Model calculations of the strains associated with surface acoustic waves

Abstract

Magnon-phonon coupling has garnered increasing interest in condensed matter physics due to its fertile physics and potential applications in devices with novel functionalities. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are commonly employed as a source of coherent acoustic phonons. The strain associated with SAWs couples to magnetization of magnetic materials via magnetoelastic coupling and/or spin-rotation coupling. A typical SAW device is formed on a piezoelectric substrate with anisotropic crystal structure. Since the form of strain depends on the material parameters and structure of the SAW device, it is of vital importance to understand its character. In this paper, we present a comprehensive methodology to numerically calculate the SAW velocity, SAW excitation efficiency, lattice displacement and all strain components associated with SAW. LiNbO$_3$ is used as a prototypical material system. All quantities depend on the SAW propagation direction with respect to the crystalline axis and on the electrical boundary conditions. In contrast to non-piezoelectric isotropic media, we find that all shear strain components can be induced in LiNbO$_3$, with their amplitude and relative phase (with respect to the longitudinal strain) dependent on the propagation direction and the boundary conditions at the LiNbO$_3$ surface. These results offer a robust foundation for analyzing strain-driven magnon-phonon coupling mechanisms and contribute to designing strain-engineered functional magnonic and phononic devices.