Piezoelectric Element

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a piezoelectric element, such as a three-terminal piezoelectric filter element used, e.g., in an IF (intermediate frequency) filter for an AM radio receiver, or a two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element used, e.g., in a ladder filter or in an oscillator.

2. Description of the Prior Art

An example of a three-terminal piezoelectric filter element 5 is shown in FIGS. 1a-1c, which includes a rectangular piezoelectric plate 1, a ring electrode 2, a center electrode 3 and a ground electrode 4. Ring electrode 2 and center electrode 3 are deposited on one surface of piezoelectric plate, and ground electrode 4 is deposited on the other surface thereof.

When the three-terminal piezoelectric filter elements are employed in an IF filter of an AM radio receiver, two or more filter elements 5 are connected in cascade with a coupling capacitor Co inserted in the data transmission line D, for example as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the data transmission line D is connected between two center electrodes, but it can be connected between two ring electrodes, or between center and ring electrodes. The capacitor Co inserted in the data transmission line is provided for reducing the coupling efficiency.

From the viewpoint of minimizing the size of the IF filter, it is preferable to eliminate the coupling capacitor Co which is usually provided externally to the chip element containing other circuit elements. However, when the coupling capacitor Co is eliminated so as to directly connect the center electrodes, the coupling efficiency will not be decreased to the required level. In this case, the coupling efficiency may be reduced by reducing the electrostatic capacitance between the center electrode 3 and ground electrode 4, and also reducing the conversion efficiency between the electric signal and the mechanical movement in the filter element. However, when the center electrode is reduced in size, there arises another problem namely that unwanted spurious mode vibration will be produced at frequency ranges of 3, 5 and 7 times the filtering frequency. Therefore, in the prior art, no IF filter of the above described type, without a coupling capacitor Co, has been practically used.

An example of a two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element 55 is shown in FIGS. 3a-3c, which includes a rectangular piezoelectric plate 57, a first electrode 58 and a second electrode 59. The first electrode 58 and the second electrode 59 are deposited on the opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric plate. The size of the first electrode 58 is smaller than that of the second electrode 59 so as to reduce the electrostatic capacitance. In use, at least one serial connected two-terminal piezoelectric resonator 55 and at least one parallel connected two-terminal piezoelectric resonator 56 are connected in a manner shown in FIG. 4 to define a ladder filter between input terminals 51 and 52 and output terminals 53 and 54.

However, when the first electrode is reduced in size, there arises the same problem as mentioned above, namely that unwanted spurious mode vibration will be produced at frequency ranges of 1.5, 3, 5 and 7 of the resonance frequency.

The present invention has been developed with a view to substantially solving the above described disadvantages and has for its principal object to provide an improved piezoelectric element, such as a three-terminal piezoelectric filter element, or a two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element, which has a small electrostatic capacitance and less spurious mode vibrations.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved piezoelectric element of the above described type which can readily be manufactured.

In accomplishing these and other objects, a three-terminal piezoelectric filter element according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a quadrilateral piezoelectric plate having first and second surfaces, a ring electrode deposited on the first surface at the periphery of the piezoelectric plate, a center electrode deposited on the first surface at an area within the ring electrode, and a ground electrode deposited on the second surface of the piezoelectric plate. The center electrode has least one arm extending along at least one diagonal of the piezoelectric plate.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element comprises a quadrilateral piezoelectric plate having first and second surfaces, a first electrode deposited on the first surface, and a second electrode deposited on the second surface of the piezoelectric plate. The first electrode is defined by a rim portion provided at the periphery of the piezoelectric plate, and a center portion having at least one arm extending along at least one diagonal of the piezoelectric plate.

These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, throughout which like parts are designated by like reference numerals, and in which:

FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c show a three-terminal piezoelectric filter element according to a prior art design;

FIG. 2 shows a circuit diagram of an IF filter employing the three-terminal piezoelectric filter element of FIGS. 1a-1c;

FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c show a two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element according to a prior art design;

FIG. 4 shows a circuit diagram of a ladder filter employing the two-terminal piezoelectric resonant element of FIGS. 3a 3c;

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an impedance characteristic of a rectangular piezoelectric element;

FIGS. 6a-6l are diagrams showing charge distributions on the rectangular piezoelectric element for the dominant mode vibration and various spurious mode vibrations;

