Surface Acoustic Wave Devices and Sensors - A Short Review On Design and Modelling by Impulse Response

A Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) is a wave propagating along the surface of an elastic substrate with an amplitude that typically decays exponentially with depth into the substrate. To generate SAWs, an Interdigital Transducer (IDT) is used which can also act as a source or receiver of SAW. The present paper attempts to review the latest research work done in the last twenty years in design and computational modelling of such devices. Of the many computational models available, the Impulse Response model is selected, adopted and MATLAB is employed as a modelling tool for the simulation of the SAW device. Modelling results of a SAW delay line device functioning at a center frequency of 400 MHz with 25 finger pairs are studied and presented.