Arbitrarily Configurable Group Delay in Acoustic Devices

We report a novel surface acoustic wave topology that realizes arbitrarily configurable group delay profiles over wide passbands using skewed chirped acoustic delay lines. In this geometry, frequency maps predominantly along the transverse direction, allowing the group delay to be synthesized by varying the separation between the input and output interdigital transducers (IDTs). Leveraging the chirp-induced frequency-position mapping, the propagation length is independently set for each frequency, thereby directly prescribing the group delay. We outline a general procedure for converting an arbitrary target group delay function into a corresponding skewed chirped device. We experimentally demonstrate several distinct profiles, and the measured responses closely track the designed group delay functions while maintaining the compact footprint of SAW delay lines. The proposed framework extends skewed chirped IDT topologies from fixed delays to a programmable approach for implementing arbitrary group delay profiles.