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Bimorph Lithium Niobate Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers
Authors:
Vakhtang Chulukhadze,
Zihuan Liu,
Ziqian Yao,
Lezli Matto,
Tzu-Hsuan Hsu,
Nishanth Ravi,
Xiaoyu Niu,
Michael E. Liao,
Mark S. Goorsky,
Neal Hall,
Ruochen Lu
Abstract:
Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) are widely utilized in applications that demand mechanical resilience, thermal stability, and compact form factors. Recent efforts have sought to demonstrate that single-crystal lithium niobate (LN) is a promising PMUT material platform, offering high electromechanical coupling (k2) and bidirectional performance. In addition, advances in L…
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Piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) are widely utilized in applications that demand mechanical resilience, thermal stability, and compact form factors. Recent efforts have sought to demonstrate that single-crystal lithium niobate (LN) is a promising PMUT material platform, offering high electromechanical coupling (k2) and bidirectional performance. In addition, advances in LN film transfer technology have enabled high quality periodically poled piezoelectric films (P3F), facilitating a bimorph piezoelectric stack without intermediate electrodes. In this work, we showcase a bimorph PMUT incorporating a mechanically robust, 20 $μ$m thick P3F LN active layer. We establish the motivation for LN PMUTs through a material comparison, followed by extensive membrane geometry optimization and subsequent enhancement of the PMUT's k2. We demonstrate a 775 kHz flexural mode device with a quality factor (Q) of 200 and an extracted k2 of 6.4\%, yielding a high transmit efficiency of 65 nm/V with a mechanically robust active layer. We leverage the high performance to demonstrate extreme-temperature resilience, showcasing stable device operation up to 600 $^\circ$C and survival up to 900 $^\circ$C, highlighting LN's potential as a resilient PMUT platform.
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Submitted 5 March, 2026; v1 submitted 8 December, 2025;
originally announced December 2025.
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High thermal conductivity of rutile-GeO$_2$ films grown by MOCVD: $52.9~\mathrm{W\,m^{-1}\,K^{-1}}$
Authors:
Imteaz Rahaman,
Michael E. Liao,
Ziqi Wang,
Eugene Y. Kwon,
Rui Sun,
Botong Li,
Hunter D. Ellis,
Bobby G. Duersch,
Dali Sun,
Jun Liu,
Mark S. Goorsky,
Michael A. Scarpulla,
Kai Fu
Abstract:
Rutile germanium dioxide (r-GeO2) has recently emerged as a promising ultrawide-bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor owing to its wide bandgap (~4.4-5.1 eV), ambipolar doping potential, and high theoretical thermal conductivity. However, experimental data on the thermal conductivity of r-GeO2 epitaxial layers have not been reported, primarily due to challenges in phase control and surface roughness. Here,…
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Rutile germanium dioxide (r-GeO2) has recently emerged as a promising ultrawide-bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor owing to its wide bandgap (~4.4-5.1 eV), ambipolar doping potential, and high theoretical thermal conductivity. However, experimental data on the thermal conductivity of r-GeO2 epitaxial layers have not been reported, primarily due to challenges in phase control and surface roughness. Here, we report a high thermal conductivity of 52.9 +/- 6.6 W m^-1 K^-1 for high-quality (002) r-GeO2 films grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and characterized using time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR). The phase control was achieved through a seed-driven stepwise crystallization (SDSC) approach, and the surface roughness was significantly reduced from 76 nm to 16 nm (locally as low as 1 A) via chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). These results highlight the promise of r-GeO2 as a UWBG oxide platform for power electronics applications.
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Submitted 31 October, 2025;
originally announced October 2025.
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Defects Evolution and Mg Segregation in Mg-implanted GaN with Ultra-High-Pressure Annealing
Authors:
Y. Wang,
K. Huynh,
M. E. Liao,
J. Tweedie,
P. Reddy,
M. H. Breckenridge,
R. Collazo,
Z. Sitar,
M. Bockowski,
X. Huang,
M. Wojcik,
M. S. Goorsky
Abstract:
Annealing Mg-implanted homoepitaxial GaN at temperatures at or above 1400 °C eliminates the formation of inversion domains and leads to improved dopant activation efficiency. Extended defects in the form of inversion domains contain electrically inactive Mg after post-implantation annealing at temperatures as high as 1300 °C (one GPa N2 overpressure), which results in a low dopant activation effic…
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Annealing Mg-implanted homoepitaxial GaN at temperatures at or above 1400 °C eliminates the formation of inversion domains and leads to improved dopant activation efficiency. Extended defects in the form of inversion domains contain electrically inactive Mg after post-implantation annealing at temperatures as high as 1300 °C (one GPa N2 overpressure), which results in a low dopant activation efficiency. Triple axis X-ray data show that the implant-induced strain is fully relieved after annealing at 1300 °C for 10 min, indicating that the strain-inducing point defects formed during implantation have reconfigured. However, annealing at temperatures of 1400 °C to 1500 °C (also one GPa N2 overpressure) eliminates the presence of the inversion domains. Annealing at these higher temperatures and for a longer time does not have any further impact on the strain state. While residual defects, such as dislocation loops, still exist after annealing at and above 1400 °C, chemical analysis at the dislocation loops shows no sign of Mg segregation. Meanwhile, an overall decreasing trend in the dislocation loop size and density is observed after annealing at higher temperatures and longer times. Earlier work [1] addressing electrical measurements of these types of samples showed that annealing at 1400 °C leads to a dopant activation efficiency that is an order of magnitude higher than that observed at 1300 °C. This work complements the earlier work by identifying the microscopic defects (inversion domains) which incorporate Mg, and points to the benefits, in terms of defect density and p-type dopant activation, of using higher temperatures annealing cycles to activate Mg in GaN.