FIGS. 7a, 7b and 7c are top plan view, bottom plan view and cross-sectional view of a three-terminal piezoelectric filter element according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 are top plan views showing different modifications of the three-terminal piezoelectric filter element of FIGS. 7a-7c;

FIGS. 13a, 13b and 13c are fragmentary views, showing different shapes for the ends of the electrode arms in the first embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a circuit diagram of an IF filter for an AM radio receiver, employing the piezoelectric filter elements of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a circuit diagram similar to FIG. 14, but further employing a transformer;

FIG. 16 is a circuit diagram, which is the same as that of FIG. 15, but employing a prior art piezoelectric filter element together with a coupling capacitor;

FIG. 17 is a graph showing a frequency characteristic of the IF filter of FIG. 14;

FIG. 18 is a graph showing a spurious characteristic of the IF filter of FIG. 14;

FIG. 19 is a graph showing a frequency characteristic of the IF filter of FIG. 15;

FIG. 20 is a graph showing a spurious characteristic of the IF filter of FIG. 15;

FIG. 21 is a graph showing a frequency characteristic of the IF filter of FIG. 16;

FIG. 22 is a graph showing a spurious characteristic of the IF filter of FIG. 16;

FIGS. 23a, 23b and 23c are top plan view, bottom plan view, and cross-sectional view of a two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 24 is a top plan view showing a modification of the second embodiment.

Before the description of preferred embodiments of the present invention proceeds, spurious mode vibrations will be explained in connection with FIG. 5 and FIGS. 6a-6l.

To investigate spurious mode vibrations, an impedance characteristic of a piezoelectric element test model, having a dimension of 4.9.times.4.9.times.0.5 (mm) with electrodes deposited entirely on the opposite flat surfaces, was first detected. The materials used for the piezoelectric element test model were the same as for those shown in FIG. 1a or FIG. 3a or in any of the elements used in the present invention. The impedance characteristic as detected is shown in FIG. 5, in which the peak "a" represents an impedance change at the frequency for the required or dominant mode of vibration, and other peaks "b"-"l" represent impedance changes at the frequencies for the spurious mode vibrations.

The obtained impedance characteristic was compared with an impedance characteristic obtained by computer simulation of the same model through the finite element method, and it was found that the impedance characteristic obtained by the computer simulation was very similar to the one obtained through the actual test. Further using the computer, charge distributions for the different vibration frequencies were obtained. In FIG. 6a, a charge distribution of the dominant mode of vibration is shown. The rectangular area indicated by a dotted line represents the configuration of the piezoelectric element, and the area surrounded by a solid line represents the distribution of the charges, such as (-) charges, observed at one instant. At the next instant, e.g., a half cycle later, the area surrounded by the solid line will be filled with the (+) charges. FIG. 6b shows a charge distribution of the first spurious mode of vibration which corresponds to the peak "b" shown in FIG. 5. Similarly, FIGS. 6c-6l show charge distributions of the spurious mode of vibrations corresponding to the peaks "c"-"l" shown in FIG. 5. As apparent from FIG. 5, since the spurious mode vibrations produced at peaks "c", "g", "h" and "i" are very weak, having a very small amplitude, they can be disregarded. The piezoelectric element according to the present invention is so arranged as to suppress or eliminate the spurious mode vibrations in a manner described below, particularly the spurious mode vibrations produced at peaks "b", "e", "f", "j", "k" and "l", which have charge distributions shown in FIGS. 6b, 6e, 6f, 6j, 6k and 6l, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 7a, 7b and 7c, a three-terminal piezoelectric filter element 11 according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. The three-terminal piezoelectric filter element 11 comprises a quadrilateral, such as a rectangular, piezoelectric plate 1 having opposite flat surfaces. A ground electrode 4 is deposited on the entirety of one of the flat surfaces of plate 1, and a ring electrode 2 and center electrode 13 are deposited on the other flat surface. Ring electrode 2 is provided at the rim of said other flat surface and center electrode 13 is provided within the area surrounded by ring electrode 2. According to the first embodiment, ring electrode 2 has four arms a1, a2, a3 and a4 extending from the center of the piezoelectric plate along the diagonals d1 and d2 in a shape of an X. When center electrode 13 is arranged as shown in FIG. 7a, the area of center electrode 13 is reduced, when compared with that shown in FIG. 1a, thus reducing the electrostatic capacitance. The electrostatic capacitance can be easily changed by the change of width of each of the arms a1, a2 a3 and a4. The spurious mode vibrations are suppressed in a manner described below.

