In this paper, we fabricate a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device with micro-structures on a zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film and measure its signal response. The manufacturing processes of the SAW device include the fabrication of micro-structures of a SAW element and its interdigital transducer by silicon micro-machining and the fabrication of a thin film of ZnO by RF magnetron sputtering. We, then, measure the SAW properties. This research investigates the properties of sputtered thin films for various amounts of O2/(Ar + O2) using Zn and ZnO targets. Regardless of target, the growth rate of the ZnO thin film decreases as the oxygen content increases. When the SAW is sputtered ZnO thin film using 30% oxygen, the digital signal of the SAW has better performance. The measurement signal of the SAW with micro-structures is similar to that without micro-structures.
Keywords: ZnO thin film; signal response; silicon micromachining; surface acoustic wave.