(Peter W. Hawkes) Advances in Electronics and Elec

ADVANCES IN ELECTRONICS AND
ELECTRON PHYSICS
VOLUME 77
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
PETER W. HAWKES
Laboratoire d’Optique Electronique
du Centre National
de la Recherche Scientifque
Toulouse, France
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
BENJAMIN KAZAN
Xerox Corporation
Palo Alto Research Center
Palo Alto, California
Advances in
Electronics and
Electron Physics
EDITEDBY
PETER W. HAWKES
Laboratoire d’Optique Electronique
du Centre National
de la Recherche Scient@gue
Toulouse, France
VOLUME 77
ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.

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CONTENTS
CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME 77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . vii
PREFACE. ............... .,................ ix
Active-Matrix Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays

SHINJIMOROZUMI
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
11. Evolution and History of Thin-Film Transistor-Addressed
Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
111. Key Factors in Thin-Film Transistors for
Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
IV. Characteristics of Different Types of Thin-Film Transistors
and Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays. . . . . . . . 28
V. Driving Schemes for Thin-Film Transistor
Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
VI. Color-Image Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays . . 57
VII. Performance of Liquid-Crystal Displays Based on
Alternative Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
VIII. Applications of Thin-Film Transistor-Addressed
Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . . , , . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . 69
IX. Concluding Remarks . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . 74
Acknowledgement. . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . , . . . . . . . . 77
Resonators, Detectors, and Piezoelectrics

JEAN-JACQUES GAGNEPAIN
I. Introduction. , ....,.........,............. 84
11. Fundamental Equations of Elasticity and
Piezoelectricity ............................ 85
111. Material Constants ................,......... 93
IV. Crystal-Lattice Anharmonicities (A Brief Review) . . . . . . . , 98
V. The Resonator: Simple Linear Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
VI. Nonlinear Properties . , . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
VII. Sensitivities to External Perturbations and the
Design of Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......... 125
V
vi CONTENTS
VIII. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Scanning Electron Microscopy in the Petroleum

Exploration Industry
J . M . HUGGETT
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
I1. Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
111. Sample Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
IV. Reservoir Petrography and Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
V . Paleontology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
VI. Qualitative Pore Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
VII. Petrophysics and Reservoir Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
VIII . Future Developments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Signal Analysis in Seismic Studies

J . F . BOYCEAND L . R . MURRAY
I . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
I1. The Wave Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
I11. Wave Propagation across Plane Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
IV. Preprocessing and Prestack Deconvolution . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
V . Velocity-Field Determination and Stacking . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
VI . Migration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
VII . Amplitude Variation with Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
INDEX ..................................... 319

CONTRIBUTORS
The numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the author’s contributions begin.
J. F. BOYCE(209), Wheatstone Laboratory, King’s College London, The

Strand, London WC2R 2LS, England
J. J. GAGNEPAIN (83), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Labora-
toire de Physique et Metrologie des Oscillateurs, 32, Avenue de
l’observatoire, 25000 BesanCon, France
J. M. HUGGETT (139), The British Petroleum Company p.l.c., BP Research
Centre, Chertsey Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, TW 16 7LN,
England
S, MOROZUMI (l), Seiko Epson Corporation, Fundamental Technology
Research Department, 3-3-5 Owa, Suwa, Nagano, 392, Japan
L. R. MURRAY (209), Wheatstone Laboratory, King’s College London, The
Strand, London WC2R 2LS, England
vii
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
PREFACE
The four chapters that make up this volume cover several fields of
electronics and electron physics. The opening survey, by Shinji Morozumi,
provides a broad survey of the history and present status of one of the most
important of the newer display technologies, the so-called “active-matrix”
type of liquid-crystal display. For many decades the cathode-ray tube (CRT)
has dominated the display field, especially where high-resolution, large-area
images are involved and particularly where full-color information is required.
Although a variety of new displays have gained acceptance during the past 10
to 15 years, for example gas plasma, electroluminescent, and liquid-crystal
types, inherent limitations make it unlikely, except for limited application
areas, that any of these will seriously challenge the CRT. However, by
integrating an array of thin-film transistors with a corresponding matrix of
liquid-crystal elements, a versatile new form of display has emerged that
overcomes many of the limitations of these other displays, offering the
possibility that images with picture quality comparable to that of cathode-ray
tubes can be produced. In addition, such displays have the added advantages
of being in the form of a flat panel whose size may vary from a few centimeters
to more than a meter. It is thus likely that these new displays will be of major
importance during the coming decade, not only for television but also for
computer and industrial applications.
The second chapter is concerned with a topic that is of considerable
practical importance: piezoelectricity and its applications in resonator and
oscillator design. The range of applications of piezoelectric devices is very
broad, too broad for all of them to be covered in a single chapter, and Jean-
Jacques Gagnepain has chosen to concentrate on resonators. The treatment is
detailed and his account is virtually an up-to-date monograph on the subject.
A short but important section is devoted to non-linear properties, for “non-
linearities . . . are at the origin of some of the most fundamental properties of
the materials.”
The third chapter is a further member of a series of occasional articles on
particular applications of the transmission or scanning electron microscope
(SEM). Here, the role of the scanning instrument in the, at first sight, unlikely
field of petroleum exploration is explained in great detail by J. M. Huggett. In
fact, the SEM has been in use in the petroleum industry for almost as long as
the instrument has been in existence for the examination of core samples. The
modes of operation employed have expanded over the years, and specimen
ix
X PREFACE
preparation techniques have increased beyond number. This wide-ranging

chapter covers both the techniques and their applications in detail. As in so
many other branches of microscopy, analytical methods are rapidly increasing
in importance. Cathodoluminescence is of particular interest here. Despite the
specialized nature of the information sought, it is fascinating to see how all
the resources of the SEM contribute to solving the petroleum engineer’s
problems.
The final chapter, by J. F. Boyce and L. R. Murray, is also concerned with
earth science but a very different kind of tool is now employed: the analysis of
seismic signals. The behaviour of acoustic signals within the Earth, detected at
several sites on the surface, provides three-dimensional information about the
Earth’s interior. The task of translating the information acquired at the
detector sites into a model that is in accordance with the geological facts is
extremely complex and the authors give a clear account of some of the
ways in which the problem is solved and of the difficulties that beset the
seismographer.
It only remains for me to thank all the contributors to this volume most
warmly and to list forthcoming reviews in this series.
P. W. Hawkes
Parallel Image Processing Methodologies J. K. Aggarwal

Image Processing with Signal-Dependent Noise H. H. Arsenault
Pattern Recognition and Line Drawings H. Bley
Bod0 von Borries, Pioneer of Electron H. von Borries
Microscopy
Magnetic Reconnection A. Bratenahl and
P. J. Baum
Sampling Theory J. L. Brown
Layered Synthetic Microstructures as Dispersive P. Chakraborty
Devices for the Extreme Ultraviolet
Finite Algebraic Systems and Trellis Codes H. J. Chizeck and
M. Trott
Electrons in a Periodic Lattice Potential J. M. Churchill and
F. E. Holmstrom
The Artificial Visual System Concept J. M. Coggins
Corrected Lenses for Charged Particles R. L. Dalglish
A Gaseous Detector Device for ESEM G. D. Danilatos
The Development of Electron Microscopy in G. Donelli
Italy
PREFACE xi
The Study of Dynamic Phenomena in Solids M. Drechsler
Using Field Emission
Amorphous Semiconductors W. Fuhs
Median Filters N. C. Gallagher and
E. Coyle
Bayesian Image Analysis S. Geman and D. Geman
Phosphor Materials for CRT T. Hase, T. Kano,
E. Nakazawa, and
H. Yamamoto
Emission Electron Optical System Design V. P. Il’in
Statistical Coulomb Interactions in Particle G. H. Jansen
Beams
Number Theoretic Transforms G. A. Jullien
Tomography of Solid Surfaces Modified by Fast S. B. Karmohapatro and
Ions D. Ghose
The Scanning Tunnelling Microscope H. Van Kempen
Applications of Speech Recognition Technology H. R. Kirby
Spin-Polarized SEM I(.Koike
The Rectangular Patch Microstrip Radiator H. Matzner and
E. Levine
Electronic Tools in Parapsychology R. L. Morris
Image Formation in STEM C. Mory and C. Colliex
Low-Voltage SEM J. Pawley
Languages for Vector Computers R. H. Perrott
Electron Scattering and Nuclear Structure G. A. Peterson
Electrostatic Lenses F. H. Read and
I. W. Drummond
CAD in Electromagnetics K. R. Richter and
0. Biro
Scientific Work of Reinhold Riidenberg H. G. Rudenberg
Metaplectic Methods and Image Processing W. Schempp
X-ray Microscopy G. Schmahl
Applications of Mathematical Morphology J. Serra
Focus-Deflection Systems and Their T. Soma et al.
Applications
Electron Gun Optics Y. Uchikawa
Thin-Film Cathodoluminescent Phosphors A. M. Wittenberg
Electron Microscopy and Helmut Ruska C. Wolpers
Active-Matrix Thin-Film Transistor
Liquid-Crystal Displays
SHINJI MOROZUMI
Seiko Epson Corporation

Fundamental Technology Research Department
Suwa. Nagano. Japan
I . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A . Historical Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
B. Basic Twisted-Nematic Liquid-Crystal Display Cell . . . . . . . . . . 4
C. Multiplexed Twisted-Nematic Liquid-Crystal Display Cells and Their Limitation 6
D . Advantages of Active-Matrix Liquid-Crystal Display Panels . . . . . . . 9
I1 . Evolution and History of Thin-Film Transistor-Addressed Liquid-Crystal Displays 12
A . Early Work on CdSe Thin-Film Transistors and Silicon-on-Sapphire Transistors 13
B. Transistor Arrays Based on Single-Crystal Silicon and Diode Arrays . . . . 14
C . Emergence of Silicon Thin-Film Transistors and Diodes . . . . . . . . . 15
I11. Key Factors in Thin-Film Transistors for Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . . . 17
A . Fundamental Physical Arrangement and Operation of the Thin-Film . . .
Transistor Liquid-Crystal Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
B. Electrical Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
C. Structural Requirements and Fabrication Processes . . . . . . . . . . 23
IV. Characteristics of Different Types of Thin-Film Transistors and Thin-Film Transis-
tor Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
A . CdSe Thin-Film Transistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
B. Amorphous Si Thin-Film Transistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
C. Polycrystalline Si Thin-Film Transistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
V . Driving Schemes for Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . . . 47
A . “Point-at-a-Time” Data Transfer Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
B. “Line-at-a-Time” Data Transfer Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
C. Input-Signal Modification for Grey-Scale Operation . . . . . . . . . . 53
D . Large-Scale Integration Drivers and Their Connection to the Liquid-Crystal
Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
E. Integrated Thin-Film Transistor Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
VI . Color-Image Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . . . . . . 57
A . Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
1
.
Copyright 0 1990 by Academic Press Inc
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
ISBN 0- 12-014677-0
2 SHINJI MOROZUMI
B. Color Filter Fabrication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

C. Backlighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
D. Driving Scheme for Color Liquid-Crystal Display Panels . . . . . . . . 64
VII. Performance of Liquid-Crystal Displays Based on Alternative Technologies . . . 65
A. Comparison between Thin-Film Transistor and Diode-Controlled Liquid-
Crystal Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
B. Comparison between Directly Multiplexed and Active-Matrix Displays . . . 61
VIII. Applications of Thin-Film Transistor-Addressed Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . 69
A. Television Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
B. Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
IX. Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A. Comments on the Status of Liquid-Crystal Displays Relative to Displays Based
on Other Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
B. Present Problem Areas in Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . 15
C. Future Expectations of Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays . . . . 16
Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
I. INTRODUCTION
A . Historical Background
Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) have a much shorter history than that of

cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) and are relatively new compared to other flat-panel
display devices such as plasma display panels (PDPs) and electroluminescent
displays (ELDs). Despite their recent emergence, LCDs have come into
widespread use and are expected to replace many of the older displays in many
applications because of their unusual combination of low power con-
sumption, thin structure, light weight, and relatively low cost.
Organic materials identified as liquid crystal were already known in the
19th century. Such materials are characterized by the fact that over some
temperature range of their liquid state, the molecules exhibit a degree of
long-range order making the material somewhat similar to a crystal of
solid material. The elongated liquid-crystal molecules also possess a dipole
moment, allowing them to be oriented by an external field; and this together
with their optical anisotropy allow them to be used for electrical control of
light transmission.
The possibility that liquid crystals could be used in a display device was
first demonstrated in 1968 (Heilmeier et al., 1968a and 1968b). In this early
work, the dynamic-scattering mode (DSM) was used in which a thin layer
ACTIVE-MATRIX THIN-FILM TRANSISTOR LIQUID-CRYSTAL DISPLAYS 3
of nematic-phase liquid crystal, one of the several forms of liquid-crystal
materials, was employed (de Gennes, 1974). When an electric field was applied
across this material, it was shifted from a clear to a milky (scattering) state,
blocking the transmission of direct light. Upon removal of the field, the
material reverted to its initial clear state. Unfortunately, the use of this
phenomenon in practical applications was limited by various factors, such as
degradation of the material by the electrical current passing through it, poor
viewing characteristics, and the somewhat high voltage levels required for
operation, e.g., 25 volts, making it less than ideal for use with low-voltage
semiconductor drivers.
A few years later, in 1971, an improved method of operation for nematic
liquid-crystals was devised (Schadt and Helfrich, 1971). Referred to as the
twisted-nematic field-effect mode (TN or TN FEM), this method provided
significant advantages over the earlier DSM type. Due to its much lower
voltage operation, enabling it to be used with low-voltage complementary
metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits, which appeared at about the
same time, the way was opened for the extensive use of liquid-crystal displays
in watches and calculators in 1973. Since then, as a result of the progress in
large-scale integration (LSI) technology, many electronic instruments have
become more compact and lightweight by taking advantage of the availability
of low-power and lightweight LCD screens.
Simple displays containing relatively few TN elements could be made with
each element controlled by a separate semiconductor driver. However, in the
case of displays with a large number of elements, it was recognized that some
form of X-Y addressing, which had already been employed for PDPs and
ELDs, was desirable to reduce the large number of drivers. This approach has
enabled satisfactory liquid-crystal displays with a limited number of rows of
elements to be made. However, as discussed below, the particular character-
istics of TN liquid-crystal cells seriously reduce the contrast ratio and viewing
angle obtainable as the number of rows is increased.
During the late 1970s, when no satisfactory thin-film transistor (TFT) or
active-matrix technology was available, directly multiplexed T N liquid-crystal
displays provided the only means to satisfy the need for larger displays with a
large number of pixels. For example, in 1978, a 120 x 160-elementblack-and-
white LCD T V screen based on direct-drive multiplexing was developed
(Kaneko et al., 1978). Although this technology is still employed and such a
LCD TV has actually been marketed, problems of poor viewing quality
remain.
The portable personal computer (PC)is an example of another application
requiring large-area liquid-crystal displays with high-quality images. Whereas
early units employed relatively small liquid-crystal displays with 32 x 120
picture elements, the latest ones are 10 inches in diagonal and have 400 x 640
4 SHINJI MOROZUMI
elements. These are also directly multiplexed displays making use of the T N or
the more recent supertwisted birefringence effect (SBE) liquid-crystal mode
(see Section 1.C). Although the latter provides somewhat improved viewing
characteristics, the overall viewing quality is still considered inadequate.
The continuing need for compact LCD TVs (Morozumi et al., 1984a) and
laptop computers with desirable viewing characteristics has thus stimulated
the research and development of active-matrix LCDs in which an active
element is incorporated at each picture cell (pixel). Although various types of
active elements have been explored, the greatest interest has been in TFT
elements, particularly those based on amorphous and polycrystallized silicon
TFTs. Although such TFTs have already been incorporated in pocket LCD
TVs, the screen size is still too small for more general applications. Present
activity is thus being directed at developing large-area TFT LCDs for larger-
size TVs and computer screens with picture sizes of more than 10 inches in
diagonal.
In the following sections of this chapter, liquid-crystal displays based on
such TFT elements (TFT LCDs) are discussed at length. In addition to the
material aspects of TFT elements and their performance characteristics, the
design, structure, and operation of complete TFT LCDs will be discussed.
Also included are the electrical driving schemes used and the application areas
of these displays.
B. Basic Twisted-Nematic Liquid-Crystal Display Cell
The operating principle of a TN-LCD cell is shown in Fig. 1. As indicated

in Fig. la, in the absence of an applied electric field, the elongated liquid-
crystal molecules (assumed to be in the nematic phase) orient themselves
parallel to the glass plates confining the liquid-crystal layer, whose thickness is
less than or equal to 10 micrometers (pm). With suitable surface treatment of
the plates, the molecules contacting the upper plate are made to align in a
direction which differs by 90" from the molecules contacting the lower plate.
Because of the ordering effects within the liquid-crystal medium, successive
molecular layers are twisted with respect to their neighbors as shown. Also as
shown in the figure, polarizers are provided on the outer surface of the glass
plates, with the polarizing axes corresponding to the liquid-crystal molecules
at the respective plates.
Because of the gradual twist, when the structure is illuminated from below
with unpolarized white light as shown in Fig. la, the polarized light entering
the liquid-crystal layer will have its plane of polarization twisted 90" by the
liquid-crystal molecules and emerge through the upper polarizer. However, if
a voltage is applied across the transparent electrodes of the liquid-crystal
Conductor
(a) (b)
FIG.1. The principle of the twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display (TN LCD):(a) without an
electric field, incident light can pass through the cell; (b) with the applied voltage, the light is
blocked.
layer, as shown in Fig. lb, the molecules are forced into a position parallel to
the electric field because of their dielectric anisotropy so that their long axes
become perpendicular to the plates. The polarized light entering the liquid-
crystal layer is now no longer rotated and is blocked by the upper polarizer.
Instead of the above arrangement, where the polarizers of the glass plates are
positioned with their axes perpendicular to each other (crossed polarizer
method), the parallel polarizer method, in which the axes of both polarizers
are parallel, is also possible. In this case, the optical effect of the applied
voltage is inverted. An example of the light transmission as a function of
voltage for the crossed polarizer method is shown in Fig. 2. As indicated, the
application of as little as 3-4 volts is sufficient to switch the cell from ON to
OFF.
Of importance to note in Fig. 2 is the fact that the change in light
transmission depends strongly on the viewing angle, and this may be a serious
problem when displaying an image with grey scale. This dependency is caused
by the partial tilt from parallel to perpendicular of the molecules at inter-
mediate voltages. For instance, when a voltage intermediate between the
O F F and ON state is applied to the cell, tilting the molecules by 45" with
respect to the plates, the curves of light transmission viewed respectively at
60",90°,and 120"to the glass plates differ from each other, since the molecules
have varying orientations with respect to the polarized light. If, however, a
voltage sufficient to fully shift the molecules to the perpendicular state is
applied to the cell, light is completely blocked and a good black state may be
achieved over a considerable range of viewing angles.
6 SHINJI MOROZUMI
0 1 2 3 4 5
Voltage ( V )
FIG.2. Optical response of a twisted-nematic (TN) cell with crossed polarizers to applied
voltage: cell exhibits a viewing-angle dependency in light transmission; a smaller angle gives a
steeper characteristic; in the case of parallel polarizers, these characteristics are inverted with
respect to applied voltage.
C . Multiplexed Twisted-Nematic Liquid-Crystal Display Cells

and Their Limitation
Because of the voltage threshold characteristics of the TN liquid-crystal

cells, they allow a large number of pixels to be addressed by means of
X - Y orthogonal strips of transparent conductors. Using an electrode arrange-
ment such as shown at the top of Fig. 3, with a continuous layer of liquid-
crystal material confined between the two sets of transparent electrodes, the
individual cells or picture cells (pixels) are defined by the crossover regions of
the electrodes. Since the pixels may be activated by applying suitable voltages
to these electrodes (data and scan lines) in a time-sequential manner, a much
smaller number of driving circuits is required than if each pixel were addressed
separately.
As indicated in Fig. 3, during successive fields the polarity of all the
addressing pulses is reversed. This procedure prevents any DC voltage from
appearing across the liquid-crystal elements during continuous scanning,
which could cause deterioration of the liquid-crystal cells. In a positive field,
successive rows of elements are addressed sequentially at a sufficiently rapid
rate to avoid image flicker. Addressing a single row is accomplished by
Di Dz DN
Scan Lines
S>
s2
\Data Lines
Positive Negative
Field ield
k I
1
FIG.3. Electrode configurationand drivingwaveforms for direct-drive dot-matrix TN LCD:

each frame consists of a positive and negative field; on voltage for one pixel when selected is kV,,
and OFF voltage is (k - 2) V,.
applying a pulse voltage ‘‘kVO”to the row of elements connected to one of