The spurious mode vibration at peak "d" has the charge distribution shown in FIG. 6d wherein the (+) charges are located in the center and the (-) charges are located at four corners. When the center electrode 13 is applied, arms a1-a4 bridge the (-) and (+) charge regions, thereby counterbalancing the charges accumulated in these regions to nullify the distribution shown in FIG. 6d. Thus, the spurious mode vibration is eliminated or suppressed. In a similar manner, by the diagonally extended arms, the charge distributions shown in FIGS. 6e, 6f, 6j, 6k and 6l are nullified to suppress the spurious mode vibrations.

When the charge distribution has regions located at the peripheral portions of the piezoelectric element, such as charge distributions shown in FIGS. 6b, 6e and 6f, ring electrode 2 serves to counterbalance these charges.

Accordingly, when the piezoelectric filter element 11, according to the present invention, is employed in an IF filter, such as shown in FIG. 2, it is not necessary to insert a coupling capacitor Co in the data transmission line D, thereby making it possible to provide a compact size IF filter.

Next, various modifications of the first embodiment will be described in connection with FIGS. 8-13c.

According to the present invention, the piezoelectric plate 1 is not necessarily rectangular, but can be arranged in other shapes such as a parallelogram, as shown in FIG. 8 or 10.

Also, according to the present invention, the number of arms for the center electrode 13 can be less than four, such as three, as shown in FIG. 11 or 12, or two, as shown in FIG. 9 or 10, provided that arms are extending along the diagonals d1 and/or d2. When a three-arm structure is to be employed, any three of the four arms a1-a4 may be provided so as to be arranged in a shape of T. For example, in FIG. 12, arms a1, a2 and a4 are provided, but instead, arms a1, a3 and a4 may be provided. Also, when a two-arm structure is to be employed, any two of the four arms may be provided so as to be arranged either straight, or in a shape of V. For example, in FIG. 10 arms a2 and a4 are provided, but instead, arms a1 and a3 may be provided. Alternately, arms a1 and a2, or arms a2 and a3 may be provided.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the end of each arm, which has been shown as tapered, may be rounded, as shown in FIG. 13a, or may be presented in a cut edge form to provide two right angle corners as shown in FIG. 13b. These corners may be rounded, such as shown in FIG. 13c.

Furthermore, although not shown, indents or projections may be formed in each arm. Also, the arms may be bent or curved, as long as the arms generally extend along the diagonal directions.

Two piezoelectric filter elements according to FIGS. 7a-7c are connected in the IF filter of an AM radio receiver, in a manner shown in FIG. 14, so as to obtain a frequency characteristic, a spurious characteristic, and various other filter data. In the test operation, signals having frequencies of 445-465 KHz and 0-10 MHz are inputted from a standard signal generator 21 to the first stage piezoelectric filter element 11a, and the signals outputted from the second stage piezoelectric filter element 11b are detected by a high frequency voltage meter 22. In the circuit of FIG. 14, the circuit elements have the following specifications:

Rg+R1=R2=3000.OMEGA.

C1=50 pF

The detected result is that FIG. 17 shows the frequency characteristic, FIG. 18 shows the spurious characteristic and the various filter data are shown in Table 1 below.

Referring to FIG. 15, another IF filter is shown which further has a transformer T1 connected at the input side of the first stage piezoelectric filter element 11a. In the circuit of FIG. 15, the circuit elements have the following specifications:

The same test operations are carried out for the circuit of FIG. 15, and the detected result is that FIG. 19 shows the frequency characteristic, FIG. 20 shows the spurious characteristic and the various filter data are shown in Table 2 below.

Referring to FIG. 16, a circuit similar to FIG. 15 is shown for the purpose of comparison. In place of the piezoelectric filter elements 11a and 11b, the prior art piezoelectric filter elements 5a and 5b, as shown in FIGS. 1a-1c, are provided, together with the coupling capacitor Co.

The same test operations are carried out for the circuit of FIG. 16, and the detected result is that FIG. 21 shows the frequency characteristic, FIG. 22 shows the spurious characteristic and the various filter data are shown in Table 3 below.

By the above test results, it is seen that the IF filter (FIG. 15) employing piezoelectric filter elements, according to the present invention, has operational characteristics similar to the IF filter (FIG. 16) employing prior art piezoelectric filter elements. In fact, the IF filter (FIG. 15) according to the present invention showed better spurious mode suppression than the IF filter (FIG. 16) of the prior art.

