Elastic band gaps for surface modes in an ultrasonic lithium niobate phononic crystal

If a number of experiments aiming at demonstrating fundamental properties of phononic crystals have been successfully implemented, a need for enlarging both the research and the application fields of these structures has more recently risen. Surface acoustic waves appear as appealing candidates to set a new ground for illustrative experiments involving some different physical concepts from those usually observed when dealing with bulk waves. The possibility of a direct excitation of these surface waves on a piezoelectric material, and their already extensive use in ultrasonics also make them an interesting basis for phononic crystal based, acoustic signal processing devices. In this work, wave propagation in a square lattice, piezoelectric phononic crystal consisting of air holes etched in a lithium niobate matrix is both theoretically and experimentally investigated. The crystal was fabricated by reactive ion etching of a bulk lithium niobate substrate. Standard interdigital transducers were used to characterize the phononic structure by direct electrical generation and detection of surface waves. A full band gap around 200 MHz was experimentally demonstrated, and close agreement is found with theoretical predictions.