Picosecond ultrasonic study of surface acoustic waves on titanium nitride nanostructures

Abstract

We have measured surface acoustic waves on nanostructured TiN wires overlaid on multiple thin films on a silicon substrate using the ultrafast pump-probe technique known as picosecond ultrasonics. We find a prominent oscillation in the range of 11-54 GHz for samples with varying pitch ranging from 420 nm down to 168 nm. We find that the observed oscillation increases monotonically in frequency with decrease in pitch, but that the increase is not linear. By comparing our data to two-dimensional mechanical simulations of the nanostructures, we find that the type of surface oscillation to which we are sensitive changes depending on the pitch of the sample. Surface waves on substrates that are loaded by thin films can take multiple forms, including Rayleigh-like waves, Sezawa waves, and radiative (leaky) surface waves. We describe evidence for detection of modes that display characteristics of these three surface wave types.