the scan lines S,-S,, while for the remaining nonaddressed rows a voltage
level “V,” is maintained. During the addressing time of this row, a voltage
“2V0” is applied to the vertical data lines of the OFF elements, resulting in
a voltage “(k - 2)V0” across them. At the same time, a “0” voltage is applied
to the data lines of the ON elements, resulting in a voltage “kV,” across them.
This process is then repeated for successive rows until all the elements of the
array have been addressed.
This addressing method, referred to as direct-drive multiplexed operation,
has been widely used for TN liquid-crystal displays containing, for example,
up to about 100 scanning lines. Typical applications are portable computers,
copy and other office machines, communication instruments such as tele-
phones, and pocket TV sets. However, as explained below, as the number of
8 SHINJI MOROZUMI
scan lines is made larger to increase the resolution of the display, the effective
voltage difference between ON and OFF pixels is reduced and the viewing
quality of the displayed information becomes poorer. This results from the fact
that the optical response of the liquid-crystal cells is determined by the rms
voltage, i.e., the integral of the square root of the voltage applied to them over
the time required to scan all the rows. In terms of the rms voltage, the ON
voltage V,, of a pixel can be expressed as (Alt and Pleshko, 1974):
V,, = J { k 2 V ; / M } + {(M - l)V$M}, (1)
where M is the number of scan lines. For an OFF pixel, the rms voltage V,,,
can expressed as:
V,,, = J{(k 2)'Vi/M)
- +
{ ( M - l)Vi/M}. (2)
The resulting ratio of V,,,/Kff, expressed by C, is then given by:
C = Jk2 + V t / ( k - 2)2 + V i . (3)
It can be shown that the maximum value of this ratio, C,,, is given when
k=&G+I. (4)
If this condition is satisfied, the maximum voltage ratio ,,C, becomes:
cmax = J(JM+ I)/(& - 1). (5 )
From Eq. (5), it can be seen that as the number of scan lines M increases,
,,C
, becomes progressively smaller and approaches unity. As an example, if a
value of M = 200 is inserted into Eq. (9,a voltage ratio ,,C , of 1.152 is
obtained. Assuming that the magnitudes of the ON and OFF voltages allow
them to fall on the steeply sloping portions of the curves of Fig. 2, the resulting
optical contrast ratio will be only 2.5 at a viewing angle of 60", whereas at
larger viewing angles, the contrast ratio will be reduced to a much lower level.
In order to alleviate this problem, attempts have been made to develop new
TN liquid-crystal materials as well as to optimize the cell structure and
fabrication process (e.g., surface alignment of molecules) to obtain cells with a
sharper threshold. However, it appears that for practical purposes, images
with acceptable contrast cannot be obtained for direct-drive dot-matrix TN-
LCD arrays with more than about 100 scanning lines. Recently, other
solutions have been proposed using a new phenomenon in nematic liquid
crystals, the supertwisted birefringence effect (Scheffer et al., 1985) as well as
new materials in the form of ferroelectric liquid crystals (Clark and Lagerwall,
1980). Although these approaches have advantages, they still present some
problems such as limited speed of response, difficulty in producing a good grey
scale, and difficulty of fabrication of the display as a result of the more critical
cell spacing.
D. Advantages of Active-Matrix Liquid-Crystal Display Panels
In the active-matrix approach, a suitable “active” circuit element is incor-

porated at each pixel to overcome the limitation of direct-drive multiplexing.
These active elements may consist of thin-film field-effect transistors as shown
in the configuration of Fig. 4, or they may consist of diode elements as shown
in Fig. 5.
In Fig. 4, each pixel consists of a TFT and an associated pixel electrode on
the lower glass substrate and a common electrode on the upper glass plate. The
picture cell (pixel) is defined by the liquid-crystal material contained between
the pixel electrode connected to the TFT ar.d the common electrode. Since the
resistivity of the liquid-crystal material is relatively high, it acts as a capacitive
circuit element. Each of the horizontal gate lines, which correspond to the scan
lines in Fig. 3, is connected to the gate electrodes of a row of TFTs. When a
suitable pulse is applied to a gate line, it switches the corresponding row of
TFTs from the O F F state (high resistance) to the ON state (low resistance). If,
during this time, voltages corresponding to the data to be displayed are
applied to the data lines, the liquid-crystal elements, i.e., the pixel capacitors,
are charged up through the selected TFTs of this line to the applied voltages.
After the pulse on the selected gate line is terminated and the TFT elements of
this row revert to their OFF state, the charge on the liquid-crystal elements
may be stored if the OFF resistance of the TFTs is sufficiently high. Usually,
the storage time is required to be more than one frame time, i.e., more than
1/60 second. In this case, the voltages across ON elements of the liquid-crystal
rode
‘TFT ’Pixel Electrode ‘Glass
(a) (b)
FIG.4. Configuration of TFT LCD: (a) thin-film transistors (TFTs), pixel electrode, gate
lines, and data lines are fabricated on lower glass substrate; upper glass plate has transparent
common electrode; the liquid-crystal material is confined between both plates; (b) LC material
acts as capacitor in each pixel.
10
\
-
Data Line
SHINJI MOROZUMI
\
Pixel
Electrode
(a)
\
Diode
Scan Line
-Glass
-LC
Material
.Glass
Data Line
I
-------1
Diode
I
I
-I------J
Pixel Pixel
Electrode
(b) (C)
FIG.5. Configurationof diode LCD: (a) thin-film diodes, data lines, and pixel electrodes are
fabricated on lower glass substrate; upper glass has stripe transparent electrodes as scan lines;
(b) each pixel consists of a bidirectional diode in series with a liquid-crystal element connected
between a scan line and data line; (c) current-voltagecharacteristicof bidirectional diode.
material are, in effect, subjected to a static drive signal during the entire frame
time. At the same time, the high resistance of the OFF TFTs of the array
eliminates cross talk, that is, it prevents signal voltages from building up across
liquid-crystal elements of other rows when they are not being selected. Due to
the above storage action and cross-talk-free operation, a high optical contrast
ratio can be obtained in accordance with the curves of Fig. 2, avoiding the
limitation of VJEff signals imposed by Eq. (5).
In the arrangement of Fig. 5, each data line is connected to a set of
bidirectional diodes that are in series with the pixel electrodes of a column of
liquid-crystal cells. In order to enable positive and negative signals to be
applied to each pixel during successive fields, diodes having a bidirectional
characteristic are employed. In this structure, a layer of liquid-crystal material
is confined between the pixel electrodes and the scanning electrodes oriented
horizontally. Operation of this type of display structure depdnds on the
availability of diodes that have a well-defined threshold in their current-
voltage characteristic and a steep slope beyond the threshold. During
addressing, the signals applied to the array are somewhat similar to those
employed for the array of Fig. 3. In the case of Fig. 5, however, the diodes
serve to prevent voltage from appearing across the liquid-crystal elements that
are not being addressed. In the case of elements being addressed, the combined
voltage across the data line and the scan line is assumed to exceed the voltage
threshold of the diode, allowing these liquid-crystal elements to be charged. As
in the case of the TFT array, if the OFF resistance of the diodes is sufficiently
high, a charge established across a liquid-crystal element may be retained for a
long period after the moment of addressing, thus permitting high-contrast
images to be obtained.
Aside from the high contrast ratio and wide viewing angle that can be
achieved by using the active-matrix concept, this approach allows the design
of display panels with a relatively large number of scan lines, e.g., 500 or more.
Also, since liquid-crystal elements without a sharp electro-optical character-
istic and small C,,, in Eq. ( 5 ) can be used in order to attain high contrast ratio,
other phenomena and materials than those associated with the twisted-
nematic effect may be used. In addition, the active-matrix approach allows
images with a much better grey scale to be produced than is possible with
direct-drive multiplexed operation.
Early arrays of TFTs employed cadmium selenide (CdSe) as the semi-
conductor for the conductive channel of the TFT. At present, the main efforts
are based on polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) or amorphous silicon (a-Si) for
this purpose. Although the image quality of the TFT-type active-matrix
LCD is much higher than that of conventional direct-drive multiplexed LCDs,
the use of active-matrix addressing presents other difficulties. Display panels
with TFTs are inherently more complicated than those using the direct-drive
multiplexing method because of the added steps involved in TFT fabrication.
In practice, it is quite difficult to produce a TFT array with an acceptably low
number of defects. Since diodes in the form of thin-film elements involve a
simpler fabrication process than TFTs, active-matrix LCDs with diodes are
also receiving considerable attention. Typical of such diodes are metal-
insulator-metal (MIM) bidirectional elements and dual amorphous Si pn
diodes. Since their current-voltage characteristics are not quite ideal, the
actual grey-scale performance presently obtained with diodes may be
somewhat restricted. Though the emphasis in this chapter will be on LCDs
employing TFTs, a comparison between active-matrix LCDs with TFTs and
diodes will be discussed further in Section VI1.A.
12 SHINJI MOROZUMI
11. EVOLUTION
AND HISTORY
OF THIN-FILMTRANSISTOR-ADDRESSED
LIQUID-CRYSTAL
DISPLAYS
The active-matrix liquid-crystal display was first proposed in 1969

(Lechner et al., 1969) with emphasis on the diode type. This concept was
presented again with further refinement in 1971 (Lechner et al., 1971),at which
time the idea of the twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display was also proposed.
Thereafter the emphasis on active-matrix LCDs gradually gained momentum.
The developmental history of active-matrix LCDs is indicated by the number
of papers on active-matrix LCDs presented at the Society for Information
Display (SID) Symposia shown in Fig. 6.
In the cradle period from 1973 until 1975, the basic approaches to active-
matrix LCDs made used of CdSe TFTs and silicon-on-sapphire (SO'S)
transistors. In this period, the potential and possibility of realizing a dot-
matrix display with a large number of pixels and good viewing characteristics
were proven. However, at the same time, the difficulties and limitations
involved in achieving active-matrix LCDs, particularly the active element
fabrication, were also recognized.
In the second period (1976-1981), SOS TFTs were superseded by metal
oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistor technology with the aim of reducing
these active-matrix LCD problems. This resulted in black-and-white video
S i Thin-Film
u- (, poly& Amorphous)
0
L
0)
n
Varistor,MIM
E 5
z amorphous Si
0
'73 '14 '75 '76 '77 '70 '79 '80 '01 '82 '83 84 '05 '86
Year
FIG.6. Number of papers presented annually at the Society for Information Display (SID)
Symposia on active-matrix LCDs: TFT types are classified into CdSe and Te, MOS, and Si thin-
film categories; since 1982, papers on Si TFTs have received the most attention.
display panels based on MOS transistors. However, they appeared not to have
a high potential for practical use, because these LCDs had viewing limitations
due to the opaque substrate. In parallel with this work, diode elements were
proposed as active-matrixelements in order to solve problems associated with
the difficulty of transistor fabrication.
In the third period, from 1982 to the present time, a remarkably large
number of papers on arrays of Si TFTs appeared because of their ease of
fabrication and excellentcharacteristics.Furthermore, the demonstration that
full-color images could be achieved with Si-TFT technology greatly stimu-
lated the further development of active-matrix LCDs. This period exhibits a
flowering of the active-matrix LCDs with a long-term effort since 1971.
Actually, the commercial application of active-matrix LCDs to pocket TV
receivers has already begun.
A. Early Work on CdSe Thin-Film Transistors and

Silicon-on-Sapphire Transistors
Initial research on thin-film transistors made use of evaporated polycrys-

talline CdSe and, to some extent, cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films. The CdSe
TFTs were used for the scanning circuits of photoconductor arrays (Weimer
et al., 1966,and Waxman, 1968).Subsequent to this, CdSe TFT active-matrix
arrays were studied for use with ELDs (Fischer, 1971). The first transistor-
addressed LCDs using such CdSe TFTs consisted of a 6 x 6-inch character
and graphic display with 20-lines-per-inchresolution (Brody et al., 1973)and a
30 x 50-element video display with 50 elements per inch (Lipton and Koda,
1973).These were followed by work on LCDs based on SOS transistor arrays
used in a 1 x l-inch video display (Lipton et al., 1975).Although such LCDs
were at a quite primitive stage, these efforts demonstrated the effectiveness of
the TFT-addressed active-matrix LCD for achieving high resolution and
excellent viewing characteristics.
In the above work, all the layers for the CdSe TFTs, namely the CdSe
channel material, the gate insulator, and the gate electrodes (such as
aluminum), were fabricated by evaporation in a vacuum chamber. Since the
CdSe layer has a high carrier mobility (approximately 100 cmZ/Vsec)
allowing a high ON current as well as sufficiently low OFF current, TFTs
based on this material exhibited satisfactory electrical characteristics for use in
active-matrix LCDs. However, instability problems made their practical
application difficult. These problems were caused by the nature of the interface
between the CdSe channel material and the gate insulator as well as by the gate
insulator itself. The realization of a highly stable interface and insulator was
quite difficult with the evaporation equipment available at that time because
of poor vacuum.
14 SHINJI MOROZUMI
The use of SOS technology avoided these problems, since it involved

fabrication of the transistors on a single-crystal sapphire substrate with a
high-qualitygate insulator and related interface like an MOS transistor on a Si
single-crystalwafer. But the epitaxial growth of Si films on sapphire substrates
was not so easy, and, additionally, the cost of such transistor arrays and their
limited area precluded their exploitation for general purposes.
B. Transistor Arrays Based on Single-Crystal

Silicon and Diode Arrays
In the next generation, explored during the 1970s, the use of MOS
transistors (instead of SOS technology) fabricated on a silicon single-crystal
wafer was investigated for small video LCD devices 1-2 inches in size (Lipton
et al., 1977). Such MOS transistors could be easily fabricated by means of
ordinary integrated-circuit (IC) technology, unlike SOS transistors. However,
since the silicon crystal substrate is not transparent and therefore prevents a
second polarizer from being positioned under the lower electrodes, the TN
mode (see Section LB), which produces the highest contrast ratio of all the
liquid-crystal operating modes, could not be applied. Initially, the dynamic-
scattering mode was employed (Yanagisawa et al., 1981),but this resulted in
problems of material degradation (see Section 1.A). Subsequently, the guest-
host mode (Heilmeir and Zanoni, 1968a),which involved use of a dye material
in addition to the liquid-crystal material, was employed for active-matrix
LCDs with MOS transistor arrays (Hosokawa et al., 1981, and Yamasaki
et al., 1982), since this eliminated the need for a rear polarizer. However,
this approach also had size and cost limitations similar to those of the SOS
technology. Furthermore, since the full-color display technique made possible
by the transmissive mode cannot be used, this approach has been almost
discontinued at the present time.
During this period, diode-type active elements were explored as an
alternative to transistors in active LCDs because of the difficulties in transistor
fabrication of the active elements and the limitations of display quality such as
contrast ratio. The object of such efforts was to achieve a simpler and easier
fabrication procedure than that associated with TFTs. The use of diodes also
seemed to present less of a stability problem than TFTs. One example is the
“varistor” diode array produced on a sintered zinc oxide (ZnO) substrate
(Castleberry, 1979).However, since the ZnO diodes required as much as 200
volts for driving and the ZnO substrate was opaque, problems similar to those
of the MOS-array LCD emerged and this work was not entirely successful. In
another approach, a MIM bidirectional diode array was fabricated on a glass
substrate (Baraff et al., 1980). The diodes used here consisted of tantalum-
anodic oxidized (Ta,O,), and chromium. These had quite stable electrical
characteristics, a sufficiently low threshold voltage to drive the TN liquid-
crystal material, and were easily fabricated on a large-area glass substrate,
making possible active-matrix LCDs that exhibited excellent display quality.
At the present time, MIM LCDs remain one of the promising solutions to
realize large-area, high-quality, and low-cost liquid-crystal displays. As an
example, small-size video LCDs (220 x 220) and large-size graphic LCDs
(400 x 640) have been developed with MIM elements(Morozumi et al., 1983b,
and Niwa et al., 1984).Aside from MIM diode arrays, developmentalefforts on
other diode-type active-matrix LCDs have been relatively small compared to
the efforts on TFTs.
C . Emergence of Silicon Thin-Film Transistors and Diodes
In the early 1980s,the direction of research on active-matrix LCDs shifted

to the use of silicon thin films in the form of amorphous Si (Snell et al., 1981)
and polycrystalline Si (Depp et al., 1980),mainly for use as TFTs. Research on
Si thin-film materials and TFTs grew rapidly because of the availability of
deposition systems that can fabricate well-controlled p and n layers of
amorphous Si and because of progress in Si IC technology involving device
fabrication, device design, evaluation, etc., all of which are involved in active-
matrix technology. In addition, market requirements for high-quality displays
accelerated the development of active-matrix LCDs. The results of this are
shown by the increasing number of papers presented annually on this subject
beginning in the early 1980s as shown in Fig. 6.
Usually, the silicon film is deposited by means of the decomposition of
silane (SiH4)gas. For this purpose, both thermal decomposition at a relatively
high temperature and decomposition at a low temperature with the assistance
of a glow discharge can be used. Since the crystallization temperature of
silicon is relatively high, a low-temperature-deposited silicon film has a
noncrystallized, i.e., amorphous, state. Such amorphous materials have been
studied (Madan et al., 1976) for the purpose of film fabrication at low
temperature.
In 1975, the epoch-making work by Spear and Le Comber appeared,
showing that the control of p- and n-type properties of amorphous silicon
films could be accomplished by doping with hydrogen in addition to acceptor
and donor impurities through the glow discharge decomposition of SiH, gas.
This stimulated research on amorphous Si devices such as transistors,
photovoltaic cells, and photoconductor-coated drums for copy machines, all
of which required the low-temperature deposition of silicon on glass or similar
substrate. The first practical application of amorphous silicon films was in the
field of solar cells. Since such devices had a relatively simple structure and
16 SHINJI MOROZUMI
small area, they were suitable vehicles for the study of the properties of
amorphous silicon films and enabled the optimization of the deposition
systems required for them. Resulting from the accumulated experience with
the deposition technique developed for producing amorphous silicon p-n
diodes for such solar cells, systems making use of plasma-enhanced chemical
vapor deposition (P-CVD) became available for production use. P-CVD
equipment allows a highly controlled amorphous silicon film to be fabricated
on a large-area substrate. Building on this background, the first suggestion for
amorphous silicon TFTs (Le Comber et al., 1979) led rapidly to the successful
research and development of active-matrix LCDs.
N-channel amorphous silicon TFTs based on electron conduction (in
which an electron mobility of around 0.1-1.0 cm2/V sec was obtained) were
selected at the very start. Initially, the OFF current was too high because a
thick film of 1 pm was employed. However, this problem was later corrected
by reducing the film thickness to below several hundred angstroms (Sunata
et al., 1985). Although the electron mobility of the amorphous silicon was
relatively low, films of this material exhibited an extremely high dark resis-
tance. The resulting TFTs thus had an extremely low OFF current as well as
an ON/OFF current ratio sufficiently high to make it useful as an active-
matrix element.
In early test samples of amorphous Si TFTs, their electrical characteristics
were lacking in reproducibility and shifted considerably in a short time. Efforts
to reduce this instability constitute the major element in the history of the
development of amorphous silicon TFTs. However, recently, with the use of
the continuous deposition method, whereby the gate insulator of the TFT and
the amorphous silicon semiconductor film are deposited during a single
pump-down, the stability has been improved sufficiently to allow the practical
use of such TFTs.
In addition to efforts to develop amorphous silicon TFTs, diode-type
active elements based on amorphous silicon, such as amorphous silicon p-n
diode rings (Togashi et al., 1984), were proposed and explored. These were
developed for the purpose of avoiding the stability problems associated with
amorphous silicon TFTs by making use of the symmetrically bidirectional
electrical characteristics achieved with groups of series or parallel diodes.
Aside from the succession of developmental efforts on amorphous silicon
films mentioned above, the fabrication method and properties of poly-Si films
were studied at around the same time. In the mid-70s, most of the MOS
transistors used in integrated circuits employed silicon gate technology in
which a doped poly-Si film made by the thermal decomposition of SiH4 gas
was utilized for the gate electrode material. This fostered the investigation of
various aspects of poly-Si films such as the grain size, grain boundary
properties, grain growth, and carrier mobility (Seto, 1975, Baccarani et al.,
1978, and Mandurah et al., 1979). During this period, low-pressure and low-
temperature-CVD (LPT-CVD)systems were developed for LSI production to
deposit silicon, silicon nitride, and silicon oxide films with high throughput
and quality. Since at pressures lower than atmospheric, silicon grains grow
even at low temperatures around 6WC, these systems made it possible to
deposit high-mobility poly-Si films at these low temperatures. Such materials
thus became of interest for TFTs having a structure similar to that of the MOS
transistor, whose stability had been investigated previously. Aside from their
potential use as active-matrix elements, the comparatively high mobility of
poly-Si films and the excellent switching characteristics of TFTs based on
these films suggested the possibility that poly-Si TFT driver circuits, as well as
active elements for the display itself, could be fabricated on a single substrate.
Both amorphous and polycrystalline Si TFTs have desirable features
compared to materials used in earlier TFTs. Since a silicon film consists of a
single type of atom as opposed to a chemical compound such as CdSe, whose
stoichiometry may be upset in processing, its controllability and reproduc-
ibility are quite good. In addition, deposition systems for silicon films capable
of high uniformity and throughput are readily obtained. Also, since silicon, a
nontoxic material, is commonly used as the semiconductor in the production
of ICs, the associated device technologies, design software, and production
equipment could easily be diverted to the Si TFT technology.
The most important factor in the production of active-matrix elements is
the yield, determined by the number of defects caused by nonoperable TFT
elements and open- and short-circuited metallization lines. Techniques for
minimizing the number of defects also profited from the production tech-
niques developed for LSI and very-large-scaleintegration (VLSI) used for such
products as the high-yield 256K-bit and the 1M-bit dynamic random access
memories (DRAM). As an example, the optical-projection system developed
for photo-exposure patterning in LSI and VLSI production is also very
effective for the fabrication of TFT arrays with a minimum of defects.
Active-matrix displays based on TFT arrays utilizing silicon thin films
have thus become the main stream of LCD development. Since 1984, such
LCDs with full color capability have been in commercial use for pocket-size
TV sets.
111. KEYFACTORSIN THIN-FILM