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Submitted 21 April, 2022;
originally announced April 2022.
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Experimental Observation of Localized Interfacial Phonon Modes
Authors:
Zhe Cheng,
Ruiyang Li,
Xingxu Yan,
Glenn Jernigan,
Jingjing Shi,
Michael E. Liao,
Nicholas J. Hines,
Chaitanya A. Gadre,
Juan Carlos Idrobo,
Eungkyu Lee,
Karl D. Hobart,
Mark S. Goorsky,
Xiaoqing Pan,
Tengfei Luo,
Samuel Graham
Abstract:
Interfaces impede heat flow in micro/nanostructured systems. Conventional theories for interfacial thermal transport were derived based on bulk phonon properties of the materials making up the interface without explicitly considering the atomistic interfacial details, which are found critical to correctly describing thermal boundary conductance (TBC). Recent theoretical studies predicted the exist…
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Interfaces impede heat flow in micro/nanostructured systems. Conventional theories for interfacial thermal transport were derived based on bulk phonon properties of the materials making up the interface without explicitly considering the atomistic interfacial details, which are found critical to correctly describing thermal boundary conductance (TBC). Recent theoretical studies predicted the existence of localized phonon modes at the interface which can play an important role in understanding interfacial thermal transport. However, experimental validation is still lacking. Through a combination of Raman spectroscopy and high-energy resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) in a scanning transmission electron microscope, we report the first experimental observation of localized interfacial phonon modes at ~12 THz at a high-quality epitaxial Si-Ge interface. These modes are further confirmed using molecular dynamics simulations with a high-fidelity neural network interatomic potential, which also yield TBC agreeing well with that measured from time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) experiments. Simulations find that the interfacial phonon modes have obvious contribution to the total TBC. Our findings may significantly contribute to the understanding of interfacial thermal transport physics and have impact on engineering TBC at interfaces in applications such as electronics thermal management and thermoelectric energy conversion.
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Submitted 29 May, 2021;
originally announced May 2021.
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A Refined Model for Epitaxial Tilt of Epilayers Grown on Miscut Substrates
Authors:
Michael E. Liao,
Mark S. Goorsky
Abstract:
A refined model of the origin of epitaxial tilt on miscut (or vicinal) substrates is explained by employing crystal modeling and reciprocal space analysis. The Nagai tilt model (H. Nagai, J. Appl. Phys., 45, 3789 (1974)) is often cited to explain the tilt of lattice planes in a pseudomorphic layer deposited on a miscut substrate that is observed in high resolution x-ray diffraction measurements. H…
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A refined model of the origin of epitaxial tilt on miscut (or vicinal) substrates is explained by employing crystal modeling and reciprocal space analysis. The Nagai tilt model (H. Nagai, J. Appl. Phys., 45, 3789 (1974)) is often cited to explain the tilt of lattice planes in a pseudomorphic layer deposited on a miscut substrate that is observed in high resolution x-ray diffraction measurements. Here, however, we demonstrate how that model incorrectly describes how the substrate applies biaxial stress onto the epitaxial layer. Most importantly, the stress applied to an epitaxial layer on a miscut substrate is not along a low index plane. For example, the surface plane of a nominally (001) cubic substrate with a miscut of 10° towards the [110] is the (118) plane and the stress applied is parallel along the (118) plane and not (001). Furthermore, under the framework of reciprocal space, the {00l} reflections would be symmetric reflections for on-axis substrates but asymmetric reflections for miscut substrates. The tilt that is experimentally observed between the low index substrate planes and the epitaxial layer planes ((001) for example with a miscut substrate) matches that which is predicted by treating the low index reflections as asymmetric reflections. An epitaxial tilt equation is provided which describes the tilt between epitaxial and substrate layers based on the lattice parameter mismatch as well as the Poisson ratio of the layer that is applicable to any crystal system.
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Submitted 9 June, 2020;
originally announced June 2020.
