Cryogenic Loss Limits in Microwave Epitaxial AlN Acoustic Resonators

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gulupalli, Hemant, Choudhury, Navnil, Xie, Jiacheng, Wu, Yufeng, Xing, Huili Grace, Tang, Hong X., Jena, Debdeep, Basu, Kanad, Zhao, Wenwen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910130175475712
author Gulupalli, Hemant
Choudhury, Navnil
Xie, Jiacheng
Wu, Yufeng
Xing, Huili Grace
Tang, Hong X.
Jena, Debdeep
Basu, Kanad
Zhao, Wenwen
author_facet Gulupalli, Hemant
Choudhury, Navnil
Xie, Jiacheng
Wu, Yufeng
Xing, Huili Grace
Tang, Hong X.
Jena, Debdeep
Basu, Kanad
Zhao, Wenwen
contents Aluminum nitride (AlN)-based thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs) are promising compact platforms for 6G communications and quantum memory hardware, enabled by their integrable acoustic modes with high quality factors. However, temperature-dependent acoustic dissipation ultimately limits device performance. In this work, we fabricated a 16 GHz epitaxial AlN FBAR as a test platform, performed small-signal RF measurements from 6.5 K to 300 K, and developed a physics-based model to estimate the fundamental quality-factor limits of FBARs to cryogenic temperatures. The proposed model incorporates both intrinsic and extrinsic loss mechanisms, including an analytical anchor-radiation loss model for bulk acoustic wave resonators, rather than relying solely on finite-element simulations. Measured loaded quality factor (Q) decreases monotonically with temperature, from Qmax of approximately 1589 (Qf=24.79 THz) at 6.5 K to 363 at 294K (Qf=5.66 THz). This trend is consistent with the theoretical limit based on the resonator geometry and the chosen Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) stack. To demonstrate the generality of the physics-based framework, we further validate it by benchmarking against a 23 GHz high-overtone bulk acoustic resonator (HBAR) using previously reported data. The validated model provides a practical, transferable framework to interpret Q(T) limits in low-loss resonators by quantifying the temperature-dependent mechanisms that constrain Q, enabling the design of cryogenic microwave filter elements for superconducting quantum hardware.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_13364
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cryogenic Loss Limits in Microwave Epitaxial AlN Acoustic Resonators
Gulupalli, Hemant
Choudhury, Navnil
Xie, Jiacheng
Wu, Yufeng
Xing, Huili Grace
Tang, Hong X.
Jena, Debdeep
Basu, Kanad
Zhao, Wenwen
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Applied Physics
Aluminum nitride (AlN)-based thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonators (FBARs) are promising compact platforms for 6G communications and quantum memory hardware, enabled by their integrable acoustic modes with high quality factors. However, temperature-dependent acoustic dissipation ultimately limits device performance. In this work, we fabricated a 16 GHz epitaxial AlN FBAR as a test platform, performed small-signal RF measurements from 6.5 K to 300 K, and developed a physics-based model to estimate the fundamental quality-factor limits of FBARs to cryogenic temperatures. The proposed model incorporates both intrinsic and extrinsic loss mechanisms, including an analytical anchor-radiation loss model for bulk acoustic wave resonators, rather than relying solely on finite-element simulations. Measured loaded quality factor (Q) decreases monotonically with temperature, from Qmax of approximately 1589 (Qf=24.79 THz) at 6.5 K to 363 at 294K (Qf=5.66 THz). This trend is consistent with the theoretical limit based on the resonator geometry and the chosen Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) stack. To demonstrate the generality of the physics-based framework, we further validate it by benchmarking against a 23 GHz high-overtone bulk acoustic resonator (HBAR) using previously reported data. The validated model provides a practical, transferable framework to interpret Q(T) limits in low-loss resonators by quantifying the temperature-dependent mechanisms that constrain Q, enabling the design of cryogenic microwave filter elements for superconducting quantum hardware.
title Cryogenic Loss Limits in Microwave Epitaxial AlN Acoustic Resonators
topic Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.13364