Quartz crystals piezoelectric properties

The most characteristic feature of any crystal is its symmetry. It not only serves to describe important aspects of a structure, but is also related to essential properties of a solid. For example, quartz crystals could not exhibit the piezoelectric effect if quartz did not have the appropriate symmetry this effect is the basis for the application of quartz in watches and electronic devices. Knowledge of the crystal symmetry is also of fundamental importance in crystal stmcture analysis. 

These days the most common method employed for the generation and detection of ultrasound utilises the piezoelectric properties of certain crystals one of which is quartz [3]. A simplified diagram of a crystal of quartz is reproduced (Fig. 7.3) which shows three axes defined as x, y and z. If a thin section of this crystal is cut such that the large surfaces are normal to the x-axis (x-cut quartz) then the resulting section will show the following two complementary piezoelectric properties ... 

Because of its piezoelectric properties, synthetic CC-quartz is used for frequency control in electrical oscillators and filters and in electromechanical transducers. When mechanically stressed in the correct direction, CC-quartz develops an electric polarization. The opposite is also tme an applied electric field gives rise to a mechanical distortion in the crystal. Thin sections of quartz are cut to dimensions that produce the desired resonance frequency when subjected to an alternating electric field the vibrating crystal then reacts with the driving circuit to produce an oscillation that can be narrowly controlled. Quartz is ideal for this application because it is hard, durable, readily synthesized, and can be tuned to high accuracy, for example, quartz crystal clocks can be made that are stable to one part in 109. 

Ferroelectrics. Among the 32 crystal classes, 11 possess a centre of symmetry and are centrosymmetric and therefore do not possess polar properties. Of the 21 noncentrosymmetric classes, 20 of them exhibit electric polarity when subjected to a stress and are called piezoelectric one of the noncentrosymmetric classes (cubic 432) has other symmetry elements which combine to exclude piezoelectric character. Piezoelectric crystals obey a linear relationship P,- = gijFj between polarization P and force F, where is the piezoelectric coefficient. An inverse piezoelectric effect leads to mechanical deformation or strain under the influence of an electric field. Ten of the 20 piezoelectric classes possess a unique polar axis. In nonconducting crystals, a change in polarization can be observed by a change in temperature, and they are referred to as pyroelectric crystals. If the polarity of a pyroelectric crystal can be reversed by the application on an electric field, we call such a crystal a ferroelectric. A knowledge of the crystal class is therefore sufficient to establish the piezoelectric or the pyroelectric nature of a solid, but reversible polarization is a necessary condition for ferroelectricity. While all ferroelectric materials are also piezoelectric, the converse is not true for example, quartz is piezoelectric, but not ferroelectric. 

Quart/ and tourmaline erysials once were commercially important lor their piezoelectric properties as radio oscillation wafers and other electronic and instrumental uses. Synthesized quartz.crystals have largely replaced the need lor natural quartz for such applications... 

Mason [46] first observed that the viscoelastic properties of a fluid in contact with quartz crystals can affect the resonant properties. However, Mason s work had been forgotten and for a long time there have not been studies of piezoelectric acoustic wave devices in contact with liquids until Nomura and Okuhara [15] found an empirical expression that described the changes in the quartz resonant frequency as a function of the liquid density, its viscosity and the conductivity in which the crystal was immersed. Shortly after the empirical observations of Nomura were described in terms of physical models by Kanazawa [1] and Bruckenstein [2] who derived the equation that describes the changes in resonant frequency of a loss-less quartz crystal in contact with an infinite, non conductive and perfectly Newtonian fluid ... 

The thickness-shear mode (TSM) resonator, widely referred to as a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), typically consists of a thin disk of AT-cut quartz with circular electrodes patterned on both sides, as shown in Figure 3.2. Due to the piezoelectric properties and crystalline orientation of the quartz, the application of a voltage between these electrodes results in a shear deformation of the crystal. The crystal can be electrically excited in a number of resonant thickness-shear modes. 

Practical QCM devices are AT-cut alpha quartz crystals that have excellent mechanical and piezoelectric properties. The AT-cut that is cut at a 35° 15 angle from the Z-axis, is commonly used because of its minimal temperature effect. 