TRANSISTORS
FOR
LIQUID-CRYSTAL
DISPLAYS
The TFT-addressed LCD has a much more complicated structure than the
direct-drive multiplexed TN LCD because of the TFT array. In realizing a
TFT LCD, many factors must be taken into account. These include the TFT
material, the TFT structure, and the fabrication processes involved. Although
18 SHINJI MOROZUMI
the structure, operation, and characteristics of TFTs are quite similar to those
of MOS transistors fabricated on a silicon single-crystal wafer, the fabrication
of a TFT array for an LCD involves, from some point of view, more
technological problems. Due to the nonsingle-crystal material used in TFTs,
the realization of the desired electrical characteristics becomes extremely
difficult. At the same time, the required uniformity and stability present major
problems. In addition, these arrays must be fabricated without defects that
result in nonoperating pixels on a glass substrate much larger in area than
a silicon wafer. For instance, in a 4 x 4-inch matrix display that contains
500 x 500 pixels, all 250,000 transistors must operate properly in order to
obtain a defect-free display panel. In this section, the key factors associated
with the TFT elements themselves are discussed.
A. Fundamental Physical Arrangement and Operation of the

Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Display
A cross-sectional view of the TFT LCD is shown in Fig. 7 based on the

configuration in Fig. 4 (see Section LD). On the lower glass plate, the TFT
array is fabricated as well as the transparent driving electrodes for the
individual pixels, usually a layer of indium tin oxide (ITO). On the upper glass
plate, a common electrode, also made of ITO, is fabricated. For the glass
substrates, quartz, hard glass, or soda-lime glass can be used, provided they
can withstand the TFT processing environment including temperature and
etching solutions. The liquid-crystal material, in most cases a TN type, is
,Common Electrode
Liquid-
Crystal Glass
Substrate
Sealing
TFT 'Pixel Electrode
To Data Line Semiconductor

Insulator 0 Pixel Electrode
I
Gate
FIG.7. Cross-sectional view of TFT LCD: the liquid crystal is driven by a voltage applied
between the common electrode on the upper glass plate and the pixel electrode connected to the
TFT; in the usual case where twisted-nematic (TN) liquid-crystal material is employed, polarizers
(not shown here) are placed on the outer surfaces of both glass plates.
contained between the glass substrates as a layer 5-7 pm thick. In operation,
the liquid-crystal elements are driven by AC voltages (accomplished by
polarity reversal of drive voltages of each field) applied between the pixel
electrodes and the common electrode. It should be noted that for proper
operation, the electrode surfaces must be suitably treated to appropriately
align the liquid-crystal molecules, and polarizers must be provided on the
external surfaces of both glass plates.
The circuit arrangement of the complete TFT LCD is shown in Fig. 8. As
indicated, there are (N x M) pixels addressed by N data lines and M gate lines.
The drive circuits for these lines may be located outside the display and
connected to these lines, or they may be integrated along the edges of the
display substrate, fabricated from TFTs based on the same semiconductor if
suitable characteristics can be obtained.
In operation, the gate lines are sequentially activated during a frame time,
turning on successive rows of TFTs. During the time a row of TFTs is turned
on, the signal voltages corresponding to that row are transferred from the
drive circuits to the pixel electrodes through these TFTs. After this row of
TFTs is turned off, the capacitive charges stored on the pixel electrodes (i.e.,
across the liquid-crystal elements) may be retained until this row is addressed
again if the OFF resistance of the TFTs is high enough (assumingthe leakage
through the liquid-crystal elements is small).
The equivalent circuit for one pixel is shown in Fig. 9. The liquid-crystal
material is represented as a resistor Rlq in parallel with a capacitor Clq
FIG.8. Circuit arrangement of TFT LCD: usually, the column and row drivers are
positioned along the four edges; gate lines correspondto scan lines, and display data is transferred
through the data lines to each pixel.
20 SHINJI MOROZUMI
VG Line
Pixel Electrode
VP
I Data Line Common Electrode

FIG.9. Equivalent circuit for one pixel of a TFT LCD: the liquid crystal is represented as a
resistor Rlq and a capacitor Clq; the TFT has parasitic capacitances, Cgs and Cgp, between the
gate and data line, and between the gate and pixel electrode, respectively; if necessary, the
capacitor Ca is added; usually, a constant voltage is applied to the common electrode.
between the pixel electrode and common electrode. As indicated, the TFT as a
switching element has parasitic capacitances Cgs and Cgp between the gate
line and data line, and between the gate line and pixel electrode, respectively.
To prevent signals from the gate line capacitively coupling to the liquid-crystal
elements, Clq should be much larger than Cgp. In some designs, an additional
capacitance Ca is incorporated to avoid this problem. For a given O F F
positive field negative field
Time
FIG.10. Driving waveforms for TFT LCD: one frame consists of a positive and negative
field. The input signal on an activated data line, e.g., D1,has a voltage swing V,; similar signal
voltages are applied to the other activated data lines in accordance with the picture content; the
gate line voltage is zero when nonselected, and V, when selected; V,,, is the signal voltage
appearing across the liquid crystal.
resistance of the TFT, such a capacitance also serves to increase the charge
storage time of a pixel.
Figure 10 shows an example of the driving waveforms and the resulting
signal on the pixel elements, V, is the amplitude of the gate signal and f V,
represents the signal voltage (whose polarity is reversed for each field) applied
to the data line. V,,, is the resultant pixel electrode voltage, with AV, being
produced by the capacitive coupling through Cgp of Fig. 9. By reversing the
polarity of the signal voltage each field, a DC voltage, which would con-
siderably shorten the life of the material, is prevented from appearing across
the liquid crystal. Although signal voltages of equal magnitude are applied
in each field, a large value of AV, (which is always of the same polarity) may
generate an undesirable asymmetry in the pixel voltage. In addition, such a
AVp may cause a large leakage current through the TFT due to the increase in
the voltage difference between the data line and pixel electrode. Therefore, in
addition to the reasons mentioned above, a small value of Cgp compared to
the total pixel capacitance is required.
B. Electrical Requirements
When driving the liquid-crystal elements with alternating polarity signals,

a complete image is scanned at twice the frame frequency. Generally, the
human eye can easily detect flicker below 25 Hz, so the minimum frame
frequency must be more than 30 Hz. For perfectly symmetrical pixel voltages
during the positive and negative fields, a frame frequency of 30 Hz would be
acceptable from the point of view of flicker. However, since the usual pixel
voltages are not perfectly symmetrical, a frame frequency of more than 30 Hz
is generally chosen to avoid any visible flicker. This requires that storage time
of a pixel for retaining 90% charge be at least 16 msec, which, in turn, requires
the OFF resistance of the TFT ( R X f f )determined
, by the RC time constant of
the pixel, to be:
R K f f> 10 x 16 x 10-3/Clq. (6)
It is assumed here that the time constant of the LC material itself, Clq x Rlq, is
also larger than 16 msec.
The National Television System Committee (NTSC) TV standard signal
uses 525 scan lines with interlacing of the even and odd fields at a rate
of 60 Hz. The period for one scanning line is thus 1/30 x 1/525 sec, about
64 psec. Consequently, assuming that the pixel is charged to 90% of the
input signal voltage, the ON resistance R T,, required to charge the liquid-
crystal element is;
RT,, < 1/2.3 x 64 x 1OP6/Clq. (7)
22 SHINJI MOROZUMI
From Eqs. (6) and (7), the switching ratio, R = RT,,,/RT,,, must therefore be:
R > 1 x 104. (8)
This is the minimum requirement for proper operation of the TFT LCD. In
practice, a value for R of more than 10’ is necessary, since in extreme
environments, involving high temperature or high ambient light, the O F F
current of the TFT easily increases by a factor of 10 or more. Also, the ON
current might be degraded by aging of the TFT.
Figures l l a and b show typical characteristics of a poly-Si TFT. They
exhibit close similarity to the “gradual” model (Grove, 1967) for the
conventional MOS transistor governed by the following formulas:
Id = p{(VG - VTH)VD - Vi/2} (unsaturated region), (9)
Id = /?(V, - VTH)~/~ (saturated region), (10)
p = p c o x W/L, (1 1)
where V, is the gate voltage with respect to the source, V, is the drain voltage,
VTH is the threshold voltage, p is the carrier mobility, Cox is the gate
capacitance, and W/Lis the ratio between the width and length of the channel,
respectively. Relative to the MOS transistor, the amorphous or polycrystalline
silicon TFT has a smaller mobility and a higher threshold voltage because of
the larger density of trapping states in the channel region. On the other hand,
especially in polycrystalline material, the OFF current is larger than in the
MOS transistor because of the leakage current flowing through the traps
across the reversely biased p-n junction at the drain electrode.
0
I
a
-
v
3
n
5
-31- 0
-10 0 10 20 30 0 5 10 15 20
vG(v) vO(v)
(a) (b)
FIG. 11. Typical characteristics of a polycrystalline-Si TFT: (a) log of drain current (I,) vs.
gate voltage (Vo);(b) drain current (I,) vs. drain voltage (VD).
The required voltage for controlling the liquid-crystal element depends on
the material itself and its mode of operation. In the case of the typical TN
liquid crystal, the optical saturation voltage, as shown in Fig. 2, is around 3.5
volts. However, a writing voltage of more than 4 volts is required on the data
line to compensate for any decay in the stored charge. Since the available
voltage from the usual CMOS LSI driver is about 20 volts, the breakdown
voltage of the gate insulator is designed to be more than 20 volts. In addition,
an excess gate voltage swing may lead to misoperation as a result of the
parasitic capacitance Cgp in Fig. 9. When the TFT is turned on and off, a
spurious signal, determined by the ratio of (Clq + Ca) to Cgp, (shown by AV,
in Fig. 10) will be capacitively coupled to the pixel electrode. If Cgp is not
+
small, e.g., > 1/ 10 of (Clq Ca), this spurious voltage may become a problem.
The net voltage V,, between gate and source, assuming the waveforms
shown in Fig. 10, is given by:
VG, = VG - (12)
If V, is limited to 20 volts and V, is required to be at least 4 volts, the TFT must
have the required ON/OFF ratio expressed by Eq. (8), with the net gate
voltage of less than 16 volts for the ON condition and 0 volts for the OFF
condition, respectively.
In a two-level display with only O N and OFF elements, a low degree of
uniformity, for example a variation within a factor of 10 in the O N and O F F
currents of the TFTs, is allowed. On the other hand, a much better degree of
uniformity in TFT characteristics is required across the entire substrate for
high-quality video and computer displays intended for operation with a large
number of grey levels. Assuming that more than 20 grey levels are to be
achieved, the pixel optical transmission must be controlled to within less than
5%. If the TFT has uniform enough characteristics in its O N and OFF
currents, this may not be a serious problem. However if, for instance, one pixel
is to be written to 90% and another pixel to 95% of full brightness, variations
in O N current that cause a 5% difference in the written potential will cause
a nonuniformity in brightness corresponding to one grey level. Such a non-
uniformity may easily be recognized by the human eye. Likewise, the O F F
current distribution may influence the uniformity of brightness due to the
variation in the storage time constant. Thus, when a high-quality display with
a large number of grey levels is desired, much more stringent requirements are
imposed on the TFT characteristics than those indicated by Eqs. (6) and (7).
C. Structural Requirements and Fabrication Processes
The production yield of the substrate with its TFT array fundamentally
depends on the TFT device structure and the fabrication processes employed.
24 SHINJI MOROZUMI
These factors, determining, for example, the number of photomasks re-

quired, the number of manufacturing machines required, and the number of
substrates that can be processed per unit time for each fabrication step
(throughput) control the overall cost of the display. These various factors are
discussed below.
1. Device Structure
Generally, two types of TFT structures are used, the staggered type and
the inverted staggered type as shown in Fig. 12. In addition, a double-gate
structure (Farrah and Steinberg, 1967), in which gate electrodes are provided
on both sides of the thin-film semiconductor, has occasionally been in-
vestigated. Such structures enable a higher ON current to be obtained, since
conductivity is induced on both surfaces. However, this arrangement has not
been adopted in practice, because its fabrication is too complicated. In the two
types of TFT indicated in Fig. 12, at least four layers, the channel
semiconductor film, the layer from which the source and drain are fabricated,
the gate insulator layer, and the gate electrode layer, are necessary. In addition,
not shown in Fig. 12, a transparent conductive layer is required from which the
pixel electrodes are fabricated as well as a metallization layer for the data lines
and an insulating layer to separate the metallization layer from the gate
electrodes. Also, additional layers may be needed if an added capacitor in
parallel with the liquid-crystal pixel capacitance is necessary. In view of the
numerous fabrication steps, simpler structures could make the production
process shorter and increase the yield.
Although a thin gate insulator is desirable to obtain high ON currents for a
given gate voltage, this causes a lowering of the breakdown voltage. Such
breakdown can occur as a result of defects resulting from dust or flakes of
Rl Gate
Semiconductor
0 Source and Drain
0 Insulator
Glass Substrate
(a) (b)
FIG.12. Typical structure of a TFT:(a) staggered type; (b) inverted staggered type,
foreign matter incorporated during fabrication and also as a result of a
discharge due to static electricity, which is a more serious problem. In practice,
the thickness of the gate insulator is determined by compromising between
these two factors. The nature of the contact between the semiconductor and
the source and drain electrodes is another key factor in the performance of the
TFT, since a high contact resistance may reduce the O N current. Generally,
the use of an intrinsic or slightly doped semiconductor results in a nonohmic
contact. Whether or not the TFT requires an additional intermediate layer to
produce an ohmic contact is determined by the maximum contact resistance
that can be tolerated between the TFT drain electrode and pixel electrode.
2. Substrate Material
Since a primary requirement for the substrate is transparency, glass is
usually used. There are various kinds of glasses, the choice of which depends
on the processing temperature it must withstand, its acid resistivity, impurities,
and flatness. For the highest processing temperatures of up to 1l W C , quartz
substrates can be used. Hard glass such as Corning 7059 glass can be employed
at intermediate and low temperatures of less than 600°C. Soft soda-lime glass
can be used only at low temperatures.
For the photolithographic process used to form the patterns in each layer,
sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, etc., are used to etch away the
undesired portion of each deposited layer. The glass must be resistant to such
acids, otherwise it will be simultaneously etched, generating many fine cracks.
Impurities, particularly alkali metals such as Na and K, affect the stability of
the TFT characteristics in the same manner as in MOS transistors if they are
allowed to penetrate into the channel material and insulator region. Since this
is often the case, the glass surface is coated with a Silicon Oxide (SiOJ film.
This prevents etching of the glass and diffusion of contaminants into the TFT.
The flatness of the glass is also very important for the assembly of a
satisfactory liquid-crystal cell. For a complete TN LCD, the spacing variation
between the plates must be less than 0.2 pm. This requires the short-range
deviation in the flatness of the glass to be less than 0.2 pm. However, a long-
range warpage of more than 10 pm can be tolerated, since the flexibility of the
plates allow them to be bent during cell assembly, retaining their spacing
uniformity with the aid of small internal spacers distributed over the display
area.
3. Elimination of Defects
The problem of defects is the most important factor determining the
fabrication yield and cost. Various types of defects are observed in active-
matrix LCDs. Some are defects in the TFT itself due to breakdown of the gate
26 SHINJI MOROZUMI
insulator that cause the TFT to remain permanently ON or OFF. Others arise
from short circuits at cross points between the gate and data lines, caused by
damage from an electrostatic discharge or from defective patterns produced
during photolithography. Also, open circuits caused by defective photoli-
thography may arise in the data and gate lines.
During the photolithographic process, several photomasks are used to
produce the TFT and active-matrix substrate patterns. Figure 13 shows the
three types of photolithography that can be used: contact, proximity, and
projection. During optical exposure, defects may arise as a result of the
detachment of photoresist material from the substrate and transfer to the
photomask, dust on or in the photoresist, dust and flakes on the substrate, and
transfer of other small particles from the substrate to the photomask. Once
such materials come in contact with the photomask, they are hard to remove,
since brushing the surface of the photomask may cause new damage. After
repeated use, defects on the photomask gradually accumulate if the mask is in
contact or near the substrate. To avoid such defect generation in the mask,
projection exposure is preferred, since the mask never touches the substrate.
With the employment of this method, it has been shown that defects generated
during photolithography can be greatly reduced.
Usually, during deposition, the film is deposited not only on the substrate
but also on areas around the substrate, such as substrate holders, electrodes,
chamber walls, etc. This material may fall on the substrate as flakes, causing
defects. Therefore such flake generation has to be considered when choosing
the deposition system. For example, P-CVD systems for producing amor-
phous Si films easily generate flakes and require an appropriate design or
other means to suppress them.
Photoresist
0 Patterned Layer
Photo-Mask
I I
(a) Contact ( b ) Proximity (c) Projection

FIG. 13. Three photolithography methods. (a) Contact: the photomask contacts the
substrate; (b)proximity: the photomask is positioned close to the substrate; (c)projection: pattern
on the photomask is projected onto the substrate through a lens.
In any case, all the fabrication processes including the final liquid-crystal
cell assembly must take place in a clean environment. In practice, it is quite
difficult to realize a complete process that results in a perfect TFT LCD with
zero defects. However, for many applications, no defects can be tolerated. In
these cases, some redundancy technique must be used. For instance, multiple
TFTs may be used for each pixel, enabling the removal of the defective TFT by
laser-beam trimming (Takeda et al., 1986).
4. Environmental Problems
In many cases, LCDs must endure harsh environmental conditions, such
as high or low temperature, high humidity, and strong ambient light. These
conditions may cause problems with the TFT itself or the liquid-crystal
material. In some cases, the LC material limits the temperature-operating
range. At low temperature, the response time of the LC material may become
too long, whereas at high temperature, the RC time constant may be dgraded
because of the decrease of its resistivity. In addition, the LC material may
suffer from high humidity if it is not completely protected from the outside
environment. In fact, moisture may penetrate into the LC material through the
edges of the display panel where the glass plates are sealed together, requiring
the choice of a suitable moisture-resistant LC material. Since the metallization
layers and other layers associated with the TFT may be damaged by moisture,
causing open circuits in the data and gate lines as well as a shift in the TFT
characteristics, they may have to be covered with some kind of passivation
layer.
Usually, at high temperature or under strong ambient light, the OFF
current of the TFT increases. In such cases, the leakage current through the
TFT must still satisfy Eq. (6). For example, the leakage current of the TFT
doubles with every 10-degree rise in temperature, assuming the activation
energy of the semiconductor film to be about 0.6 eV. If the TFT LCD is
required to operate up to 6 0 T , the leakage at room temperature must then be
less than 1/10 of the value indicated by Eq. (6).
Generally, if the LCD is viewed in the reflective mode, it may be placed in
direct sunlight. On the other hand, if it is viewed in the transmissive mode with
back lighting, the illumination level of the backlight will have to be about ten
times greater than sunlight if the display is designed to be visible in sunlight.
However, the actual intensity of the backlight reaching the TFT will be a half
or a quarter of the full backlight level because of absorption by the rear
polarizer as well as the internal color filter layers (see Section VI) if the display
is designed for color. The leakage current I, induced by light is determined by
the photo-generated carriers created in the channel region,
I , = W/Lnqp E/hvz{ 1 - exp( - at)} V , , (13)
28 SHINJI MOROZUMI
where Wand L are the channel width and length respectively, n is the quantum
efficiency (chargecarriers produced per absorbed photon), q is the unit charge
of an electron, p is the mobility of the carriers (one of which is assumed to be
mobile), E is the light power, v is the average frequency of the light, z is the
carrier lifetime, a is the optical absorption coefficient, t is the thickness of the
semiconductor film between source and drain, and V, is the drain voltage
relative to the source. As indicated by Eq. (13), channel-region semiconductor
films with small values of a and t have a smaller photo-induced leakage
current. It is therefore obvious that a very thin semiconductor film is useful to
reduce such current. In cases where the photo-leakage current is too large, a
light shield in the form of a metal film may be deposited over each TFT to
reduce this current to an acceptable level.
5. Reliability Problems
Conventionally, the reliability of MOS transistors on a Si single-crystal
wafer is evaluated by means of the bias-temperature (BT) test, in which
maximum-rating DC voltages are applied at elevated temperatures between
gate and drain and between source and drain. Under these conditions, the
activation energy for the transistor degradation at different temperatures is
calculated. From this, the lifetime at room temperature can be determined.
The lifetime may be defined as the time required for a specific shift of the
electrical characteristics to occur, for instance a 2- 3-volt shift in the threshold
voltage, a several-times increase of the OFF current, or a similar decrease of
the ON current. The lifetime of a TFT can similarly be determined. In the
operation of the TFT LCD, the TFT is always driven by a pulse signal. If the
pulse-temperature (PT) test is used instead of the BT test, the measured
lifetime becomes much longer. However, it is not clear which method is most
accurate. The required lifetime of an LCD depends on the application.
Typically it is more than 1,000hours, but in some cases, it may be more than
10,000 hours.
IV. CHARACTERISTICS
OF DIFFERENT
TYPESOF THIN-FILM
TRANSISTORS
AND THIN-FILMTRANSISTOR
LIQUID-CRYSTAL
DISPLAYS
Presently available thin-film transistors (TFTs) can be divided into three

categories in accordance with the semiconductor material used: CdSe,
amorphous Si, and polycrystalline Si. In this section, their different structures,
fabrication processes, and electrical characteristics will be discussed as well as
their performance in complete LCDs.
A . CdSe Thin-Film Transistors
1. Structure and Fabrication Processes