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Wafer-scale Heterogeneous Integration of Monocrystalline \b{eta}-Ga2O3 Thin Films on SiC for Thermal Management by Ion-Cutting Technique
Authors:
Zhe Cheng,
Fengwen Mu,
Tiangui You,
Wenhui Xu,
Jingjing Shi,
Michael E. Liao,
Yekan Wang,
Kenny Huynh,
Tadatomo Suga,
Mark S. Goorsky,
Xin Ou,
Samuel Graham
Abstract:
The ultra-wide bandgap, high breakdown electric field, and large-area affordable substrates make \b{eta}-Ga2O3 promising for applications of next-generation power electronics while its thermal conductivity is at least one order of magnitude lower than other wide/ultrawide bandgap semiconductors. To avoid the degradation of device performance and reliability induced by the localized Joule-heating,…
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The ultra-wide bandgap, high breakdown electric field, and large-area affordable substrates make \b{eta}-Ga2O3 promising for applications of next-generation power electronics while its thermal conductivity is at least one order of magnitude lower than other wide/ultrawide bandgap semiconductors. To avoid the degradation of device performance and reliability induced by the localized Joule-heating, aggressive thermal management strategies are essential, especially for high-power high-frequency applications. This work reports a scalable thermal management strategy to heterogeneously integrate wafer-scale monocrystalline \b{eta}-Ga2O3 thin films on high thermal conductivity SiC substrates by ion-cutting technique. The thermal boundary conductance (TBC) of the \b{eta}-Ga2O3-SiC interfaces and thermal conductivity of the \b{eta}-Ga2O3 thin films were measured by Time-domain Thermoreflectance (TDTR) to evaluate the effects of interlayer thickness and thermal annealing. Materials characterizations were performed to understand the mechanisms of thermal transport in these structures. The results show that the \b{eta}-Ga2O3-SiC TBC values increase with decreasing interlayer thickness and the \b{eta}-Ga2O3 thermal conductivity increases more than twice after annealing at 800 oC due to the removal of implantation-induced strain in the films. A Callaway model is built to understand the measured thermal conductivity. Small spot-to-spot variations of both TBC and Ga2O3 thermal conductivity confirm the uniformity and high-quality of the bonding and exfoliation. Our work paves the way for thermal management of power electronics and \b{eta}-Ga2O3 related semiconductor devices.
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Submitted 26 May, 2020;
originally announced May 2020.
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Thermal Conductance Across Harmonic-matched Epitaxial Al-sapphire Heterointerfaces
Authors:
Zhe Cheng,
Yee Rui Koh,
Habib Ahmad,
Renjiu Hu,
Jingjing Shi,
Michael E. Liao,
Yekan Wang,
Tingyu Bai,
Ruiyang Li,
Eungkyu Lee,
Evan A. Clinton,
Christopher M. Matthews,
Zachary Engel,
Yates,
Tengfei Luo,
Mark S. Goorsky,
William Doolittle,
Zhiting Tian,
Patrick E. Hopkins,
Samuel Graham
Abstract:
A unified understanding of interfacial thermal transport is missing due to the complicated nature of interfaces which involves complex factors such as interfacial bonding, interfacial mixing, surface chemistry, crystal orientation, roughness, contamination, and interfacial disorder. This is especially true for metal nonmetal interfaces which incorporate multiple fundamental heat transport mechanis…
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A unified understanding of interfacial thermal transport is missing due to the complicated nature of interfaces which involves complex factors such as interfacial bonding, interfacial mixing, surface chemistry, crystal orientation, roughness, contamination, and interfacial disorder. This is especially true for metal nonmetal interfaces which incorporate multiple fundamental heat transport mechanisms such as elastic and inelastic phonon scattering as well as electron phonon coupling in the metal and across the interface. All these factors jointly affect thermal boundary conductance (TBC). As a result, the experimentally measured interfaces may not be the same as the ideally modelled interfaces, thus obfuscating any conclusions drawn from experimental and modeling comparisons. This work provides a systematic study of interfacial thermal conductance across well controlled and ultraclean epitaxial (111) Al parallel (0001) sapphire interfaces, known as harmonic matched interface. A comparison with thermal models such as atomistic Green s function (AGF) and a nonequilibrium Landauer approach shows that elastic phonon scattering dominates the interfacial thermal transport of Al sapphire interface. By scaling the TBC with the Al heat capacity, a nearly constant transmission coefficient is observed, indicating that the phonons on the Al side limits the Al sapphire TBC. This nearly constant transmission coefficient validates the assumptions in AGF and nonequilibrium Landauer calculations. Our work not only provides a benchmark for interfacial thermal conductance across metal nonmetal interfaces and enables a quantitative study of TBC to validate theoretical thermal carrier transport mechanisms, but also acts as a reference when studying how other factors impact TBC.
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Submitted 23 September, 2019; v1 submitted 13 June, 2019;
originally announced June 2019.