Wide-Range Frequency Control in Magnetoacoustic Resonator

Acoustic resonators based on antiferromagnetic crystals of "easy plane" type, like alpha-Fe2O3 or FeBO3, are of interest for applications in magnetoacoustic sensors of electrical and mechanical values because of high sensitivity of their resonance frequency to variations of external magnetic field or mechanical stress. One of the requirements for magnetic control of resonators is a single-value dependence of resonance frequency on magnetic field strength. This requirement is violated when the geometry of resonator allows for crossover of acoustic modes in the range of magnetic field variation. Designing of resonators with frequency control in a wide range requires knowledge of field-dependent acoustic parameters of the crystals and appropriate method for calculation of the resonator eigenfrequencies. In this letter, we present the complete set of acoustic parameters deduced for alpha-Fe2O3 single crystal that are used for simulation of acoustic mode structures and spectra of vibrations in disk resonator. The results of simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics software are compared with experimental measurements carried out on two resonators of different ratios of sizes that illustrating continuous and discontinuous dependence of the resonance frequency on themagnetic field. Prevention of discontinuity by correction of the resonator geometry is demonstrated.