Of the three types of TFTs, those based on CdSe were, until 10 years ago,
the most thoroughly investigated. Films of this material exhibit a high electron
mobility and are easily fabricated by vacuum evaporation without requiring
any complicated deposition system. Both the staggered type and inverted
staggered type (see Fig. 12) have been employed in accordance with the
location of the gate electrode. In some cases, a double-gate structure with gate
electrodes provided on both surfaces of the semiconductor channel material
(Chen and Luo, 1981, and Luo et al., 1981) has also been explored in order to
improve the electrical characteristics and stability of the CdSe TFTs.
The typical structure of an inverted staggered CdSe TFT is shown in
Fig. 14. For the gate insulator, sputtered or evaporated SO2, aluminum
oxide (A1203),and Ta,O, films have been used. The source and drain elec-
trodes are generally made of aluminum, chromium, or other metals that
enable a low-resistance or ohmic contact to be made with the CdSe film.
The CdSe film is deposited by vacuum coevaporation from separate sources
of Cd and Se or from the CdSe compound.
The CdSe TFT with a tantalum (Ta) gate electrode and a Ta,O, gate
insulator provides a good example of the inverted staggered type (Moersch
et al., 1984). During fabrication, the gate electrode made of Ta film is formed
first. In this process, a Ta film is deposited on a glass plate, and undesired areas
are etched off with the aid of photolithography (see Section 111. C. 3). Then a
1500-A-thick Ta20, film is formed by anodic oxidation of the Ta in an acid
solution. The resultant oxide film is very stable, and its thickness and other
properties are easily controlled by the voltage applied during oxidation. Next,
Source Drain
Gate
Glass
,.;.,.., ... .. ... .. CdSe

1777771 A1
0 S i O z , TazOs
Al203,
Ta or A l
FIG. 14. Typical cross-sectional view of a CdSe TFT with inverted staggered gate.
30 SHINJI MOROZUMI
a 500-A-thick CdSe layer is deposited by vacuum evaporation after sputter-

cleaning of the Ta,O, surface in order to improve the interface between the
Ta,O, and CdSe. Finally, an aluminum layer is deposited, forming the source
and drain electrodes by the lift-off method. In this process, the surface is first
coated with a thick photoresist layer, which is then removed everywhere
except in the channel region by photoexposure through the transparent glass
substrate. Following this, an aluminum layer is evaporated. Removal of the
remaining thick photoresist then removes the aluminum except in the source
and drain regions that are self-aligned with respect to the gate.
In an alternative fabrication process not requiring the use of a photolitho-
graphic process, a shadow-mask method was tried (Luo and Hester, 1980).In
this case, each layer is evaporated through a suitable metal shadow mask, with
all the layers being formed in one pump-down. Since in this method the pattern
required for each layer does not require a complicated photolithographic
technique, the entire TFT fabrication process becomes much simpler.
However, because of other problems that arise, such as insufficient pattern
accuracy, short shadow-mask lifetime and susceptibility to defects, this
method is seldom used today.
2. Characteristics
The conductivity of a CdSe TFT can be understood by means of a model
involving a polycrystalline semiconductor with grain boundary trapping
(Levinson et al., 1982).Here, it is assumed that the current flowing through the
film is governed by thermionic emission above the barrier height formed at the
grain boundary. For small drain voltages, this model applied to the TFT has
exhibited good agreement with experiment.
The field-effect carrier mobility reported for CdSe TFTs is slightly different
from publication to publication, but in each case, the ON/OFF ratio reported
was more than lo4. In one example, the mobility was found to be in the range
of 40-100 cm2/V sec when the thickness of the CdSe film was about 500 A
(Lee et al., 1983). Generally, CdSe TFTs have had poor reliability. For
example, with a DC bias gate voltage, the electrical characteristics of CdSe
TFTs tend to shift in a short time. However, in the early work on the
uniformity and stability of this material under the accelerated life test, it was
concluded that CdSe exhibited adequate stability and uniformity for display
devices (Brody et al., 1975). The OFF current stability was investigated using
an 80-100-&thick CdSe semiconductor with a double-gate structure using a
1000-A-thick A1203 film together with a 3000-A-thick SiO, film for the top
insulator and a 4000-A-thick A1203 film for the bottom insulator (Luo et al.,
1981). The leakage current in the O F F state of this TFT was 2.5 x lo-',
ampere, giving an ON/OFF current ratio of 2.7 x lo'. DC and dynamic life
tests in the O F F state showed that this TFT performed better under actual
operating conditions than under DC conditions.
3. Performance of CdSe TFT LCDs

In the early 1970s,a liquid-crystal display panel based on CdSe TFTs with
a 6 x 6-inch area and 120 x 120 lines (Brody et al., 1973)was built and tested.
This produced images with a 25: 1 contrast ratio using the TN liquid-crystal
mode with crossed polarizers (see Section l.B) when operated at the normal
(30 Hz) TV frame rate, thus allowing about 60 psec writing time for one scan
line. In subsequent work, CdSe TFT LCDs with 1 x 1-inch and 5 x 5-inch size,
both with a 50-lines-per-inch resolution, were produced by a hybrid process
using a combination of an evaporative shadow mask and photolithography
for forming the patterns in each layer (Luo and Hoesly, 1982). Later, a large-
area LCD for portable computers with 400 x 640 pixels and a 10 x 7-inch
display area was developed (Luo et al., 1985). The TFT array here was
fabricated on a Corning 7740 glass substrate using five photomasks. These
TFTs had a 7: 1 channel length to width ratio, producing a 1-pA ON current
with 20 volts on the gate and a source to drain potential of 10 volts, while
exhibiting a 100-pA OFF current with a gate voltage of zero. Using parallel
polarizers instead, allowing O N elements to be transmitting, a contrast ratio
of over 20:l was obtained as well as a viewing angle cone of more than 45".
The image quality of this TFT LCD was excellent and was clearly far superior
to that of directly multiplexed TN LCDs of those days.
In other efforts, CdSe TFT driver elements for the X and Y lines of the
display were fabricated on the same substrate (Malmberg et al., 1986). The
switching speed of these TFTs in generating a 5-volt pulse across a 100-pF
load capacitance was 2.5 psec or less. To provide redundancy, separate driver
circuits were provided at both ends of each X and Y line instead of at a single
end. In this case, when a defective drive circuit was found in either driver, the
defect-free driver was selected, greatly improving the yield of the drive circuits.
With such an integrated panel design, the number of external connections was
reduced from 2084 to 232.
B. Amorphous Si Thin-Film Transistors

Most of the activity on amorphous Si thin film and related devices can be
traced back to the work in 1975 by Spear and Le Comber (Spear and Le
Comber, 1975). They found that hydrogen doping of the amorphous Si film
resulting from the glow discharge in SiH, gas was effective in controlling
32 SHINJI MOROZUMI
whether the resultant film was p or n type. In 1979,the possible application of

amorphous Si TFTs to matrix-type LCDs was presented (Le Comber et al.,
1979).Following this, many attempts were made to realize such active-matrix
LCDs. In detail, these structures are different from laboratory to laboratory,
but typically they can be classified by the structure type of TFT used, i.e., either
the staggered gate type or the more common inverted staggered gate type (see
Section 1II.C.1).
Silicon oxide films were initially employed as the gate insulator film, but
recently silicon nitride films have been used in order to obtain high electrical
stability and reliability. Usually, the gate insulator film is continuously
deposited just after or before the deposition of the amorphous silicon film
by a change of the reacting gases or reacting chamber without exposure to
atmosphere so as to prevent generation of unstable interface states between
the gate insulator and amorphous Si film.
The gate electrode of amorphous Si TFTs is made of metal, such as
aluminum, chromium, or tantalum. Since the amorphous Si film is quite
sensitive to light, the surface opposite to that covered by the metal gate
electrode may require a light-shield layer external to the TFT. The need for the
light-shield layer, however, may be avoided by using a very thin amorphous Si
film, for example, 300-500-A-thick (Sakai et al., 1985), since such films
produce a relatively small number of photo-generated carriers.
The metal contact to the intrinsic amorphous Si layer used for the TFT
usually exhibits a nonohmic Schottky diode property and relatively high
resistance. In some cases, this contact resistancemay be higher than that of the
TFT channel. If the contact resistancecan be ignored, as in displays requiring
no grey scale or operated at a slow frame rate, aluminum, chromium, or I T 0
(indium tin oxide used for the driving electrodes of the liquid-crystal matrix)
may directly contact the amorphous Si, serving as the source and drain
electrodes (Ugai et al., 1984). However, video displays generally require a
uniform and low contact resistance in order to control the generation of a
large number of grey levels. Therefore, an n + layer of amorphous Si is
sandwiched between the source or drain electrode and the amorphous Si film
to reduce the contact resistance. If the I T 0 layer directly contacts then' layer,
the contact resistance may not be sufficiently low, since the I T 0 film exhibits
semiconductor rather than metal properties. In this case, an additional
intermediate metal layer may be required.
The typical fabrication process for a staggered-type TFT is as follows
(Yanagisawa et al., 1985).First a 1000-A-thickchromium layer is deposited as
a light-shield layer. After this is patterned into small elements by photoli-
thography, an insulating layer of silicon nitride is deposited to serve as
electrical separation of the light-shield layer from the TFT. Then, the I T 0
elemental areas used for the liquid-crystal driving electrode as well as the data
lines that connect to the TFTs as source and drain electrodes are also formed
by photolithography with a first photomask. After the ohmic contact layer is
formed, a 3000-A-thick intrinsic amorphous Si layer and a 5000-A-thick
silicon nitride gate insulator film are consecutively deposited by plasma-
enhanced CVD. Then, the through holes in the gate insulator and amorphous
Si layer are opened with a second photomask in order to form a direct contact
region between the I T 0 data line and aluminum connection pad. Following
this, an aluminum layer is deposited and patterned with a third photomask to
form the gate electrode and gate lines. Then the gate insulator and amorphous
Si layer are etched off except under the remaining aluminum layer to form the
same pattern as that of the aluminum layer. The complete TFT is thus formed
with three photomasks, excluding the light-shield mask.
2. Characteristics
The characteristics of the amorphous Si TFT are mostly determined by the
threshold voltage and the mobility of the semiconductor. The threshold
voltage, which is about 1-5 volts, is determined by the thickness of the gate
oxide, interface state density in the region between the gate insulator and the
amorphous Si layer, and the density of states within the semiconductor film.
The mobility,determined by the electrical properties of the amorphous Si film
itself, is almost the same for measurements by different laboratories; 0.1-
0.3 cm2/V sec. The OFF resistivity is quite high-more than 1014ohm cm. In
most cases, the ON/OFF current ratio is around lo6,which is sufficient for use
in active-matrixLCDs as discussed in Section 1II.B. Theoretical analyses were
made on the state density in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films
(Kishida et al., 1983,and Suzuki et al., 1982).According to the work of Kishida
et al., reduction of the gap-state density near the conduction band edge is
necessary in order to obtain a high ON/OFF current ratio.
In an early paper (Snell et al., 1981),the characteristics of the amorphous Si
TFT and its application to LCDs were investigated. Figure 15 shows the
structure of this device. An I T 0 layer is deposited on the Corning glass and
then patterned by photolithography to provide transparent conductive pixel
electrodes for driving the liquid-crystal element. A chromium film is then
evaporated and undesired areas are etched away to form the gate electrode.
Next, a 5000-A-thick silicon nitride film and an amorphous Si film are
deposited in sequence by means of an RF gIow discharge, and the unwanted
areas are etched off. Finally, an aluminum metallization layer is evaporated
and patterned to form the source and drain electrodes and data lines. In this
structure, no light shield was employed. The channel length (source-to-drain
distance) was 500 pm and the width of the source and drain electrodes was
40 pm. The transfer characteristics of this transistor, indicated by the drain
34 SHINJI MOROZUMI
a-Si
FIG. 15. Design of a-Si field-effect transistor element: (a) section through device; (b) FET in
part of the matrix array (ITO: indium-tin-oxide squares, G: gate electrode, D: drain electrode, S:
source electrode, A: contact hole etched through sillicon nitride film). (Figure 1 from Snell et a!.,
1981. Copyright 0 1981 Springer-Verlag.)
lo-' d
10-6 -
I
10-0 -
10-10-
10-12
-10 0 10 20 30 40
VC (v)
FIG. 16. Transfer characteristics of a-Si FET elements: the drain current I , is plotted
against the gate voltage V, for three drain potentials V., (Figure 2 from Snell et al., 1981.
Copyright 0 1981 Springer-Verlag.)
current I , as a function of gate voltage V, for 2, 10, and 20 volts of drain
voltage V,, are shown in Fig. 16. As indicated, the OFF current at zero gate
voltage is below lo-" ampere, the ON/OFF current ratio is about lo6, and
the threshold voltage is around 5 volts. Calculations indicate the field-effect
mobility to be around 0.4 cm2/V sec.
The effects of photoconductivity on the amorphous Si TFT are shown
by the transfer curves of Fig. 17 (Sugata et al., 1983).For this TFT, a 0.3-pm-
thick silicon nitride film was used as a gate insulator. The amorphous Si
layer was 0.2 pm thick, and a 0.1-pm n + layer was used to make ohmic con-
tact. These layers were deposited in succession by means of a glow discharge.
The gate electrode, and source and drain electrodes consisted of 0.1 and
0.5-pm-thick aluminum, respectively. The channel length was 16 pm and the
width was 4800 pm. The threshold voltage was 3 volts and the mobility was
0.3 cm2/V sec. At zero gate voltage, under illumination with a 2,500-lux
tungsten lamp, the O F F current without a light shield was more than lo3
lo+, I I I I 1
lo-"
0 10 20
VG (v)
FIG. 17. Characteristics of a-Si TFT:dotted curve represents the characteristics of TFT with
a light shield under illumination from a 2500-lux tungstenn lamp; solid curve shows character-
istics in dark. (Figure 2 from Sugata et al., 1983. Permission for reprint, courtesy Society for
Information Display and the Institute of Television Engineers of Japan.)
36 SHINJI MOROZUMI
times higher than in the dark state. However, by employing a light shield,
the photo-induced current increased less than 10 times as shown in Fig. 17.
By using a very thin amorphous Si film, it was shown that the light-shield
layer could be eliminated (Sakai et al., 1985, and Sakai et al., 1986). Figure 18
shows the structure and characteristics of such a TFT. First, a 50-nm-thick
gate electrode of chromium is sputtered. A 300-nm-thick silicon nitride film
and 40-nm intrinsic amorphous Si layer are then deposited by plasma-
enhanced CVD. Following this, the source and drain electrodes are formed
using a 10-nm-thick n + intermediate layer and a 100-nm-thick silicon-
containing aluminum layer. The channel length was 8 pm and the width was
30 pm. In Fig. 18b, the drain current ID as a function of the drain-to-source
voltage V,, is shown for gate voltages V, of 0 and 20 volts. This TFT exhibited
a threshold voltage of 3-5 volts and a mobility of 0.5 cmZ/Vsec. As shown in
Fig. 18, by employing a very thin amorphous Si film, an O N / O F F current
(a)
ID(A)
1E-05
decade
/div
1E-13
00.00 20.00
VDS 2.000/div(v)
(b)
FIG. 18. Structure and characteristics of a-Si very-thin-film transistor: (a) cross-sectional
view of device with thin 40-nm a-Si layer; (b) typical electric characteristics of device; curves (1)
and (2) show OFF characteristics in the dark and when illuminated with a fluorescent lamp of
10E4 lux, respectively. VDS is drain to source voltage. (Figures 1 and 2 from Sakai et al., 1985
Copyright 0 1985 IEEE.)
ratio of more than lo4 was obtained under illumination of a 10,000-lux
fluorescent tube.
Although the initial characteristics of amorphous Si TFTs measured just
after fabrication are good enough for use in an active-matrix LCD, their
uniformity and stability present major problems. The uniformity depends
mainly on the manufacturing equipment, but the stability is associated with an
undesirable physical property of the amorphous state semiconductor. In
studies of amorphous Si TFTs (Powell, 1983), it was shown that charge
trapping in the silicon nitride gate insulator layer caused a shift only in the
threshold voltage, but not the mobility, as a result of changes in the voltage
bias condition. For example, at a gate voltage of 12 volts, and at 70°C, Powell
observed more than a 3-volt shift of the threshold voltage within 5 seconds.
This shift did not exhibit a simple log-time dependence, but was a more
complicated function of time. It was concluded that such instability was
caused by the injection of electrons from the semiconductor channel into the
gate insulator with an activation energy of 0.3 eV. In other work (Ast, 1982),a
similar instability was observed by trapping electrons in the amorphous Si and
gate insulator, and detrapping by the light. Here, the illumination dependency
of the drain current decay due to such trapping was shown. In the dark
condition, drain current decay of up to one order of magnitude was observed
within 100 hours using the 10% duty cycle pulse measurement. In the
illuminated condition, the drain current decay reached a maximum of
only 113.
3. Performance of a-Si TFT LCDs

In 1982, the first successful developments of monochrome displays based
on a-Si TFT LCDs were described (Kawai et al., 1982,Le Contellec et al., 1982,
and Okubo et al., 1982).In this early period, display size and resolution were
relatively limited as shown, for example, in Okubo's paper describing a
240 x 240-pixel array with a 96 x 96 mm active area. In 1983, another
developmental display with 220 x 240 pixels and 44 x 60 mm in size (also
monochrome) was described. This used a TN liquid-crystal for graphic images
and a guest- host liquid-crystal for TV applications. These panels were
capable of 40:l and 3.3:l contrast ratios, respectively (Suzuki et al., 1983).
A more sophisticated display using amorphous Si TFTs, capable of
producing color video images, appeared in 1986 (Hotta et al., 1986). In this
display panel, the picture elements have red, green, and blue color filter layers
of differing thickness. This is referred to as the multigap liquid-crystal cell
spacing method (Nagata et al., 1985)with parallel polarizers (see Section 1.B).
The cross-sectional view of such a TFT LCD is shown in Fig. 19. Usually, in
the TN mode, the optical transmission has a wavelength dependency because
38 SHINJl MOROZUMI
Polarizer
Counter Electrode I T 0
Aligning L a y e r
FIG. 19. Cross-sectionalview of full-color multigap LC TV panel:liquid-crystallayer thick-

ness, e.g., dRand d , of red and green cells, is optimized for the best color transmission.(Figure 1,
from Hotta er at., 1986. Permission for reprint, courtesy Society for Information Display.)
of the effect of rotatory dispersion. In the parallel polarizer method, this

dependency appears in the OFF state of the liquid-crystal cell in which
realization of neutral white becomes more difficult than in the cross-polarizer
method. In order to eliminate such undesired effects that may be noticeable in
the OFF state, the liquid-crystal cell thickness must be adjusted to have
optimal spacing between its upper and lower electrodes for the particular
range of wavelength involved (Gooch and Tarry, 1975).This is accomplished
by varing the thickness of the color filter layers. With this multigap method
and the addition of a black matrix to block the light passing between the pixel
electrodes, the contrast ratio was enhanced due to an improved black state.
Furthermore, the color pixels were arranged in a triangular pattern to obtain
the best image definition with the given number of pixels. The display had an
area of 45.6 x 60.4 mm (3-inch diagonal), containing 240(V) x 378(H) pixels.
In operation, it produced a contrast ratio of more than 30:l over an included
viewing angle of 30"(V) and 50"(H), and had a response time of less than
40 msec. Such panels were shown to be capable of displaying good color TV
images with RGB-peak-enhanced-typefluorescent backlight.
Another full-color LCD with a very thin amorphous Si film was described
by Sakai et al. (1985). This contained 220 x 240 pixels in an area of
34.1 mm(V) x 45.6 mm(H), producing a contrast ratio of more than 30: 1 in
the TN mode. Figure 20 shows a photograph of a picture produced by this
color LCD.
As of the present, amorphous Si TFT LCDs of more than 10-inchdiagonal
size have already been demonstrated. One of these has a picture size of
134.6 x 21 1.2 mm and contains 408 x 640 pixels (Sakamoto et al., 1986).This
produced images with a contrast ratio of more than 20:l. Another panel
(Takeda et al., 1986)has been built with 480 x 640 pixels and a 256 x 192 mm
FIG. 20. Black-and-white photograph of a TV picture displayed on full-color LCD with very
thin 40 nm a-Si layer: the number of pixels is 220 x 240, and the contrast ratio is more than 30:l.
(Figure 4 from Sakai et al., 1985. Copyright 0 1985 IEEE, and courtesy Seiko Instrument and
Electronics Ltd.)
picture area (12.5-inch diagonal). Production yield may become a problem in

such large-area and high-resolution LCDs because of defective elements. In
order to overcome this problem, in the latter panel, a redundancy technique
was employed in which two TFTs were provided for each pixel, with one TFT
being disconnected by laser beam if it was defective.
C. Polycrystalline Si Thin-Film Transistors

