| A novel analytical/numerical method for calculating the resonator Q, and its equivalent electrical parameters due to viscoelastic, conductivity and mounting supports losses was presented. The method presented will be quite useful for designing new resonators, and reducing their time and costs of prototyping. There was also a necessity for better and more realistic modeling of the resonators due to miniaturizations, and the rapid advances in the frequency ranges of telecommunication. We present new three-dimensional finite elements models of quartz resonators with viscoelasticity, conductivity, and mounting support losses. For quartz the materials losses attributed to electrical conductivity and acoustic viscosity were obtained from Lee, Liu and Ballato[1], and Lamb and Richter[2], respectively. The losses at the mounting supports were modeled by perfectly matched layers (PML's). The theory for dissipative anisotropic piezoelectric solids given by Lee, Liu and Ballato [1] was formulated in a weak form for finite element applications. PML's were placed at the base of the mounting supports to simulate the energy losses to a semi-infinite base substrate. FE simulations were carried out for free vibrations and forced vibrations of quartz tuning fork and AT-cut resonators. Results for quartz tuning fork and thickness shear AT-cut resonators were presented and compared with experimental data. Results for the resonator Q and the equivalent electrical parameters were compared with their measured values. Good comparisons were found. Results for both low and high Q AT-cut quartz resonators compared well with their experimental values. A method for estimating the Q directly from the frequency spectrum obtained for free vibrations was also presented. An important determinant of the quality factor Q of a quartz resonator is the loss of energy from the electrode area to the base via the mountings. The acoustical characteristics of the plate resonator are changed when the plate is mounted onto a base substrate. The base affects the frequency spectra of the plate resonator. A resonator with a high Q may not have a similarly high Q when mounted on a base. Hence, the base is an energy sink and the Q will be affected by the shape and size of this base. A lower bound Q will be obtained if the base is a semi-infinite base since it will absorb all acoustical energies radiated from the resonator. |