engineer of RF and Electronics. His main research focuses on SAW devices for communi-
research interests include study and realization cation systems and sensing applications. He is
of system query for SAW wireless sensors. the author or coauthor of more than 180 international scientific articles,
In 2011, he received the Crystal Award as the 4 international patents issued, and more than 120 communications in
Best Engineer in CNRS. international conferences. In 2017, he received the URSI-France Medal
from the International Union of Radio Science.

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