The properties of polycrystallized silicon films have been studied since the
time of the development of the silicon gate MOSFET (Faggin and Klein,
1970).The physics of poly-Si films were thus comparatively advanced prior to
their application to TFT LCDs. Most poly-Si TFTs of the staggered type have
fabrication processes and a structure similar to those of MOS transistors
fabricated on a Si single-crystal wafer. In poly-Si TFTs, instead of a bulky Si
single crystal, a polycrystalline Si thin film is deposited on an insulating
substrate to form the semiconductor. For the deposition of the poly-Si film,
the (LPT-CVD)method, in which SiH4 gas is decomposed at around 6WC, is
usually employed.
40 SHINJI MOROZUMI
There are two types of poly-Si TFTs, depending of whether they are
subsequently processed at high or low temperature. The former employ a
thermally grown oxide and are fabricated at 800°C or higher on a quartz
substrate although a novel glass substrate capable of withstanding 800°C has
also been employed (Troxell et al., 1986).The latter employ a CVD-deposited
SiO, film as the gate insulator and are fabricated at less than 600°C on a hard-
glass substrate, such as Corning's 7059.
Figure 21 shows the fabrication steps employed in making a high-
temperature-processed poly-Si TFT, using four levels of photomask to
complete the TFT. This process is quite similar to that used for the Si-gate
MOSFET and is also easily performed, since all the manufacturing equipment
used for LSI production can be employed. A 1500-3000-1&thick poly-Si film
is first deposited. The undesired areas are then etched away by photolithogra-
phy with a first photomask, leaving the source, drain, and channel regions.
Following this, the gate insulator layer is grown in a dry 0, atmosphere. The
poly-Si film for the gate electrode is then deposited and removed except in the
Poly- Si
,-Gate Electrode
Source and Drain

Regions
Insulator (SiOZ)
(C 1
FIG. 21. Fabrication process of a high-temperature-processed poly-Si TFT: (a) poly-Si film
is deposited by LPT CVD on the quartz substrate and patterned; (b) after thermal oxidation of the
first layer of poly-Si, a second poly-Si layer is deposited and patterned to form the gate electrode.
Following this, self-aligned source and drain regions are formed in the first poly-Si layer by ion
implantation; (c) after a second SiO, deposition, contact holes are opened to the source and drain
regions; (d) I T 0 is sputtered and patterned to form the data line and pixel electrode.
area of the gate electrode with a second photomask. Phosphorous ions are
then implanted in the source and drain regions to form a low resistance layer
and to enable ohmic contact to be made to the external conductors. In this
process, the poly-Si channel region below the gate electrode is shielded from
the phosphorous ions. Next, a 5000-8000-A-thick Si02 film is deposited by
CVD, and contact holes are opened to the source and drain regions with a
third photomask. Finally, the I T 0 layer used to form the pixel electrode and
data line is sputtered and patterned by photolithography with a fourth
photomask. Because of the self-aligningprocess used in fabricating the source
and drain electrodes, whereby the gate electrode acts as a shield for the
phosphorous ions, there is minimum overlap between these electrodes and the
gate, reducing the parasitic capacitances between these electrodes.
The structure of a low-temperature-processed poly-Si TFT is shown in
Fig. 22. This is also carried out with four photomasks (Morozumi et al., 1986b).
First, a 1500-A n+ layer of polycrystalline Si is formed on the hard-glass
substrate with a first photomask. Then, a 100-500-A-thin undoped poly-Si
layer is deposited by LPT CVD, and undesired areas are etched away except
for the channel region and the source and drain contact regions to the n+
poly-Si layer, using a second photomask. Next, a 2000-&thick I T 0 layer
is sputtered and patterned with a third photomask to provide the pixel
electrodes and data lines. After cleaning the surface of the poly-Si layer, the
gate oxide is deposited by CVD. Finally, the I T 0 layer for the gate electrodes
and gate lines is sputtered and patterned with the fourth photomask.
Other low-temperature methods to fabricate poly-Si TFTs making use of
molecular-beam deposition (MBD) and electron-beam gun (E-gun) evapora-
tion for the growth of the poly-Si film have also been developed. In the MBD
method (Matsui et al., 1980),the silicon film was deposited under ultrahigh-
vacuum conditions on the order of Torr. The film could then be easily
undoped poly-Si
+ poly-Si (Source, Drain)

I TO ixel Electrode)
(to Data Li
\
glass
FIG.22. Structure of low-temperature-processed poly-Si TFT: a hard-glass substrate can be
utilized since the maximum process temperature is 600°C; contact resistance between the channel
under the gate electrode and the nf poly-Si layer is small, allowing high ON current to be
obtained.
42 SHINJI MOROZUMI
polycrystallized even at 500°C and exhibited a carrier mobility as high as

10 cm2/V sec. In the E-beam method (Oana et al., 1983), a poly-Si film
with a field-effect mobility of more than 10 cm2/V sec was obtained at 550°C
in high vacuum (1 x lop6Torr).
2. Characteristics
In general, the electrical characteristics of amorphous Si or poly-Si films
are determined by the states or traps in the band gap of the semiconductor
material itself. According to the analysis of field-effect phenomena in poly-Si
films (Kamins, 1972), the gap-state density near the Fermi level (deep defect
levels) is the dominant factor in determining the threshold voltage. On the
other hand, it is obvious that the electron mobility is influenced by the
scattering of the free carriers by the gap states near the conduction band edge.
Comparing the gap-state density between the a-Si:H (Suzuki et al., 1982) and
the poly-Si films (de Graaff et al., 1982), it has been found that the a-Si:H film
has much higher density near the conduction band edge than near the Fermi
level, whereas the poly-Si film has a relatively uniform distribution of gap
states within the forbidden gap. Here, the Fermi level is almost the same as the
intrinsic level, because the semiconductors for TFTs employ undoped or
lightly doped films. With respect to amorphous Si films, such densities in poly-
Si films are lower near the conduction band edge, and higher near the Fermi
level. As a result, the poly-Si film has much higher mobility, over 10cm2/Vsec,
and relatively higher threshold voltage, 5-7 volts, than the amorphous Si film.
As mentioned in Section IV.B.2 in connection with a-Si TFTs, the threshold
voltage can be affected either by interface states between the semiconductor
film and gate insulator or by charges trapped in the gate insulator.
The above-mentioned gap states of poly-Si films, which determine the
TFT characteristics, result from the properties of the grain boundaries.
Investigations of this subject (Depp et al., 1980, and Levinson et al., 1982) have
shown that the trap density located at the grain boundary influences the
carrier mobility as well as the threshold voltage of the TFT. In both
investigations, the drain current of poly-Si TFTs was calculated by using
models with appropriate trap density, resulting in good agreement with
experiments.
Although the poly-Si film has a higher carrier mobility, more than
10 cm2/V sec, compared to the amorphous Si film, its OFF resistance in the
dark may be too low because of its small band gap and large carrier density
as compared with the amorphous Si film. However, in the illuminated con-
dition, poly-Si TFTs have a much lower photo-induced leakage current than
amorphous Si TFTs. Whereas the energy band structure of amorphous Si
corresponds closely to the direct transition type in accordance with measure-
ments of the optical absorption coefficient (Carlson and Wronski, 1979), that
of polycrystalline Si seems to be of the indirect type as in the case of single-
crystal Si. These authors found the absorption coefficient .of amorphous Si
films to be more than an order of magnitude larger than that of crystalline Si,
consistent with the fact that the polycrystalline Si films exhibit an indirect
transition (Moss et al., 1973).This explains why the photo-leakage current of
poly-Si TFTs is much smaller than that of amorphous Si TFTs.
In order to reduce the OFF current in the dark to the required low level, a
thin poly-Si film of less than lo00 8 has been used as well as a dual-gate
structure as explained below. Both approaches are also effective in reducing
the photo-leakage current of poly-Si TFTs to the level where they can be used
without a light-shield layer.
The typical characteristics of poly-Si TFTs prepared by both the high-
temperature and low-temperature processes described in Section 1V.C.1 are
shown in Fig. 23. The thickness of the poly-Si films is 650 8 and 250 8,
. Vos=4V
Single Dual
!I
-c.'
C
e
l
I
L
3
0 High Temperature Process
Single Gate, Dark
n Dual Gate,Dark
__---Dual Gate,100,000lux
-12
I
Dual Gate, Dark I

- 1 4 1 " " " "
-10 0 10 20 30
Gate Voltage VCS(V)
FIG.23. Typical characteristics of high-temperature and low-temperature-processed poly-Si
TFTs: the effect of the dual-gate structure on the OFF current both in the dark and under
illumination is also shown in the figure.
44 SHINJI MOROZUMI
respectively, with the gate oxide thickness being 1500 A for both. In both dual-
gate TFTs, with a channel length of (15 pm + 15 pm) and a channel width of
10 pm, the ON currents exceed 1 pA, whereas the OFF currents are below
1 PA, resulting in an ON/OFF current ratio that reaches lo6. Even when
illuminated with 100,OOOlux,the poly-Si TFT has a ratio of more than lo5.It is
thus clear that the dual-gate TFT is effective in reducing the O F F current
compared with a single-gate TFT of the same total channel length, especially
when a large negative gate bias is applied to the TFT.
As shown in Fig. 23, in the dual-gate structure, two TFTs are connected
serially and their gate electrodes connected together. In the case of n-channel
TFTs, for example, a p-type accumulation layer is formed at the surface of
the channel when a negative gate voltage is applied. In this condition, lateral
n-p-n junctions are induced, assuming n-type source and drain electrodes.
If positive drain voltage relative to the source is applied, the O F F current is
determined by the leakage current through the reverse-biased p-n junction at
the n-type drain electrode. Because of the large trap density in the poly-Si film,
the leakage current through the reverse-biased p-n junction increases
exponentially with the applied drain voltage. The dual-gate TFT arrangement
thus results in a tenfold decrease in the O F F current at a negative gate voltage
of 10 volts due to halving the applied drain-to-source voltage across the TFT
section (assuming the total length of the channel region is fixed).
The thickness of the poly-Si film has much to do with the drain current of
poly-Si TFTs. Such thickness dependency is shown in Fig. 24(Morozumi et al.,
1985). As the film becomes thinner, the OFF current decreases in both the
illuminated and dark conditions due to the decrease of cross-sectional area
and corresponding leakage carrier generation. At the same time, the O N
current increases because of the reduction of the threshold voltage, which
changes from 8 volts at a thickness of 1000A to 5 volts at 500 hi. The reason for
this is as follows. The threshold voltage is defined as the gate voltage required
to capacitively induce free carriers at the semiconductor channel surface and
space charge in the body of the semiconductor through the gate insulator to
turn on the TFT (Kamins, 1972). Although the number of surface carriers is
determined by the gate potential and independent of the semiconductor film
thickness, the number of space charges depends on the semiconductor film
thickness where this thickness is smaller than the space charge depth. Thus, as
the thickness of the poly-Si film decreases, the required space charge depth to
turn on the TFT also becomes smaller and the threshold voltage is
subsequently reduced. Accordingly, an ON/OFF current ratio of more than
10' in the dark can be obtained with a thickness below lo00 A.
Laser crystallization (Juliana et al., 1982), laser recrystallization (Nishi-
mura et al., 1982), and hydrogenation (Kamins and Marcoux, 1980) of the
poly-Si film are all effectiveapproaches to improve the ON current of the poly-
Si TFT. In the laser-recrystallization method, grains in the poly-Si film are
10-~
-5
1o - ~
10-8
L ON Current
*
S
W L = (15+15)u rn
:
3
lo-' W = lOum
V vDS=4v OFF Current
._
C tox = l500A
2
0
lo-"
10-1*
.,-I3
1U
Poly-Si thickness ( 8 , )
FIG.24. Dependence of poly-Si TFT characteristics on film thickness: with a thickness of
less than 1,OOO A, the ON current is drastically increased due to the space charge reduction in the
poly-Si film; the OFF current is also reduced by the thinner poly-Si film.
fused and regrown to a larger size when scanned with a CW argon laser beam,
resulting in a much higher electron mobility of up to 300 cm2/V sec. By
employing hydrogenation, in which the poly-Si film is treated in a hydrogen
plasma to reduce the number of grain boundary defects, the field-effect
mobility has been increased up to 34 cm2/V sec and the threshold voltage
decreased to 8 volts.
Generally, the stability and reliability of a TFT are determined by the
semiconductor film, gate insulator film, and the associated interface. In the
case of the poly-Si TFT, the properties of both the gate oxide and the interface
between the gate oxide and the poly-Si film are the dominant factors
determining the stability, since the poly-Si film itself is stable at room
environment due to its monoatomic structure and high crystallization or
recrystallization temperature, which is assumed to be more than 600°C.
Usually, the instability of the electrical characteristics is caused by a short- or
46 SHINJI MOROZUMI
long-term shift of the density of states in the oxide and at the associated
interface. Such a shift is strongly related to carriers being trapped or released
from the traps. In the case of high-temperature processing, where a thermally
grown oxide is used as a gate insulator, poly-Si TFT has a stability (Morozumi
et a]., 1983a)similar to that of the conventional MOS transistor fabricated on
a Si single-crystal wafer, since such oxide has a state density much smaller than
that of other gate insulator films. In the case of poly-Si TFTs fabricated by
the low-temperature process, the deposited oxide has a higher state density,
especially at the interface. However, with careful deposition of the oxide so as
to almost maintain stoichiometry, as well as using a suitable cleaning
treatment for the surface of the semiconductor just before the deposition, a
lifetime of four years at 60°C with DC bias has been obtained (Morozumi et al.,
1986a).
3. Performance of Poly-Si TFT LCDs

The first successful full-color video LCD was developed using a poly-Si
TFT array made by the high-temperature process with a thermally grown gate
oxide (Morozumi et al., 1983a). This display, with a size of 43.2 x 32.4 mm,
had 240 x 240 pixels and exhibited an excellent contrast ratio of more than
40: 1 using a TN liquid crystal. Subsequently, the display size was increased to
a 4.25-inch diagonal with 480 x 480 pixels, producing full-color images with
excellent viewing characteristics (Morozumi et al., 1984b). At the same time,
a 1.51-inch diagonal 210 x 180 pixel full-color LCD made by the high-
temperature process with full integration of all the drivers on the same
substrate was developed.
Using the low-temperature process, full color LCDs have also been
fabricated with 440 x 480 pixels and 5.13-inch diagonal active area
(Morozumi et al., 1986a). For this LCD, LPT-CVD equipment was used to
fabricate the poly-Si film and gate oxide. A photograph displaying the image
produced on such a display is shown in Fig. 25.
Another low-temperature display with 240 x 360 pixels and a size of
24 x 36 mm has been developed (Oana, 1984)in which the TFTs were fabri-
cated by electron-beam evaporation in high vacuum at 520°C. The mobility
of these TFTs was 15 cm2/V sec and their threshold was 8 volts. In this dis-
play, the gate drivers were also integrated on the same substrate. Using
laser-recrystallized poly-Si TFTs, a 120 x 160 pixel black-and-white TFT
LCD with an active area of 30 x 40 mm was fabricated (Ishizu et al.,
1985). Here, the TFTs fabricated on a quartz substrate had a mobility of
320 cm2/V sec and an ON/OFF current ratio of lo8.
In general, because of the high mobility and ON current of the poly-Si
TFTs, integration of the driver circuits on the same glass substrate as the TFTs
FIG. 25. Black-and-white photograph of image produced on a 5.13-inch color LCD

fabricated with a low-temperature-processed poly-Si TFT array; the number of pixels is
400 x 480.
is easier than in the case of amorphous Si TFTs. With the advances being
made in low-temperature-processedpoly-Si TFTs, TFT LCDs of much larger
size and including integrated drivers are expected in the coming few years.
Details of the integration of the driver circuits are discussed further in
Section V.E.
v. DRIVING TRANSISTOR
SCHEMES FOR THIN-FILM LIQUID-CRYSTAL
DISPLAYS
The basic circuit diagram for TFT-addressed liquid-crystal displays is

illustrated in Fig. 8 (see Section 1II.A). In all cases, a line-by-line scanning
scheme is employed, similar to that in CRT rastering, with successive
48 SHINJI MOROZUMI
horizontal lines being sequentially addressed from top to bottom to complete

a single frame or field. As mentioned in Section I.C, liquid-crystal elements
require an alternating drive signal to prevent degradation. Consequently,
positive drive voltages are applied to the display for one scanning field,
followed by drive voltages of reversed polarity during the next field. Since
flicker becomes visible at frame rates below 30 Hz, the field rate, which is twice
the frame rate, has to be more than 60 Hz.
The pixel TFTs of one horizontal scan line are connected to a common
gate line and receive display signals from the data drivers (column drivers)
through each data line. Two methods are used to transfer the display signal to
the pixels. One is a “point-at-a-time’’ method, in which the signals are
transferred to each pixel sequentially from left to right. Another is a “line-at-a-
time” method, in which the signal is transferred to all pixels of a line at once
during addressing. With the first method, grey scale is easily obtained, but the
transfer speed is limited. For high-quality, high-resolution displays, the second
method is best. However, it requires more complicated driving circuits. In both
methods, there are several kinds of column driver configurations to meet the
requirements of different applications.
When designing the drive circuits, the scanning speed must be taken into
account. For example, if the TFT LCD employs 500 data lines and has 500
scan lines, the pixel scanning rate, assuming a field rate of 60 Hz, would be
15 MHz. This is a rather high frequency for existing LSI drivers, especially
when the input video signals contain grey-scale information. Therefore, when
designing the TFT LCD and determining factors, such as total number of
pixels, frame rate, and grey-scale capability, it is very important to consider the
demands on the driving circuits from the view of scanning speed.
A. “Point-at-a-Time’’ Data Transfer Method
The driving arrangement for the “point-at-a-time’’ addressing method, in

which each data line is addressed point-by-point, is shown in Fig. 26.
Addressing can be divided into two operations. One involves addressing of a
single line, whereas the other involves addressing the entire frame. Figure 27
illustrates the waveforms associated with the former (a) and the latter opera-
tion (b). During one line time, one of the gate lines GI-GM is selected by the
output of buffers BG,-BGM, causing the corresponding row of TFTs to
be turned on. At the same time, the column shift register starts its opera-
tion according to shift clock CLX with the pulse STX which is synchronized
with the horizontal synchronizing signal. The outputs of the column shift
register, after passing through the buffer amplifier BD, -BD,, produce pulses
S , -SN that sequentially turn on the gates of the sampling transistors TI- TN.
GI
G2
G3
Gu
Di D2 D3 DN
FIG. 26. “Point-at-a-time” driving scheme: the switch array TI-TN and capacitors Cd
comprise the sampler and holder (sampler/holder) array; signals S,-S, sequentially activate the
sampler/holders in order to latch the display data on the video signal.
CLX
STX
s1
s2
Video
0-
- m--m - YTS
- I G
- 2G
V i d e 0
positive
-
field
k
--.
negative
field
4
I( Y
Dl- -o 1 trame
D2 0-.
(a) (b)
FIG.27. Driving waveforms for the “point-at-a-time’’ method: (a) the operation for a period
of one scanning line: Gate pulses S,-SN sample the video signal and hold it for full period of one
scanning line; (b) the operation for one frame: One frame consists of positive and negative fields to
drive the liquid-crystal material with the alternating voltage swing.
50 SHINJI MOROZUMI
These transistors together with their associated capacitors Cd, act as sampler/
holders and latch the instantaneous signals as voltages in the capacitors Cd.
These signal voltages are stored on the data lines D, -DN until the next acti-
vation of the sampler/holders and during this time are transferred to the
corresponding pixel electrodes through their associated TFTs in the ON
state. The transistors Tl - TN of the sampler/holders must respond to the
pulses Sl-SN, usually within a few hundred nsec, in order to charge or
discharge the capacitors Cd. However, several psec are allowed to transfer the
signals on the data lines through the pixel TFTs to the pixel electrodes, since
this transfer can take place during an entire line time.
During operation of a frame (Fig. 27b), the pulses to drive the successive
gate lines GI-G, are sequentially generated by the row shift register, which is
synchronized with the clock pulse CLY and started with the pulse STY. After
completing the scanning of the gate lines with positive video signals applied to
the data lines (producing a positive field), the scanning is repeated with video
signals of reversed polarity applied to the data lines (producing a negative
field) to create a complete frame.
This addressing method was applied to a commercial TFT LCD for a color
pocket television receiver with 240 (horizontal) x 220 (vertical) elements. The
display was provided with two column-driver LSIs, each with 120 output
channels, located on the upper and lower sides of the display panel, respec-
tively, with an interlaced connection to the data lines. These driver LSIs
were driven by NTSC signals. The frame rate was 30 hz and the period for one
scan line was about 64 psec, resulting in a point (pixel) addressing rate of
approximately 3 MHz. The +4-V video signal was applied to the data input
terminal of the display, and the voltage applied to the gate lines was about
20 volts. Since this addressing scheme can be realized by a simple circuit
configuration as shown in Fig. 26, as many as 120 output channels can easily
be integrated on a small silicon chip less than 25 mmz in size.
B. “Line-at-a-Time’’Data Transfer Method
With the “line-at-a-time” method, the data line is driven for the full period
of one scan line. Operation is otherwise the same as in the “point-at-a-time’’
method. In this method, the signal is latched in a digital or analog latch array
before being applied to the data line buffers. If the display requires grey scales,
analog latches or equivalent circuits are used. In the case of a “bi-level”display
without any grey levels, digital latch arrays are sufficient. Due to the use of
latch arrays, the display signals are input to the column driver in one period of
the scan line, and are output through the latch array to the data lines in the
next period. Although such input and output operations require two periods,
the input operation for line (rn + 1) and output operation for line (rn) are
carried out in the same time period. As a result, the total addressing time
required is same as that of the “point-at-a-time” method.
The “line-at-a-time” driving scheme without grey scale, shown in Fig. 28, is
the simplest driving method. During the line time when gate line (m - 1) is
selected, the column shift register in the column driver serially transfers the
digital display data DX for line (m)with the shift clock pulse CLX. After this
input is completed, all the data signals are transferred to the latch with the
latch-enabling pulse LE, the display signals are output on the data lines
D,-DN through the digital buffers B,-BN, and at the same time the next
gate line (m)is selected to turn on the corresponding row of connected TFTs.
Data signals are then transferred to each pixel of the row through their TFTs
within the full period of a scan line. During the same period, the display
+
data for line (m 1) are input to the shift register. The row-driver operation
is the same as in the case of the “point-at-a-time” method. In order to provide
the necessary alternating polarity drive signal for the liquid-crystal elements,
the column buffers B,-BN output in a tristate, with their output, for exam-
ple, being either 0 or 4 volts for positive fields and either 0 or - 4 volts for
negative fields. Since all the circuits in this arrangement are of a fully digital
design and the total number of transistors is relatively small due to the sim-
ple configuration, these can easily be integrated on a small silicon chip.
There are two methods for obtaining a grey-scale capability with the “line-
at-a-time” method. One involves the employment of an analog latch array and
CLX Column Shift Register