For example, when Tables 2 and 3 are compared, it is understood that the IF filter (FIG. 15) according to the present invention suppresses the spurious mode vibrations in the frequency range 0-3 MHz about 8 dB more than the IF filter (FIG. 16) of the prior art.

Also, the peak of the attenuation in the frequency region above the center frequency fo is about 58 dB for the IF filter (FIG. 15) according to the present invention, whereas the same is about 48 dB for the IF filter of the prior art. Thus, it can be said that the IF filter (FIG. 15) according to the present invention suppresses the thickness spurious mode vibrations in the frequency range 5.5-7 MHz about 10 dB more than the IF filter (FIG. 16) of the prior art. It is to be noted that piezoelectric filter elements 5a and 5b and piezoelectric filter elements 11a and 11b have different thickness. The suppression of the thickness spurious mode vibrations can be understood such that the surface charge caused by the thickness mode vibration will be intensely distributed at the center of the piezoelectric element so that the small size center electrode will result in the reduction of the driving efficiency.

Referring to FIGS. 23a, 23b and 23c, a two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element 61 according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown. The two-terminal resonator element 61 comprises a quadrilateral, such as a rectangular, piezoelectric plate 67 having opposite flat surfaces 67a and 67b. A first electrode 65 is deposited on one flat surface 67a and a second electrode 69 is deposited on the other flat surface 67b. The first electrode 65 is defined by a ring portion 62 extending to form a rectangular frame along the peripheral portion of the flat surface 67a and four arms a1, a2, a3 and a4 extending along the diagonals d1 and d2 from the four corners so as to define a cross within the ring portion. The second electrode 69 is deposited over the entirety of the flat surface 67b.

When the first electrode 65 is arranged in a manner shown in FIG. 23a the area of the first electrode 65 may be reduced, when compared with that shown in FIG. 1a, thus reducing the electrostatic capacitance. The electrostatic capacitance can be easily changed by changing the width of each of the arms a1, a2, a3 and a4. By means of a arms a1, a2, a3 and a4, the spurious mode vibrations may be suppressed in the same manner as described above.

The two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element according to the second embodiment may be varied in various manners. For example, the number of arms a1-a4 may be less than four, such as two arms a2 and a4, as shown in FIG. 24, so long as the arms extend generally along the diagonals d1 and/or d2. Also, the piezoelectric resonator element can be arranged in the shape of a parallelogram, as in the modification of the first embodiment.

When the piezoelectric resonator element of the present invention is employed in a ladder filter, at least one of the serial connected two-terminal piezoelectric resonator elements should be the two-terminal piezoelectric resonator element of the present invention shown in FIGS. 23a-23c, and other serial connected two-terminal piezoelectric resonator elements can be the ones according to the prior art, such as shown in FIGS. 3a-3c. The parallel connected two-terminal piezoelectric resonator elements should be the ones according to the prior art. When the ladder filter is arranged in a manner described above, the spurious mode vibrations can be suppressed and, at the same time, the ladder filter can be arranged in a compact size as explained below.

From the viewpoint of reducing the size of the ladder filter (FIG. 4), the number of the piezoelectric resonator elements should be reduced, and at the same time, the size of each resonator element should be reduced, but the required filter characteristics should not be lost. To this end, it is necessary to increase the electrostatic capacitance ratio of resonator 55, connected in series, to resonator 56, connected in parallel. This will result in the deterioration of the shape factor of the filter characteristic, but it can be improved by using resonators 55 and 56 having a large mechanical quality factor Qm. To increase the electrostatic capacitance ratio of resonator 55 to 56, the dielectric constant of the piezoelectric element 55 should be reduced and, at the same time, the thickness of the piezoelectric element 55 should be increased. Furthermore, the dielectric constant of the piezoelectric element 56 should be increased and, at the same time, the element 56 should be made thinner. However, if the piezoelectric element 55 is made thicker, the size of the ladder filter may not be reduced to the required size. Also, if the piezoelectric element 56 is made thinner, the piezoelectric element will be easily broken. However, by the use of the resonator elements of the present invention, the electrostatic capacitance can be easily controlled by changing the width of the arms a1-a4, without changing the required filter characteristics, or the thickness of the resonator element.

Although the present invention has been fully described with reference to several preferred embodiments, many modifications and variations thereof will now be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the scope of the present invention is therefore to be limited not by the details of the preferred embodiments described above, but only by the terms of the appended claims.