A Review of Surface Acoustic Wave Devices and Their Current Applications

Millions of SAW bandpass filters are produced each year for TV IF application. Recently SAW resonators for oscillators at 680 MHz and other frequencies in CATV set-top convertors have reached volumes of tens of thousands per month. New applications for filters, resonators, and coded devices in security and identification systems are nearing high- volume production. Military applications have increased steadily over the last decade with some production programs requiring thousands of SAW components per year. Clearly, in recent years the use of SAW filters has increased dramatically. This paper reviews the present state-of-the-art performance of production SAW devices and their commercial and military applications.