DX 1 I I
GI
G2
G3
Gu
D i Dz D3 DN
FIG.28. “Line-at-a-time” driving scheme without grey scale: this is the simplest method due
to the full digital configuration of the row and column shift registers, latch array, and associated
buffers.
52 SHINJI MOROZUMI
the other makes use of a combination of pulse-width modulator and latch

array. The circuit configuration of both methods inevitably becomes complex.
In the latter method, grey levels are obtained by controlling the pulse width of
the display signal. The pulse width applied to the data lines determines the LC
pixel voltage in accordance with the charging time of the pixel capacitor
through the TFT that is turned on. Since the circuit used for this method is
fully digital, there is no need to produce a variation in the driving voltage of the
output channels. However, it is not realistic to apply this method to displays
requiring a large number of grey levels, because the pulse-width modulator
may become extremely complicated as the number of grey levels increases.
This method is thus suitable for graphic displays with a few grey levels rather
than a video display with full grey levels.
The circuit diagram for a “line-at-a-time’’ driver with analog latches is
illustrated in Fig. 29. Here the column shift register supplies successive gating
pulses to the gates of transistors TII-TIN,which, together with the signal
holding capacitors Csl, consist of the sampler/holders. This is exactly the
same operation as the “point-at-a-time”method shown in Fig. 26 and Fig. 27.
Da Dz DJ DN
FIG.29. “Line-at-a-time’’ driving scheme with grey-scale capability: the key is dual analog
sampler/holders consisting of gate transistors, storage capacitors, and analog buffers in-
corporated serially between the video signal line and gate lines, in which the lower sampler/holder
is operated as an analog latch; with this scheme, since the data lines are driven for the full time of
one scanning period, a video image with a large number of grey levels can be produced.
The outputs of the sampler/holders are transferred to analog latches through
analog buffers All -AlN. The analog latches, which have latching transistors
TZ1- TZN,signal-holding capacitors Csz and analog buffers A2,-AZN, receive
the analog display signals from sampler/holders, and transfer them to data
lines D,-DN controlled by latch-enabling pulse LE. When the gate line (m - 1)
is addressed, the sequentially sampled video signals are held in the capacitors
C,, during one line time; these stored signals are then transferred to analog
latches with the latch-enabling pulse LE to drive the corresponding data
lines after the last sampler/holder is activated. Subsequently, gate line (m)is
addressed, turning on the connected TFTs, and the video signal is thus
transferred to the pixel electrode through the TFTs. Since the data lines here
are driven for the full line scanning period, full pixel charging is achieved even
if the ON current of the TFTs is slightly insufficient or the metallization
resistance of the data lines is relatively high.
Usually, the analog buffers consist of a voltage follower differential
amplifier made of CMOS transistors and storage capacitors of a few p F
integrated on the silicon chips. In such analog buffers, any deviation from
linearity and variation in offset voltage must be strictly controlled in order to
display a high number of grey levels with satisfactory uniformity. Since the
analog buffers and storage capacitors occupy a large area of the Si integrated
circuit, the number of output channels per chip may be limited.
C. Input-Signal Modification for Grey-Scale Operation
As mentioned above, difficulties are involved if good reproduction of grey

levels is required. In addition to problems associated with the driving scheme
itself, the input signal must be modified to take into account the nonlinearity
in the optical characteristics of the T N liquid crystal as exemplified in Fig. 30
by the transmission curve for an LCD using the crossed-polarizer method (see
also Section 1.B). Here, the optical transmission starts to change at 2 volts; and
at around 3 volts, following the steep transient, it gently slopes past 4 volts
towards saturation. Unlike CRTs, LCDs have both O F F and ON saturation
states that are very nonlinear near these points. If linearly divided grey levels
are required, the voltages applied to the liquid-crystal cell obviously must be
compensated, particularly around 3 volts. In the case of a computer display
with a limited number of grey levels, e.g., 4-16, such levels can be easily
obtained by means of a corresponding number of voltage levels produced
with a digital-to-analog (DA) converter circuit. On the other hand, in the
case of video signals broadcast for commercial TV, these signals are already
modified to compensate for the nonlinear characteristic of the CRT (gamma
compensation). Therefore, when precisely controlled grey levels are required
54 SHINJI MOROZUMI
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
Applied Voltage (V)
FIG.30. Typical transmission as a function of applied voltage of TN LCD with crossed
polarizers: OFF state below 2 volts and ON state above 4 volts; between the saturated regions, a
nonlinear transition is observed; to obtain good grey levels, the applied voltage levels must be
modified to compensate for this nonlinearity.
in the LCD, the broadcast video signal must be reconverted from its gamma-
compensated state to an appropriate form as required by the LCD.
D. Large-Scale Integration Drivers and Their Connection

to the Liquid-Crystal Display
Row drivers to activate the lines and column drivers to transfer the display
signal to the data lines are available, integrated on CMOS-LSI chips with
multiple output channels. Usually, the driver LSIs have 60-120 output
channels per chip and are positioned on the four sides of the display panel for
connection to the LCD input terminals associated with the gate and data lines.
In the case of a display with 480 x 480 pixels, for instance, two row- and two
column-driver LSIs, each with 120 outputs, are connected to the LCD at the
left and right sides, and at the top and bottom, respectively. The connections at
opposite sides may be interlaced.
The design and operation of the row drivers are less of a problem than the
column drivers since all the circuits are fully digital and their operating speed is
relatively low. In the case of a TV display based on NTSC standards, the total
number of gate lines may be either the same or half the effective number of
scan lines (about 480)of the 525-line system. Since all of these lines are scanned
within 1/60 sec, the line time, i.e., one period of the shift clock, becomes
64 psec, which is relatively long. On the other hand, when designing a column-
driver circuit configuration such as shown in Fig. 26 and Fig. 28, many fac-
tors, such as the integrated silicon chip size, the operating frequency, power
consumption, grey-scale capability, and output impedance must be taken into
account. If a TV display panel has 500 data lines addressed within 64 psec,
each column driver must complete its operation within at least 128 nsec, an
extremely high speed for analog operation. With respect to power con-
sumption, since the liquid-crystal itself is essentially a capacitive circuit
element, most power is consumed by the driver LSIs, especially the high-
frequency data line drivers. Sometimes a pixel scanning rate of more than 5
MHz is required. In this case, each LSI with 120 driver channels consumes
more than 100 mW even though a CMOS circuit is used.
Since a dot-matrix-type LCD has many input terminals with a small pitch,
it requires accurate and highly reliable connections between the driver LSIs
and the LCD panel itself. The total number of connections and their pitch are
determined by the display area and resolution, e.g., the number of gate and
data lines. Here, it should be noted that the connection pitch can be halved by
using interlaced connections. For example, using such interlacing, a 5-inch
diagonal TV display with500 x 500 pixels requires a total of 1000connections
with a pitch of 0.4 mm for the columns and 0.3 mm for the rows, respectively.
For displays with such a large pitch, one can use flat-packaged LSIs assembled
on an ordinary circuit board. These may be connected to the LCD by sim-
ple means such as rubber connectors with separated U-shaped gold-plated
electrodes held together by the rubber material. However, when the pitch
becomes less than 0.3 mm, other approaches may be required. One method is
film bonding in which a flexible film such as polyimide with a copper
metallization layer is used with the tiny fingers of the film directly connected to
the LCD input terminals. This chip-on-glass technique is also useful for
compact displays. Here, the driver LSIs are mounted directly along edges of
the glass substrate of the display on which the pixel TFTs are fabricated. This
may be the best solution for connecting the LCD and LSIs when the driving
circuits cannot be integrated with the TFTs themselves on the same glass
substrate. as described below.
E . Integrated Thin-Film Transistor Drivers
One advantage of the TFT-addressed LCD compared to direct-drive

LCDs is that it offers the possibility of fabricating the driver circuits on the
same substrate as the display. Whereas this avoids troublesome connections
between the LCD and driver LSIs, other problems, such as obtaining TFTs
with the necessary speed (ON current) required for the shift registers and
related circuits, and insuring a sufficiently high yield of the TFT driver circuits,
56 SHINJI MOROZUMI
appear. If the TFTs associated with the pixels can be fabricated with few
defects, the integration of the driver circuits with TFTs may be feasible.
However, since a few defects in the pixel TFTs are sometimes acceptable,but at
the same time, no defects in the driving circuits can be tolerated, some
redundancy technique with alternative switches is necessary.
Efforts to integrate the driver circuits have been made with three types of
TFTs: CdSe, amorphous Si and poly-Si TFTs. In the drive circuits using n-
channel CdSe TFTs (Brody, 1984),the mobility of these TFTs is high enough
to allow satisfactory operation when integrated on the glass substrate of the
display. On the other hand, the mobility of amorphous Si TFTs is too low for
proper operation as integrated drivers for the column electrodes, although a
low-speed gate-line-integrated driver has been developed using such TFTs
(Akiyamaet al., 1986).In the case of poly-Si TFTs, the mobility is sufficiently
high, and full integration of the TFT drivers has been demonstrated. Figure 31
shows the frequency range of NMOS dynamic and CMOS static poly-Si TFT
shift registers (Morozumi et al., 1984b). Although both can operate at a
- CMOS Drivers
___---NMOS Drivers fro-4F--'
lo6 - Po'
lo5 -
10
fmin
I I
0 10 20
supply Voltage ( V )
FIG.31. Frequency range of shift registers based on poly-Si TFT-integrated drivers: as
shown, the CMOS static driver has a wider operatingfrequency range than the NMOS dynamic
driver. (Figure 4 from Morozumi et al., 1984b. Permission for reprint, courtesy Society for
Information Display.)
sufficiently high frequency (more than 1 MHz),the NMOS dynamic driver has
limitations in its low-frequency operation. With the CMOS poly-Si TFTs,
a fully integrated display with drive circuits was successfully achieved
(Morozumi, 1985). Figure 32 is a microphotograph of the integrated poly-Si
TFT driver circuits. These appear very much like ordinary LSI circuits on a Si
single-crystal wafer. Figure 33 also shows a photograph of an operating 1.27-
inch 220 x 320 pixel full-color TFT LCD with full integration of poly-Si TFT
driver circuits. It has a 80 x 90 pm pixel pitch and produces images with a
contrast ratio of over 40:l with rear illumination. Such a miniaturized LCD
can be used for video camera monitors and projection displays as mentioned
in Section VIII.A.3.
VI. COLOR-IMAGE
THIN-FILM
TRANSISTOR
LIQUID-CRYSTAL
DISPLAYS
For producing full-color images, liquid-crystal displays have a significant

advantage compared to other flat display panels, since a color image can be
easily obtained by adding an appropriate array of color filters together with
FIG.32. Microphotograph of integrated poly-Si TFT drivers: the white region is the
metallization layer made of aluminum;other regions are the IT0 and poly-Si layer; minimum line
width is 5 pm.
58 SHINJI MOROZUMI
FIG.33. Black-and-white photograph of miniaturized TFT LCD with full integration of

poly-Si TFT drivers: active display is 0.94” diagonal size with 220 x 320 pixels; such displays are
used with an optical magnifier as video-camera monitors.
a related backlighting system to a monochrome LCD. Compared with the

conventional multiplexed LCD with a typical contrast ratio of less than 20: 1,
the TFT LCD with a contrast ratio as high as 100:1 has greater potential for
producing a high-quality color image comparable to that of a CRT. The first
full-color TFT LCD was demonstratedin 1983(Morozumi et al., 1983a).Since
then, most TFT LCDs have been developed for use in color-TV displays,
where a high-quality image is important.
A. Structure
The typical structure of a TFT-controlled full-color LCD is illustrated in

Fig. 34. As in the case of shadow-mask color tubes, the color filter elements in
registry with their associated TFT-controlled pixels must be made sufficiently
-Liquid-Crystal
Pixel Electrode ( I T 0 1
‘Pixel
TF T
t t t t t
Light Source
FIG. 34. Structure of full-color TFT-LCD: a color filter layer is formed below the upper
common electrode as an addition to the monochrome-type LCD; usually, organic dyes are used to
produce the red, green, and blue filter elements.
small so that they are not resolved by the observer’s eye at normal viewing
distance. As shown, the color filter layer is fabricated on the inner surface of
the upper glass plate, with the common electrode then being deposited on the
color filter layer. Except for the filter, the display is thus exactly the same as the
monochrome-type TFT LCD. As in the case of color CRTs, the color image is
created by additive color generation. Since the total light absorption by the
color filters and polarizers on the outer surfaces of the display is high (more
than 90%), viewing the LCD by reflected light results in an image that is too
dark to view in normal room light. In order to obtain high brightness, a
backlight is therefore used.
Different arrangements using the same number of pixels may cause differ-
ent image perceptions by the observer, particularly with regard to resolution.
Typically, three types of color pixel arrangements are employed as shown
in Fig. 35: the stripe, diagonal mosaic, and delta arrangement. Figure 35a
shows the vertical stripe type. This arrangement makes the LCD drive
circuitry less complex but requires the use of more horizontal pixels than the
other schemes in order to produce a given effective resolution. Figure 35b
shows the diagonal mosaic arrangement, the most commonly used. The drive
circuit for generating the color video signal for this scheme (described in
Section V1.D) is rather complicated, but seems to produce good resolution.
Figure 35c shows the delta arrangement. This produces excellent resolution,
but the wiring layout of the pixels becomes somewhat complicated. If high
resolution is required with the limited number of pixels, the delta arrangement
is the best choice. However, if a relatively large number of pixels can be used,
displays with the mosaic or stripe arrangement are easier to design and drive.
60 SHINJI MOROZUMI
( a ) Stripe (b)Diagonal Mosaic ( c ) Delta

FIG.35. Color pixel arrangements used for full color LCDs: (a)stripe (verticalor horizontal);
(b) diagonal Mosaic; (c) Delta; the stripe arrangement is easier to address,but results in poorest
resolution; the delta arrangement produces the highest resolution, but results in the most difficult
pixel design.
The overall light transmission of the LCD panel is determined by the LCD
cells as well as by the light absorption of the polarizers and color filter layer.
The transmission of the LCD cells depends on the “aperture ratio” and the
optical interface losses. Since the aperture ratio, defined as the ratio of the
window area of the pixel to its total area, is strongly related to the opaque
areas of the transistor and metallization area (which may be relatively fixed),
it is proportionate to the pixel size. A typical value of a TFT-LCD cell
transmission is about SO%, assuming an aperture ratio of 70% and a pixel
pitch of about 0.2 mm, and considering reflections at the optical interfaces
such as between the glass and air, glass and ITO, etc. In a color filter layer,
lower transmission produces higher color purity. In some color filter designs,
the transmission is as low as 20%. Since the two polarizers absorb about 60-
70% of the incident light, the total transmission is reduced to less than 5%.
Thus, in order to realize a highly graded color image, color LCD requires the
use of a backlight source with a correspondingly high power consumption.
An example of the color gamut of a full-color TFT LCD shown on the CIE
chromaticity diagram is indicated in Fig, 36 (Morozumi, 1985). In this chart,
the center point corresponds to “white” and the outer heavy line shows the
locus of each wavelength that is assumed to have an infinitely narrow peak in
the spectrum. Therefore, a larger triangle is desirable to obtain high color
purity as close as possible to pure red, green, and blue. As can be seen, an
excellent color gamut similar to that of a CRT is obtained. The slight
difference in the triangle between the TFT-LCD and the CRT results from a
difference in the contrast ratio of the two. The black level of a CRT represents
the completely nonemissive state, whereas in the case of the TFT LCDs, there
is a slight light leakage in the black state, allowing some color mixing to occur.
In addition, the LCDs depend on the use of a white fluorescent tube for
backlighting. The wide spectral distribution of such a tube influences the
colors obtained, whereas in the CRT the colors produced depend only on the
electron-excited phosphors that may have narrow emission bands.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Values of x
FIG.36. Chromaticity diagram of full-color TFT LCD: as a result of improvements in the
optical properties of the LCD, color filter layer, and backlight, an excellent color gamut close to
that of a CRT is obtained. (Figure 8, from Morozumi, 1985. Copyright @ 1985 IEEE.)
B. Color Filter Fabrication
The first requirement for producing a high-quality color image is filter

material with the proper spectral transmission curves. The second require-
ment of the filters is that they provide a smooth surface on which to fabricate
I T 0 electrodes on the innerside of the liquid-crystal cell and thereby insure
uniform cell spacing. The third requirement is dimensional accuracy in the
case of a highly dense pixel arrangement. The fourth requirement is resistance
to fading, especially since the display cells may sometimes be exposed to direct
sunlight, whether operating or not, as well as intense backlighting, which is
always used in operation. In addition, the color filters must not fade at the
elevated temperatures employed during the subsequent liquid-crystal cell
fabrication steps such as deposition of the I T 0 transparent conductive film.
Various methods for fabricating the color filter mosaic have been de-
veloped to meet the above requirements. In one method, the elemental filter
areas have beed deposited by printing, but this has not been successful so far in
TFT LCDs because of the unsatisfactory spectral transmission and the poor
dimensional accuracy. In another method, pigment particles are deposited by
62 SHINJI MOROZUMI
an electro-deposition technique on the I T 0 layer (Suginoya et al., 1983); but

this aIso has not found practical use because of unsatisfactory color. Presently,
organic film dyeing, which in the past has been applied to color filters for
video image sensors, is the most popular way to fabricate the color filter layer.
The fabrication process used in the typical dyeing method is shown in
Fig. 37a-f. For accepting an organic dye, a 2-3-pm-thick organic film, either
natural protein such as gelatine or glue, or a synthetic material such as poly-
vinyl-alcohol (PVA) is coated on the glass substrate. This film is covered with
a layer of photoresist in which windows are opened in the regions that are to
be dyed. The glass substrate is then dipped into red dye solution, which is
absorbed in the exposed areas of the film as indicated in Fig. 37b. The
photoresist is then removed, and these steps are repeated successively for the
green and blue dyes as indicated in Fig. 37c and d. As shown in Fig. 37e, a
passivation layer of acrylic resin, 3000-5000-A-thick, is coated on the surface
of the color filter layer in order to prevent the release of dye material into the
liquid-crystal material. Finally, as indicated in Fig. 37f, a common electrode in
the form of an I T 0 layer is deposited by sputtering. This procedure is carried
out below 200°C to prevent fading of the dyed film.
Although more than 3,000 different dyes are known, a relatively small
number are useful. In practice, acid dyes are used in this application because of
Organic Base
(a)
Glass Substrate
(b) Y T R e d - D y e d Areas
C Green
C C C .Dye
1 . 1 Photoresist
(C)
Blue Dye
. 1 C C C & J
Photoresist
t
.....V,,
(d)
~
Overcoat
I I
FIG.37. Fabrication method of dye-type color filter: (a) a photoresist window for the red
region is opened and the surface exposed to dye; (b) the photoresist is removed; (c),(d) same
procedure is repeated for green and blue regions;(e) an overcoat layer is provided for passivation;
(f) Common electrode mode of I T 0 is deposited.
their resistance to fading under intense backlight and exposure to sunlight, as
well as the acceptability of such dyes by the base film. The dyes and their
concentration are selected in order to obtain the necessary spectrum of the
color filter layer, taking into account the backlighting spectrum. Although a
high dye concentration provides high color purity as mentioned in Section
VLA, it results in poor light transmission. Therefore, the concentration of the
dye has to be accurately controlled in order to obtain an optimal combination
of transmission, chromaticity, and white balance. Figure 38 shows the typical
spectrum of color filters fabricated by organic dying. In this example, the
average transmission of white light is about 25%.
C. Backlighting
Usually, the backlighting arrangement consists of the light source itself, a

