Recent years have seen the emergence of a wide variety of electronic devices making use of surface acoustic waves in solids. This book focusses on the devices of greatest current interest and on the principles underlying them. An introductory survey is followed by chapters on acoustic wave fundamentals, electric excitation, transducers, multi-strip couplers and propagation effects. The interdigital transducer is emphasised since it is a key element in most devices. The remaining chapters - about half of the book - describe practical devices including delay lines, bandpass filters, chirp filters for pulse-compression radar (including reflective array compressors), convolvers and oscillators. For the main devices the text includes design principles, second-order effects, practical performance and, where appropriate, the role of the device in system applications. Some of the more mathematical details are relegated to Appendices, which include electrode interactions in transducers, sampling theory, the electrostatic element factor and the required relationships from Fourier analysis. A classified list of over 500 references is provided.
The book will be of interest to engineers developing surface-wave devices, and to those using the devices in practical systems. It is also very suited for university courses or research work.