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Title: High-gain leaky surface acoustic wave amplifier in epitaxial InGaAs on lithium niobate heterostructure

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5108724 · OSTI ID:1529154

Active surface acoustic wave components have the potential to transform RF front ends by consolidating functionalities that currently occur across multiple chip technologies, leading to reduced insertion loss from converting back and forth between acoustic and electronic domains in addition to improved size and power efficiency. This letter reflects a significant advance in these active devices with a compact, high-gain, and low-power leaky surface acoustic wave amplifier based on the acoustoelectric effect. Devices use an acoustically thin semi-insulating InGaAs surface film on a YX lithium niobate substrate to achieve exceptionally high acoustoelectric interaction strength via an epitaxial In0.53Ga0.47As(P)/InP quaternary layer structure and wafer-scale bonding. Here, we demonstrate 1.9 dB of gain per acoustic wavelength and power consumption of 90 mW for 30 dB of electronic gain. Despite the strong intrinsic leaky propagation loss, 5 dB of terminal gain is obtained for a semiconductor that is only 338 μm long due to state-of-the-art heterogenous integration and an improved material platform.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1529154
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1529412
Report Number(s):
SAND--2019-4833J; 675132
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Journal Name: Applied Physics Letters Journal Issue: 25 Vol. 114; ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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