diffuser to spread the light more uniformly over the screen, and a reflector to
enhance the brightness by reflecting the rear-emitted light to the front surface
where the diffuser is positioned. Slender fluorescent tubes, either of the heated-
filament type or cold-cathode type, are well suited as light sources in the above
configuration for use with full-color LCDs, particularly since they have a high
emission efficiency and relatively long lifetime. The filament type is desirable
because of its higher light emission efficiency (10-20 lumens/watt in a small
tube) and excellent whiteness. Although cold-cathode tubes have a low
Wavelength (nrn)
FIG.38. Transmission properties of dyed color filter layers with respect to wavelength:
average transmission of white light is about 25%.
64 SHINJI MOROZUMI
n
2,
P
01
K
w _1
400
Wavelength (nm)
FIG.39. Spectrum of peak-enhanced-type fluorescent tube: the peaks of the red, green, and
blue bands are positioned so as to match the optical properties of the color filter elements in order
to produce the desired spectral output from the display.
efficiency (a few lumens/watt), they are used for applications requiring a long
lifetime. In order to obtain primary colors with sharp peaks in the spectrum,
i.e., high color purity, special phosphors whose emission is concentrated in
narrow bands corresponding to the red/green/blue (RGB)primaries are used
in the tubes.
Figure 39 shows the spectrum of such a “peak-enhanced” fluorescent tube
of the filament type designed for use with a full-color TFT LCD. The color
temperature of the emission is about 7,000 K, and the efficiency of the tube is
15 lumens/watt. The starting voltage for the discharge is close to 1,000 volts,
and the maintaining voltage is 70 volts using an AC power source and an
electronic ballast circuit. Such a fluorescent tube, with a length of 5 inches and
diameter of 0.4 inches, has a power consumption of 3 watts. When used with
a 3 inch color LCD, a surface brightness of 5,000 nits is obtained from the
diffuser, resulting in a surface brightness of 200 nits from the display. With the
tube placed midway between the diffuser and reflector, which have a spacing
of 0.8 inches, there is a variation in brightness of about 50% across the panel.
D. Driving Scheme for Color Liquid-Crystal Display Panels
The driving scheme for the TFT-LCD color panel is slightly different from
the monochrome type shown in Fig. 26 (Section V.A), since the display data
must be processed to contain R, G,and B signals that match the color pixel
arrangement of the panel. As one example of the driving scheme, the circuit
diagram for a color TFT LCD with pixels of each color arranged along
diagonal lines is shown in Fig. 40. In operation, the commonly used composite
FIG.40. Driving scheme for full-color TFT LCD with diagonal mosaic color pixel
arrangement: video signals, Vl-V3, are composed through a 3 x 3 matrix switch triggered by a
horizontal synchronizing signal; in this example, the “point-at-a-time”addressing method of Fig.
26 is employed.
TV video signal is first demodulated to obtain the normal color video signals,
V,, V,, and V, through the chroma circuit conventionally used in color-TV sets.
These signals are then converted to alternating-polarity video signals, V,, V,,
and V,, by a video conversion circuit to satisfy the requirements of the liquid-
crystal materials as mentioned in Section V and shown in Fig. 27. The
amplitudes of these signals and their voltage levels are also adjusted in this
circuit in accordance with the electro-optical characteristics of the liquid
crystal. The R, G, and B video signals, V,, V,, and V, are multiplexed by
a 3 x 3 matrix switcher to generate the V1, V 2 , and V 3 signals so that the
starting pixel in each scan line shifts successively from R to G, G to B, and
G to R. The matrix switch is controlled by the horizontal synchronizing
signal, switching once per scan line. In the case of the delta arrangement of
color pixels, a similar driving scheme is used. In the case of a vertical stripe
filter arrangement, however, there is no need for a rotator or multiplexer.
VII. PERFORMANCE OF LIQUID-CRYSTAL DISPLAYS

BASEDON
ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES
Although TFT-controlled liquid-crystal displays have many desirable

features, for some purposes diode-controlled LCDs as well as directly
multiplexed LCDs may have certain advantages. To better understand the
66 SHINJI MOROZUMI
relative merits of these other technologies compared with TFT LCDs, they are
discussed in the sections below.
A. Comparison between Thin-Film Transistor and Diode-Controlled

Important points of comparison between TFT and diode LCDs are in the
ease of the active element fabrication and the display performance. For use as
thin-film diodes, MIM elements based on Ta,05 or SIN films (Suzuki et al.,
1986) as well as amorphous silicon elements in the form of so-called p-n
diodes have been developed. The former have bidirectional current-voltage
characteristics within a single element, in which the electrons flow through
traps in the thin Ta,O, film and exhibit the Poole-Frenkel-effect current
(Baraff et al., 1980). In one form, p-n diodes have been employed using the
“diode ring” configuration, in which a pair of p-n diodes of opposite polarity
are connected in parallel utilizing the nonlinearity in the forward characteristic
of each diode to obtain bidirectional characteristics (Togashi et al., 1984). In
an alternative form, a “back-to-back” diode configuration has been studied
with a connection in series employing the nonlinearity of the reverse
characteristics (Szydlo et al., 1983).In the fabrication process for such diodes,
2-4 photomasks are required for their fabrication, whereas TFTs generally
require 4-9 photomasks, making the large-area fabrication process with thin-
film diodes simpler than that for TFTs. However, in the case of diodes, the
nonlinearity characteristicsbetween two terminals connected in series with the
liquid-crystalelement directly influences the ON/OFF ratio. By comparison,
in the case of TFTs, the ON/OFF current ratio is selective in accordance with
the gate voltage swing, being independent of any nonlinearity in the current-
voltage characteristic between the source and drain. Unfortunately, the diode
nonlinearity factors, which, up to now, are almost the same among the various
thin-film diodes (Howard, 1986), are not sufficient to enable complete frame
storage operation to be obtained in an active-matrix LCD. This differs from
the case of TFT-type active-matrix LCDs. Whereas most TFTs have an
ON/OFF current ratio greater than lo5, the ON/OFF ratio for diodes is
around lo3 or lo4 at best because of the poor nonlinearity factor.
It is thus difficult for diodes to satisfy the requirements indicated in Eqs. ( 5 )
and ( 6 ) of Section 1II.B. This leads to contrast ratio degradation and limited
grey-scale capabilities unlike the situation with TFT elements. In addition,
since the spread or distribution of electrical characteristics of diodes as well as
their shifts with temperature directly degrade the display uniformity, strict
control is absolutely required in the fabrication of the diodes to insure sufficient
uniformity of their characteristics. Accordingly, at the present time, the TFT
LCD is the most promising device for the realization of high-quality images,
whereas the diode-type LCD is more suitable for large-area displays with
limited or no grey-scale capability, although directly multiplexed LCDs are
also competitive for such applications.
Using thin-film diode elements, a number of LCDs have already been
fabricated. For practical applications, full-color pocket TV sets based on
MIM LCDs are already being mass-produced with 2.6 and 3.3-inch diagonal
sizes. For test purposes, 6.7-inch MIM LCDs with 440 x 640 pixels capable of
displaying full-color video images have also been built (Maezawa et al., 1987).
For portable computer displays without grey scale, 9-inch diagonal mono-
chrome MIM LCDs with 400 x 640 pixels have been developed (Morozumi,
1985). Using amorphous Si diode rings, full-color LCD panels containing
480 x 720 elements with an area of 122.4 x 120 mm have also been deve-
loped (Togashi et al., 1986). In any case, as long as the TFT elements present
difficulties for large-area fabrication, thin-film diodes will remain a potential
challenge to TFTs for large-area, high-quality displays.
B. Comparison between Directly Multiplexed and

Active-Matrix Displays
As mentioned earlier, active-matrix LCDs, whether controlled by TFTs or

diodes, have an image quality close to that produced by steady-state or static-
driven liquid-crystal cells. The active-matrix LCD can have a contrast ratio as
high as 100,depending on the specific design. On the other hand, the contrast
ratio achievable in practice with the direct-drive multiplexing method is
currently limited to less than 20:l if more than 200 scan lines are used.
However, since the directly multiplexed LCD requires no active-element
fabrication, it is easy to realize a large-area panel without concern for the
defects that tend to occur in active matrix LCDs. The comparison below will
be made in specific terms for displays used in presenting computer data or
producing video images.
In the case of a large-area data display that may require a complete
absence of defects such as those used for existing portable computers, direct
multiplexed LCD may be a better choice than active-matrix LCDs of either
the TFT or diode type, despite the limitations in contrast ratio and viewing
angle of the directly multiplexed LCDs. In fact, at the present time, directly
multiplexed LCDs with 400 x 640 pixels with a diagonal size of 9-12 inches
are being used in portable computers and word processors. Most such large-
area LCDs now employ either the SBE liquid-crystal technology (Scheffer
et d., 1985) with 270-degree twist-angle or supertwisted-nematic (STN) ar-
rangement with a twist-angle range between 180 and 240 degrees (Akatsuka
68 SHINJI MOROZUMI
et a!., 1986) instead of the conventional TN arrangement. Although

the SBE LCD has a serious problem resulting from the displayed image
being colored because of birefringent effects, this has been solved by
adding a liquid-crystal color-compensating layer that cancels or neutralizes
the birefringent effects (Watanabe et al., 1988). This removes the color and
produces an enhancement of the contrast ratio. Such neutralized STN
LCDs with a contrast ratio as high as 15:l have been achieved by a 400 x
640-pixel LCD driven from both the top and bottom half of the column lines
at a multiplexing ratio of 1/200. Although the image quality and the response
time (as slow as 100-400 msec) of such panels (Kawasaki et al., 1987)are still
inferior to those of active-matrix LCDs, they are suitable for some limited
applications such as portable computers. However, these displays may be in-
adequate in the future when higher resolution and color images with a high
number of grey levels are required. For directly multiplexed displays, the
new ferroelectric LCDs (Clark and Lagerwall, 1980) may offer advantages
of higher contrast and greater viewing angle; but their grey-scale capability,
response time, and stability of molecular alignment are factors that are still
unclear. If much higher performance is required in the future, such as a con-
trast ratio as high as 100:1, a viewing angle up to i- 50 degrees, a resolution
of more than 1,000 x 1,000 pixels, and a grey scale with more than 16 levels,
TFT active-matrix LCDs are likely to have the highest potential. The diode
type may also be a candidate to satisfy these requirements if the nonlinearity
factor of the diodes can be sufficiently improved as discussed above.
In the field of video displays, both directly multiplexed and active-matrix
LCDs have been used for 2- 3-inch diagonal picture-size small TV receivers,
so-called pocket TVs. For high-quality color-TV receivers, active-matrix
LCDs using polycrystalline-Si TFTs, amorphous Si TFTs, and MIM diode
arrays of around 240 x 240-380 elements have been employed. On the other
hand, for lower-priced receivers, directly multiplexed TN LCDs with around
1 10 x 380,220 x 240, or 220 x 320 elements have been used. Both types seem
to have established their position in the market, and this situation will
probably not change for a while, since their quality and price satisfy separate
parts of the market. At the present time, since such small TV sets with a screen
size of less than 3-inch diagonal are used for temporary entertainment as
compared to ordinary home CRT receivers, the image quality is not very
significant as long as the price is commensurate with quality. However, in the
future, as the screen size becomes larger and larger, image quality may become
more important and may be required to approach the quality of ordinary
home TVs. Therefore, in the future, the active-matrix LCD may dominate over
the directly multiplexed LCD unless there is a giant breakthrough in image
quality of the latter type.
VIII. APPLICATIONS
OF THIN-FILM
TRANSISTOR-ADDRESSED
LIQUID-CRYSTAL
DISPLAYS
The ultimate target of LCDs, particularly the TFT-addressed type, is to

replace CRTs in application areas such as television and computers. As
already mentioned, for television applications, small-sizecolor TFT LCDs are
being marketed, with the display size expected to increase year by year. Active-
matrix LCDs for computer displays have not been utilized yet and are still
under development. Although CRTs are obviously not about to be replaced by
TFT LCDs, the practical use of TFT LCDs has already been established in a
number of new applications or as replacements for CRTs in some special
applications. Such applications of TFT LCDs are discussed below.
A. Television Applications
There are three application fields of interest for TFT-LCD full-color-TV

displays. The first is for pocket- or portable-TV use with a 2-6-inch display
size as already indicated, or even up to 10-inchdiagonal size in some cases. The
second is for wall-size TV, in which case the diagonal size is, for example, more
than 20-inches,and may be up to 40 inches for high-definition TV using more
than 1,000 scan lines. The third is for projection TV, in which the image
produced by a small-sized TFT LCD is projected onto a large screen.
1 . Pocket TV
Pocket color-TV receivers with 2-inch and 2.5-inch diagonal picture size
containing 220 x 240 and 220 x 320 poly-Si TFT arrays, respectively, were
already marketed by Seiko Epson in 1984 and 1985. Also a 3-inch color TV
receiver with an array of 240 x 378 amorphous Si TFT elements was
marketed by Matsushita and Sharp in 1986 and 1987,respectively. Following
these TVs, 4-inch and 5-inch color TV sets have been marketed by several
Japanese consumer electronics companies. A black-and-white photograph of
the 2-inch TFT-LCD color-TV set made by Seiko Epson is shown in Fig. 41.
The color pixels here are fabricated in a diagonal arrangement with the filter
elements made by the organic dye method. Using the conventional twisted-
nematic liquid crystal with crossed polarizers, a contrast ratio of more than
50: 1 is obtained. Although the image has some viewing-angle dependency
because of the type of liquid crystal employed, in a pocket-type TV receiver
viewed by one person this is not a serious problem. A single pencil-type hot-
cathode fluorescent tube with a power consumption of about 1 watt is used as
the backlighting source, producing a 50-ft lambert brightness at the viewing
70 SHINJI MOROZUMI
FIG.41. Black-and-white photograph of a 2-inch pocket-type full-color LCD TV receiver:it

employs a 220 x 320 poly-Si TFT array and exhibits excellent viewing characteristics.
surface of the display panel. The total power consumption of the set is closed
to 1.8 watts, allowing it to be operated for more than three hours with four AA
dry batteries. The outside dimensions are 128.6 x 76.6 x 30.7 mm, resulting in
a compact pocket receiver that can be viewed almost anytime anywhere.
At present, the size of such displays is limited by their cost, which is almost
proportionate to the display area. However, the cost of TFT LCDs is expected
to be reduced year by year, with commercial displays being enlarged to 6-inch
to 10-inch diagonal size. Aside from their use for receiving broadcast TV
signals, such displays will no doubt find applications in viewing or monitoring
images produced by video cassette recorders, video discs, as well as portable-
type video cameras.
2. Wall-type Flat T V
Large-sized flat TV displays that can be mounted on the wall are the
ultimate target for every flat-display technology. At the present time, TFT
LCDs for color video displays up to around 12 inches in diagonal size (Takeda
et al., 1986, and Sakamoto et al., 1986) have already been fabricated for test
purposes but not for commercial use. However, achieving the most desirable
size, e.g., more than 30 inches diagonal, is very difficult even for developmental
evaluation because of the lack of suitable fabrication equipment. Even though
the current techniques, available for a diagonal size of less than 12 inches,
could be applied to the fabrication of such large-size display panels, the
production cost would be extremely high due to the very poor yield caused by
defects as well as the very low productivity, i.e., the very small ratio of
production capacity to required investment. For example, the step-and-repeat
projection aligner used in existing photolithography machines, which is quite
common for the current production of TFT substrates, costs more than one
million dollars. At best, this can process 30 1-foot-square glass substrates per
hour to form a fine pattern for a single layer with a minimum number of
defects. In effect, this would require over 30 projection aligners to be installed
in order to produce only the photolithographic pattern for 10,000 pieces
of 40-inch diagonal TFT-LCD arrays per month, resulting in quite a high
production cost. Besides, in such large-size displays, the image quality (which
is determined for example, by contrast ratio, grey-scale reproducibility,
viewing angle, and brightness) must be better than or at least equal to that of
CRTs, unlike the case of small-size display panels. This requires further
technical improvements in the panel itself.
In view of the extensive efforts being presently directed toward the
development of large-size, high-definition TV systems based on more con-
ventional display technologies, it is expected that progress in this area will
further increase the demand for 30 or 40-inch-size wall-type TV displays. Of
importance is the fact that, in the case of TFT LCDs regardless of the display
size, no significant differences in the fundamental technology is required. More
important, as mentioned, are the improvements in the manufacturing
technique and related equipment necessary to achieve a large production-
capability/equipment-investment ratio for large-size substrates, as well as
improvements in the TFTs to obtain the necessary high uniformity in electrical
characteristics and low-metallization resistance.
3. Projection TV
At the present time, there is much interest in projection systems for
producing large-screen color images. Such systems, generally making use of
multiple CRTs, are costly and bulky and have limited light output. The use of
TFT LCDs instead of CRTs for projection provides an attractive alternative
approach and presently seems to be a more realistic method for containing a
large-size image compared to attempting to obtain a large wall-type TV
72 SHINJI MOROZUMI
display with its attendant difficulties mentioned above. Although a package as

compact as that achieved by a small direct-view TFT LCD cannot be obtained
with this method, nevertheless a video projector based on TFT LCDs can be
assembled in a relatively small box and may create new applications for large-
area video displays.
A configuration example of a TFT-LCD projection display is shown in
Fig. 42 (Morozumi et al., 1986b). Here, three TFT LCDs are used, each one
serving as a light-valve imaging device for one of the primary colors. As
shown, a single halogen lamp source, whose white light is separated into three
primary colors by the dichroic mirrors, is used. After passing through the three
TFT LCDs, the three color images are combined by the dichroic prism and
projected onto the viewing screen through a common optical system. Since
each TFT LCD can be very small, the entire system can be compact and
lightweight. Using special optics, the distance between the screen and the
projection unit may also be short, allowing a 30-40 cm overall depth of the
system for a projected image of 40-inch diagonal size. In the initial system,
1.3-inch diagonal LCDs with a 220 x 320-element poly-Si TFT array and
a 300-watt halogen lamp produced a 50:l contrast ratio and a maximum
brightness of 70 ft-lamberts; on a viewing screen with a gain of six. The
number of pixels was subsequently increased to 440 x 480, and a contrast
ratio as high as 70:l was obtained (Aruga et al., 1987). At the same time,
the light source was changed to a 250-watt xenon arc lamp in order to
V i e w i n g Screen
7
Mirror
7
Hal
-
Ref l e c t o r
Dichroic Mirror
\Dichroic Prisms
FIG.42. Basic structure of color projector using three TFT LCDs: due to its simple structure,
the projector is small and lightweight. (Figure 1 from Morozumi et al., 1986b. Permission for
reprint, courtesy Society for Information Display.)
obtain an increased screen brightness and higher color temperature image
as well as to extend the lifetime of the lamp. With this system, an image with
300-ft-lambert brightness was obtained on a 40-inch diagonal front-projected
screen having an optical gain of 19. An example of such a color image is shown
by the black-and-white photograph in Fig. 43.
B. Computers
At the moment, the application of liquid-crystal displays in computers is

limited to portable-type units that require a flat compact panel and frequently
low power consumption. For these applications, directly multiplexed TN or
STN LCDs are used rather than TFT LCDs because of the relatively early
stage of development of the latter displays. Present computer displays of this
type are 9-12 inches in diagonal size and contain in the range of 200 x 480 to
480 x 640 pixels. Although they have either none or a limited number of grey
scales, producing only monochrome images, these characteristics are adequate
FIG.43. Black-and-white photograph of a color image projected on a 40-inch screen using

the TFT-LCD full-color projector: brightness is 300 ft-lamberts, and contrast ratio is 50: 1 .
74 SHINJI MOROZUMI
for many portable-computer applications. However, as mentioned earlier, the

viewing characteristics of such displays is relatively poor, and efforts are thus
being made to develop suitable active-matrix LCDs for this application. Since
cost competition in this application is severe, the diode-type active-matrix
displays, being probably less expensive than the TFT type, may provide
sufficient improvement for these applications where strictly controlled grey
scales are not necessary. Alternatively, directly mu1tiplexed ferroelectric-type
LCDs, despite their lack of grey scale, may be a strong candidate in the near
future for this application because of their improved contrast ratio. However,
even a portable-type computer will ultimately require a flat display panel with
much higher resolution, more grey levels and color, requiring the use of TFT-
LCD technology. Nevertheless, until TFT LCDs come into more general use
for large-area wall-type color-TV applications, it is not likely that such
displays will be economically competitive for portable or desk-top-type
computer applications.
IX. CONCLUDING
REMARKS
A. Comments on the Status of Liquid-Crystal Displays Relative to

