Love Wave Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors as Biosensors and Magnetic Field Sensors

28th April 2022

Timing : 2 pm EST

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Acoustic wave sensors have proven to be powerful devices for the detection and quantification of different physical parameters. Love-wave sensors as a special type of surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors use shear horizontal waves guided in a layer on the surface of the sensor which increases the surface sensitivity for the quantities to be measured at this surface. The biosensor approach is based on a receptor/ligand recognition where binding of the ligand to the receptor results in a change in mass on the surface. Due to this mass loading, the propagation velocity of acoustic waves decreases, resulting in a reduction of resonance frequency or in alteration of the phase shift between output and input signal. Using shear horizontal waves reduces the energy dissipation of the acoustic wave to the fluid and allows label-free, real-time, and quantitative measurements of protein and nucleic acid binding events in liquid environments. The principle of the magnetic field sensor is based on the change of the elastic properties of magnetostrictive materials in magnetic fields, the so-called E effect. The Love wave SAW sensor uses shear horizontal acoustic surface waves that are guided by a fused silica layer with an amorphous magnetostrictive single or multilayer film on top. The velocity of these waves follows the magnetoelastically-induced changes of the shear modulus according to the magnetic field present. The SAW sensor is operated in a delay line configuration and translates the magnetic field to a related phase shift. In my talk, I will present the general characteristics of Love Wave SAW sensors and their fabrication, and discuss their characteristics as biosensors and as magnetic field sensors using selected examples.



Snow
Eckhard Quandt
Professor, Materials Science
Kiel University, Kiel, Germany

Eckhard Quandt received his Diploma and Dr.-Ing. degrees in physics from the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, in 1986 and 1990, respectively. Since 2006 he is a Professor for Materials Science with Kiel University, Kiel, Germany. His scientific focus is material research on smart materials and multiferroics and the use of these materials for the development of sensors and actuators. He is a member of Acatech, National Academy of Science and Engineering. Since October 2020 Eckhard Quandt is Vice President for Research at Kiel University.