The photoswitchable complexation/dissociation properties of n donor-acceptor complexes between xanthene dyes and photoisomerizable bipyrid-inium salts have been used to generate an optoelectronic interface [97] (Fig. 28). Eosin isothiocyanate (52) was covalently linked to an electrode surface via a thiourea bond (Fig. 28A). The electron acceptor 3, 3 -bis(N-methylpyridinium) azobenzene 53 was used as the photoisomerizable component. The association constants of the n donor-acceptor complexes generated between eosin and 53a or 53b in solution correspond to Ka — 8.3 x 103 M-1 and Ka — 3.4 x 103 M 1, respectively. The analysis of complexation on the functionalized surface was accomplished by quartz crystal microbalance measurements. The frequency change (Af) of a piezoelectric quartz crystal on which a mass change Am occurs is given by the Sauerbrey equation (Eqn. 1) ... 

Any type of acoustic transducer, such as quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) or surface acoustic wave device (SAW), is fundamentally based on the piezoelectric effect. This was first described in 1880 by Jacques and Pierre Curie as a property of crystalline materials that do not have an inversion centre. When such a material is subjected to physical stress, a measurable voltage occurs on the crystal surfaces. Naturally, the opposite effect can also be observed, i.e. applying an electrical charge on a piezoelectric material leads to mechanical distortion, the so-called inverse piezo effect. These phenomena can be used to transfrom an electrical signal to a mechanical one and back, which actually happens in QCM and SAW. Different materials are ap-pHed for device fabrication, such as quartz, Hthium tantalate, lithium titanate... 

The quartz disk is used as the bottom plate of a cell culture vessel and is moimted in a temperature controlled crystal holder (37 °C). The surface electrodes on either side of the quartz are connected to an impedance analyzer (Solatron Instruments, SI-1260) operating in continuous wave mode. The frequency-dependent complex impedance Z(J) returned by the impedance analyzer is expressed as magnitude of impedance Z (f) and phase shift between voltage and current (f). The raw data is analyzed by the well-known Butterworth-Van Dyke (BVD) equivalent circuit with the liunped impedance elements Co, Rq, iq, Cq and Zl. Rq, Lq and Cq represent the piezoelectric properties of the unperturbed resonator itself, whereas Co summarizes its dielectric properties and all parasitic contributions arising from contacts and wiring. The load material in contact with the resonator surface is represented by the complex impedance Zl. As long as the resonator is not loaded too... 

Abstract In this chapter we focus on the application of the piezoelectric-based quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique to create and study thin polymeric films. The electrochemical variant of the quartz crystal microbalance technique (EQCM) allows one to study changes in the interfacial mass and physical properties associated with electron transfer processes occurring at the electrode surface, such as those accompanying... 

As the magnitude of an apphed electric field applied to a piezoelectric material is increased, the amphtude of oscillation increases and there is increasing acceleration of analytes adhered to the surface. This in turn results in an increasing force exerted by the surface on the analytes, which ultimately causes rupture of the bonds attaching the analytes to the surface (Fig. 9). Due to its piezoelectric properties the quartz crystal can be used to detect the excitation of vibrations in the substrate produced by bond rupture, which are converted into an electrical signal. The signal indicates not only the pres-... 

Crystal growth of low-temperature forms of materials requires its own specific processes. For examples, a-quartz is an interesting material because of its piezoelectric properties. The a- transition is close to 573 °C a high-pressure hydrothermal, crystal-growth method has been developed because the application of pressure increases the solubility of the nutrient. Such a process is shown in Fig. 7.15. The difference in temperature, AT, between the upper part of the reaction vessel (which contains the seeds) and the lower part (containing the nutrient) provides the driving force of the chemical transport for the crystal-growth process. 

QCM can be described as a thickness-shear mode resonator, since weight change is measured on the base of the resonance frequency change. The acoustic wave propagates in a direction perpendicular to the crystal surface. The quartz crystal plate has to be cut to a specific orientation with respect to the ciystal axis to attain this acoustic propagation properties. AT-cut crystals are typically used for piezoelectric crystal resonators[7]. The use of quartz crystal microbalances as chemical sensors has its origins in the work of Sauerbrey[8] and King [9] who... 

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