Piezoelectric and elastic properties of β phase quartz

Piezoelectric and elastic properties of beta quartz have been studied from the alpha-beta transition temperature of 573 degrees C to 1,000 degrees C. Because beta quartz belongs to point group 622, piezoelectric vibration by a perpendicular field can only be excited for an off-axial plate such as a rotated Y-cut plate. The piezoelectric and elastic constants were estimated from the resonance characteristics. The piezoelectric constant e(14) of beta quartz is larger than that for alpha quartz. It was found that elastic loss of beta quartz is relatively low in the high temperature region above 700 degrees C. A very high resonance quality factor was obtained, i.e 15,000 at 600 degrees C and 11,000 at 700 degrees C. beta quartz is useful for high performance resonators in the high temperature region between 600 and 1,000 degrees C.