Development of surface acoustic wave sensor for female aedes mosquito detection

Abstract

The cases of dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever have been increasing worldwide in the last decade. These conditions lead to large economic losses and health complications. To date, a direct cure for DF and an efficient device to control or detect Aedes mosquitoes causing DF are unavailable. Therefore, the fabrication of a device to prevent dengue virus infection is necessary. In this study, the design and the fabrication of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor for female Aedes mosquito detection are presented. This study is the first to report the detection of female Aedes mosquitoes in human habitations using a SAW sensor. SAW technology can be applied to create highly sensitive sensors because of its extreme sensitivity to surface perturbation. A layered SAW device based on the ZnO/interdigital transducer (IDT)/128° YX lithium niobate (LiNbO3) structure was designed, fabricated, and characterized in this thesis study. First, the device was characterized theoretically using the finite element method in COMSOL Multiphysics 4.3b. The frequency response, SAW propagation mode(s), SAW displacement efficiency, and electromechanical coupling coefficient were theoretically investigated. Various ZnO layer thicknesses were used to obtain the ideal conditions. Numerical results were verified with a fabricated device. A good correlation was obtained between the simulation and experimental results.