Picosecond Photoacoustic Metrology of SiO2 and LiNbO3 Layer Systems Used for High Frequency Surface-Acoustic-Wave Filters

Many applications of thin films necessitate detailed information about their thicknesses and sound velocities. Here, we study SiO2/LiNbO3 layer systems by picosecond photoacoustic metrology and measure the sound velocities of the respective layers and the film thickness of SiO2, which pose crucial information for the fabrication of surface-acoustic-wave filters for communication technology. Additionally, we utilize the birefringence and the accompanying change in the detection sensitivity of coherent acoustic phonons in the LiNbO3 layer to infer information about the LiNbO3 orientation and the layer interface.