Experimental Study of Highly Sensitive Sensor Using a Surface Acoustic Wave Resonator for Wireless Strain Detection

We developed a highly sensitive strain sensor employing a surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator for a wireless sensing system. The aim of this study is to monitor the distribution of the strain in the earth crust or giant infrastructures, such as bridges, skyscrapers and power plants, for disaster prevention. A SAW strain sensor was fabricated using LiNbO3 and a quartz substrate, and applied in a tensile test by attaching the steel specimen based on Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS Z2441-1). The results confirmed that the developed sensor could detect a strain of 10-6 order with linearity.