Work

Focusing surface-acoustic-wave resonators on thin-film lithium niobate with transverse-mode suppression

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) resonators are a promising platform for constructing hybrid quantum systems, where confined acoustic waves enable strong interaction with various physical systems. Focusing SAW resonators, reducing mode volume while suppressing diffraction losses, have recently been investigated for application in such hybrid systems. However, the resonator leads to additional transverse-mode resonances, which cause undesired responses. In this work, we develop focusing SAW resonators on a thin-film lithium niobate on sapphire. A film thinner than the SAW wavelength allows a highly confined acoustic-wave mode to be localized on the substrate surface. By using contoured electrodes following a two-dimensional Gaussian beam shape, we make the SAW mode focused to nearly a diffraction-limited and confirm it via optical imaging. Furthermore, by engineering the spatial mode overlap of the interdigital transducer electrodes, we suppress the excitation of higher-order transverse modes.

Source: Physical Review Applied

DOI: 10.1103/5kq4-c6rr

Authors: Ryo Sasaki, Ryusuke Hisatomi, Rekishu Yamazaki, Yuya Yamaguchi, Yasunobu Nakamura, Atsushi Noguchi