TEMPERATURE CONTROL CIRCUIT FOR SURFACE ACOUSTIC WAVE (SAW) RESONATORS

Abstract

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) resonators are key components in oscillators, frequency synthesizers and transceivers. One of the drawbacks of SAW resonators are that its piezoelectric substrates are highly sensitive to ambient temperature resulting in performance degradation. This work propose a simple circuit design which stabalizes the temperature of the SAW resonator, making it independet of temperature change. This circuit is based on the oven control method which elevates the temperature of the resonator to a high temperature, making it tolerant to minor changes in ambient temperature.This circuit consist of a temperature sensor, heaters and a comparator which turn the heater on or off depending on the ambient temperature. Several SAW resonator were tested using this circuit. Experimental results indicate the temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) decreases from maximum of 130.44/°C to a minimum of -1.11/°C.