Displays Based on Other Technologies
During the past 15 years, direct multiplexed liquid-crystal displays not

employing active-matrix elements such as TFTs have gained a dominant
position among the various other types of flat-panel display devices. With the
successful development of extended-area LCDs containing a large number of
pixels, these panels have pioneered a new market in portable computers and
word processors. In such applications (which presently can be satisfied by
black-and-white images), directly multiplexed LCDs, however, are still not
fully satisfactory in terms of their viewing quality, contrast ratio, and viewing
angle. Although electroluminescent displays (ELDs) have the best viewing
angle and contrast of the different flat-panel displays, they are also the most
expensive, whereas LCDs with the lowest viewing quality have the lowest
cost. Plasma display panels (PDPs), providing another alternative for these
applications, are located somewhere between the ELD and LCD displays
in terms of cost and viewing characteristics. Although directly multiplexed
LCDs have an advantage in battery-operated applications because of their
much lower power consumption compared to both PDPs and ELDs, it is ex-
pected that LCDs and PDPs will be major competitors in portable-computer
applications for some time to come. To obtain improved performance in these
applications, while still competing costwise with the CRT, directly multi-
plexed LCDs making use of the STN liquid-crystal materials or ferroelectric-
type liquid-crystal materials are likely to come into wide use. Possibly the
diode-type active-matrix LCDs may find use in this area if fabrication costs
can be kept sufficiently low.
In the case of TV applications,full-color capability and good grey scale are
essential requirements.Here other flat-panel display technologies have serious
limitations. In the case of electroluminescent displays, for example, obtaining
sufficient brightness (aside from very high costs) is a serious problem. In the
case of plasma display panels, problems of limited brightness and low
efficiency as well as cost have not been overcome. For such applications, the
TFT-controlled liquid-crystal display is the leading contender, both in terms
of image quality and cost. This is especially the case for large-size TV displays
where images with increased resolution are desired. In the long-term future, it
is expected that computer displays will increasingly require color and grey-
scale capabilities.The success of the TFT LCD in television applications may
thus result in its further dominance in the computer field.
B. Present Problem Areas in Thin-Film Transistor

Much of the fundamental development of TFT LCDs has already

occurred. Present and future problems relate mainly to questions of how to
increase the size and resolution of the displays while maintaining a reasonable
cost. In order to achieve an acceptable production cost for large-area TFT-
LCD panels, new manufacturing systems capable of handling large-area
substrates with an acceptable ratio of manufacturing capacity to investment
amount will have to be developed, since the throughputs of the existing thin-
film deposition, pattern-forming, and related equipment are insufficient to
satisfy these requirements. In addition, problems relating to the reduction or
elimination of defects must be solved. This has much to do with the specific
production equipment used and the manufacturing environment involved.
However, these problems may be minimized by the use of satisfactory
redundancy techniques incorporated in the panel structure, where each pixel
contains multiple TFTs instead of one (Ogura et al., 1986).The integration of
thin-film driver circuits with the pixel TFTs on the same substrate may also
reduce cost if high-yield driver circuits can be obtained, possibly making use
of redundancy techniques.
Since present images produced by TFT LCDs are not fully comparable to
those produced by color CRTs with respect to contrast ratio, viewing angle,
and grey-scale reproducibility, further development is required not only to
improve the TFT characteristics but also to obtain liquid-crystal material that
has a wider viewing angle and higher contrast ratio. Also color filters with
76 SHINJI MOROZUMI
improved chromaticity as well as backlighting systems that are highly efficient

and have reduced depth are needed. In any case, since all the problems
mentioned above are not associated with intrinsic limitations of the TFT
LCD, it is expected that they will be solved in due time.
C. Future Expectations of Thin-Film Transistor

Liquid - Crystal Displays
During the next three years, TFT LCDs are expected to find use in small
pocket and portable color-TV receivers, with display sizes up to about
10 inches in diagonal. The main technology employed will be amorphous Si
thin films rather than polycrystalline films for the TFTs because of the relative
ease of fabrication of large-area substrates with this technology using pre-
sent manufacturing equipment. During this period, it is also expected that the
image quality in terms of contrast ratio, viewing angle, and color purity will be
continuously improved and eventually approach that of CRTs. However,
since it will be difficult during this period for TFT LCDs to dominate in other
applications requiring a large size and an absence of defects, such as in
portable computers, directly multiplexed LCD devices, despite their limita-
tions, will continue to be used primarily for these purposes.
Within 10 years, it is expected that many of the problems mentioned above
will be solved and thus enable TFT LCDs to be utilized for large-area displays
up to or more than 20 inches in diagonal with a resolution as high as 1,000
lines, not only for TV but also for computer terminals. Such displays may also
be used for personal applications in which a computer terminal is combined
with a TV system functioning as a general-purpose color information display
unit. The most advanced TFT-LCD units will have a diagonal size up to 40
inches and contain over 1,000 x 1,000 color pixel triads. It is also expected
that these displays will have a contrast ratio in excess of 100: 1, a viewing cone
of more than a 120" included angle, a brightness of more than 300 ft-lamberts,
and a panel depth less than 4 inches, making them useful for high-definition
home TV. During this period, the production of such TFT LCDs will be fully
automated, and a production technique requiring no redundant elements may
be established. These displays may make use of polycrystalline silicon films
fabricated by low-temperature techniques such as laser-beam annealing to
obtain TFTs with greatly improved characteristics, since scanning speeds and
data rates much higher than the current NTSC system will be required. It is
also highly likely that these display panels will be fully integrated with their
drive circuits on a single substrate, minimizing the number of input leads.
Although the CRT is presently considered to be the standard against
which other displays are measured, within the next decade there is a distinct
possibility that liquid-crystal displays based on thin-film transistors will not
only become strong competitors to CRTs in many applications but will also
displace them in a significant number of applications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to express great thanks to Dr. B. Kazan for his continuous en-
couragement and helpful suggestions in completing this article.
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Resonators. Detectors. and Piezoelectrics
JEAN-JACQUES GAGNEPAIN
Laboratoire de Physique et MPtrofogie des Oscillateurs du C.N.R.S.
UniversitP de Franche-Cornti-Besanron
Besanron. France
I . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
I1. Fundamental Equations of Elasticity and Piezoelectricity . . . . . . . . . 85
A. Initial and Final States. Displacements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
B. Strains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
C . Mechanical Forces and Stresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
D . Electrical Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
E. Conservation Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
F . Equilibrium Equations in the Material State . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
I11. Material Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
A . Elastic Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
B . Piezoelectric, Electroelastic and Electrostrictive Constants . . . . . . . . 95
C . Dielectric Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
IV. Crystal-Lattice Anharmonicities (A Brief Review) . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
A. Specific Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
B. Acoustic Wave Attenuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
C . Heat Conductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
D . Thermal Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
V. The Resonator: Simple Linear Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
A . Bulk-Acoustic-Wave Resonator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
B. Surface-Acoustic-Wave Resonator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
V1. Nonlinear Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
A . Propagation and Resonance of Finite-Amplitude Waves . . . . . . . . 112
B. Propagation in a Prestrained Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
VII . Sensitivities to External Perturbations and the Design of Detectors . . . . . . . 125
A . Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
B. Forces and Pressures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
C . Accelerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
D . Electric Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
E. Miscellaneous Detectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
VIII . Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
83
Copyright 0 1990 by Academic Press. Inc .
.
All rights of reproduction in any farm reserved
ISBN O-I?-014677-0
84 JEAN-JACQUES GAGNEPAIN
I. INTRODUCTION
Piezoelectricity was discovered by Jacques and Pierre Curie (1 880). This

new effect was presented as the property of crystals, with particular symmetry
rules, to develop electric charges on their surface when squeezed or pulled by
mechanical forces. This was the direct piezoelectric effect. The converse effect
was reported by Lippman (1881) soon after and verified by the Curie brothers,
but it was only during World War I that Langevin (1918) applied the
piezoelectric effect to the emission and detection of underwater sound waves
using large quartz crystal plates. This was the very beginning of underwater
acoustics. The development of resonators started with the works of Nicholson
(1919)and Cady (1921),who showed how it was possible to drive electrically a
piezoelectric crystal (the first experiments were made by using plates of
Rochelle Salt and quartz crystals) near its mechanical resonance frequencies.
Cady demonstrated that such a resonator could be used for controlling the
frequency of an oscillator. Frequency control was born. The vibrations of the
piezoelectric crystals near their resonance frequencies were represented by
simple equivalent electrical circuits by Van Dyke (1925), Dye (1926), and
Mason (1943). These circuits were applied to transducers, oscillators, and
filters. An important milestone was also the use of a quartz oscillator for
stabilizing the frequency of a radio transmitter (around 1926).
New piezoelectric materials were needed. If quartz is one of the oldest and
still today one of the most widely used, materials with a high electromechan-
ical coupling factor were developed. Ammonium dihydrogen phosphate
(ADP) and piezoelectric ferroelectrics appeared during the 1940s. In the early
1950s, the important discovery of the piezoceramic lead zirconate titanate
(PZT) was made (Jaffe et al., 1971). Today piezoceramics are still very im-
portant for transducer applications. Single crystals, also with high coupling
factors, were developed during the 1960s (for example, lithium tantalate, and
lithium niobate). And more recently, research has started on the synthesis of
aluminum phosphate (berlinite). Even semiconductors, when they are piezo-
electric like gallium arsenide, can combine electronics and acoustics on the
same substrate. Alternatively, AIN or ZnO piezoelectric thin films can be used
on silicon substrates. Quasiamorphic materials like polymers (PVDF) can be
made piezoelectric after mechanical and electrical polarization.
It is important to notice that anisotropy is the key property of all these
materials (isotropic crystals cannot be piezoelectric, and a sufficient lack
of symmetry is necessary). This anisotropy makes it possible to control
the characteristics of devices by choosing appropriate orientations of the
material. Since the applications of the piezoresonator, this technique has been
used to reduce the sensitivity of the devices to different physical quantities.
Great efforts have been made to compensate the temperature dependence,
RESONATORS, DETECTORS, AND PIEZOELECTRICS 85
leading to various quartz crystal cuts (AT, BT, CT, DT, FT, GT, etc., and more
recently to the SC-cut). This last cut simultaneously compensates static and
dynamic temperature sensitivities (the dynamic temperature sensitivity being
related to the stress sensitivity). Similar studies have been made, and are still in
progress, on the compensation of changes due to acceleration, stress, electric
field, etc.
Since the early works of the Curies, Langevin, Cady, and many others, the
application of piezoelectrics has spread in many different fields. Piezoelectric
devices find applications in ultrasonic emission and detection, nondestructive
testing, microscopes, frequency control and signal processing, acousto-
electronic and acousto-optic components, physical and medical acoustics. In
frequency control, efforts are made to reduce the sensitivities of piezoelectric
resonators to temperature, force, pressure, acceleration, etc.; by contrast, it is
also possible to increase the sensitivity selectively with respect to a given
physical quantity for applications using the resonator as a sensor. Piezoreso-
nators are widely used in consumer products, like wrist watches, TV and radio
sets, games, and in communication and military systems (for example, in
frequency standards, radars, sonars, etc.).
The present chapter does not pretend to cover exhaustively all aspects of
piezoelectricity, and the focus will be essentially on resonators, their prop-
erties, and their various applications. Among the variety of piezoelectric
materials, monocrystals and in particular quartz, lithium niobate, and lithium
tantalate will be presented in detail.
Particular emphasis will be given to nonlinear effects, because the char-
acteristics and the performances of the devices today are mainly limited
by the nonlinearities of the crystals. Nonlinearities, as it will be shown, are at
the origin of some of the most fundamental properties of the materials.
EQUATIONS
11. FUNDAMENTAL OF ELASTICITY
AND PIEZOELECTRICITY
In the approximation of infinitesimal deformations, the general equations

reduce to their linear form, and the mechanical constitutive equations
correspond to Hooke’s law. There is no distinction made between the
coordinate system before and after deformation. But for finite-amplitude
deformations, the exact equations must be considered, which are no longer
linear but involve nonlinearities of two different kinds. The solid itself does
not follow linear laws, because of the nature of the interatomic forces and
potentials. These nonlinear characteristics are at the origin of anharmonicities
in solids, which define basic properties such as acoustic attenuation, thermal
expansion, and finite-heat conductivity.
In macroscopic models, the same anharmonicities appear as fundamental
constants of higher order, and contribute to the nonlinear terms of the
constitutive equations. These kinds of nonlinearity depend on the crystallo-

graphic orientation and can be called intrinsic nonlinearities.
On the other hand, any deformation modifies the volume and the surface
of a solid. As a consequence, the specific mass, the stresses, and the strains are
changed, and the equilibrium and constitutive equations again become
nonlinear. This second kind of nonlinearity is the same for all materials, and
it can be called an induced or geometric nonlinearity. The two kinds of
nonlinearities have the same order of magnitude, and both contribute to the
nonlinear behaviour of a solid.
The general equations of elasticity and piezoelectricity will now be
summarized. More details can be found in the works of Thurston (1974)for the
elastic and thermoelastic parts, of Tiersten (1971) for the general thermo-
electroelastic problem, and of Nelson (1979). Solving these equations and
applying them to the nonlinear propagation of waves or the propagation in
prestrained media will be the subjects of the next sections, with the appli-
cations to resonators and detectors.
A . Initial and Final States, Displacements
In an orthogonal reference system (Fig. 1) let a, be the coordinates of a

material point M of the solid in the initial state, i.e., at rest. Under deformation,
the point undergoes a displacement and takes a new position M' with coor-
dinates x j , denoting the final state. Initial and final coordinate systems are
also respectively known as material and spatial, or Lagrangian and Eulerian
coordinate systems.
The components of the mechanical displacement are noted
FIG.1. Coordinates before and after deformation.

The instantaneous velocity of a particule is
0. = -.dxj
dt
B. Strains
Let dl, and dl be the distance between the points M ( a i ) and P(a, + da,)
+
before deformation, and M'(xj) and P'(xj dxj) after deformation
dlo = daidai, dl = dxjdxj. (3)
The strain tensor qij is defined as
d12 - d l i = 2qijdaidaj, (4)
which by means of the relation dxj = (axj/aa,)da,can be written
By substituting Eq. (1) into (5) the final form is obtained:

au. +au.
q , , = 1- L
(
auk au
L+-L
2 aai daj aai aaj 1. (6)
It must be noticed that this exact relation is nonlinear, due to the quadratic
term (auk,/aai)(auk/aaj), a term which is neglected in the approximation of
infinitesimal deformations. This strain expression is given with respect to the
material coordinates ai. A similar expression could be established with respect
to the final coordinates x j by usingda, = (aai/dxj)dxj,leading to the strains eij,
In the linear approximation, the two strains qij and eijbecome identical and
are noted
C . Mechanical Forces and Stresses
The solid can be subject to internal and external forces that are surface and
body forces, the latter resulting from the application of an external quasistatic,
electrical field. One considers in the usual manner an elementary tetrahedron
(Fig. 2) with surface element dS(ABC) of normal unit component ni submitted
to surface force (per unit area) Qj.
x3 +
X1
FIG.2. Tetrahedron with surface dS ( A B C )of unit normal n submitted to a surface force Q,
The internal stresses acting on the tetrahedron are denoted by T j ,

where refers to the j-component of the stress vector applied to the surface
with normal unit parallel to the i-axis.
The static equilibrium condition yields
Q.
J = n.T..
I U (9)
It can be shown that this relation is true in general, even in the presence of
body forces (Thurston, 1964).
Relation (9)is written in the final state of the solid. Stresses pi,. in the initial
state are defined similarly. Let dAF and dAi be the components of the ele-
mentary surfaces dS, and dS before and after deformations, Obviously,
TjdAi= ejdAP. (10)
D. Electrical Forces
Following Tiersten (197l), the electroelastic solid is considered as an

electronic charge continuum coupled to the elastic continuum. The lattice
continuum is assumed to have a positive charge density, and the electronic
continuum a negative one. Relative motions of the two continua create electric
dipoles. Each elementary volume element is submitted to an electric body
force and a body couple C , following
C =8 h Ei.
pi is the dipole density and Ej the quasistatic Maxwell electric field, which
derives from the electric potential 4,
E. = --. a4
J axj
It will be useful to introduce the Maxwell stress tensor T ; ,
+
TE = &oEiEj &Ej - 4 ~ ~ E ~ E k 6 ~ ~ , (13)
and the electric displacement Di,
Di = EO&+ c, (14)
with tobeing the permittivity of the vacuum.
E. Conservation Laws
Four basic conditions, known as the conservation laws, state that the mass
of a solid remains constant, the rate of change of the momentum equals the
resultant force, the rate of change of the angular momentum equals the
resultant couple, and the rate of change of energy equals the external work
done (mechanical and nonmechanical) and, in addition, the heat exchange.
The conservation laws are established using the integral form. By con-
sidering an arbitrary element of volume (and surface), the integral forms are
transformed into a local form (valid at every point of the solid), with the
conditions at the surfaces of discontinuity being associated. Only the main
results are given here. Details of the transformation and extensions to
generalized discontinuities and interfaces can be found in various works
(Thurston, 1974; Planat, 1984; Daher, 1987).
1. Conservation of the Mass

Let dVo and dV be the volume of a solid with mass dM before and after
deformation, po and p the corresponding specific masses.
Conservation of the mass reads
podVo = p d V = dM = cte. (15)
Introducing the Jacobian matrix of the deformation with determinant J,
Eq. (15) is written

PJ = Po. (17)
The integral form corresponds to
which, after transformation, leads to the local form generally called the
equation of continuity
dp avi
- + p- = 0.
dt axi
2. Conservation of the Linear Momentum

The rate of change of the linear momentum equals the sum of the surface
and body forces acting on and in the solid
Q a E j / d x i )correspond to the electrical forces, and Fj are the other body forces
(gravitational forces, for instance).
Using Eq. (9) in (19) and applying the divergence theorem gives the local
form, called the equilibrium equation
in the volume. And

n,(Gj + TFj)= 0 (22)
on the surface, in the simpler case of a free-of-forces limiting surface.
3. Conservation of the Angular Momentum

The rate of change of the angular momentum equals the sum of the
torques
= d j v ( x j A pvj)dl.i
After transformation, the local form gives the symmetry property of the
stress tensor.
Gi - T k = EiPk - Eke. (24)
This shows that in a general electroelastic solid, the stress tensor is not
symmetrical. The condition of symmetry is verified only in a pure elastic
medium, or in the linear approximation, since the right-hand side of Eq. (24) is
nonlinear.
4. Conseruation of the Energy

The rate of change of the total energy (sum of the kinetic and internal energies)
equals the rate of working of the forces and the heat exchange.
U is the internal energy per unit mass; QkUk and FkUk represent the rate of
working of the surface and body forces. The electric forces are included in the
stress
dE. dP.
D = cAui
axj + E idtL ,
and nkqkis the thermal energy flow.
The local form of Eq. (25) is obtained by applying the mass and linear
momentum conservation laws and the divergence theorem in Eq. (25). This
yields
where 0 is the temperature and q the entropy per unit mass.

The same conservation equation can be expressed in terms of the electric
field and of the temperature (rather than polarisation and entropy) by
introducing the enthalpy x
x = u - '10 E i 4
--,
P
This leads to
Considering axj/aam,Ei,and 0 as independent variables, and therefore

x = x (axj/da,.Ei&), then
(30)
Identifying Eqs. (29) and (30) gives the constitutive equations

ax axi
T .= p
a(axj/aa,) z’ (3 1)
p. = - p - 82 (32)
aEi’
ax
q = -- (33)
ae’
It will be more convenient to express the energy function x in terms of the
strain and electric field given in the initial reference system. By using Eq. (5) for
the strain and the transformation
a4
Wk -- -- = _ _84 ax,
_ __ = -E ax,
- (34)
auk ax, aak auk
for the electric field, the constitutive equations become
ax. ax. ax axi ax
T.. = p l A -+ p-Ej-, (35)
aa, da, dqmk dam aW,
ax
p. = -p- ax. __
aa, dw,’
(36)
q = -- ax (37)
ae’
F. Equilibrium Equations in the Material State
The mechanical equilibrium equation [Eq. (21)] is written with respect

to the material coordinates by using the transformation (dldx,) =
(aak/ax,)(a/aak)
and po/p = J. Thus,
with the boundary condition at the free surface

N k P kj = 0, (39)
where P k j is the stress tensor in the initial state (previously introduced for its
mechanical part by Eq. (10)).
and correspond to the body forces

'Fj=JFj
In a similar way, one can introduce the material electric displacement
the electric equilibrium equation
in the absence of free charges in the volume, and the boundary conditions
Ag9; - 9;)
= 0, (43)
(4+ - $-) = 0 (44)
on the surface.
Equation (43) assumes that there are no electric charges on the surface.
Such a condition is arbitrary, but was useful for solving the problem of the
propagation of a surface acoustic wave on a piezoelectric and semiconductor
substrate, because without this assumption, one boundary condition would be
missing. The problem was finally solved by Ancona and Tiersten (1980; 1983)
by considering an exact model of the charge distribution near the interface of
the solid, and more recently by Daher and Maugin (1987).
111. MATERIAL
CONSTANTS
The properties of a particular solid are defined in the expression of its

internal energy. For an electroelastic medium, the internal energy can be given
as a series expansion of the mechanical strains and electric fields, as follows.
The thermal terms have been omitted in this expression. The symbols cijkr,
represent the second-, third-, and fourth-order elastic constants,
Cijklmn, Cijklmnpq
respectively. In this definition, the order corresponds to the power of the
corresponding term in the energy expansion. Therefore, second-order terms
for the energy lead to linear relations in the constitutive equations. Nonlinear-
ities begin with the third-order terms. The symbols, , ,& cmnpare the second-
and third-order dielectric constants, and emijare the regular second-order
piezoelectric constants. Finally, and correspond to nonlinear third-
order piezoconstants. They are known as electroelastic and electrostrictive
constants, respectively, with the latter ones occurring even in nonpiezoelectric
media.
Among the large family of piezoelectric materials, which can be classified
as monocrystals, ceramics, polymers, and others, only the most widely used
monocrystals will be examined here (quartz, lithium niobate, and lithium
tantalate). Quartz has been studied intensively, but knowledge of its constants
is still incomplete, and even fewer constants are known for the other crystals.
Therefore, in this section only the constants of quartz will be presented in
detail, and general comments will be made for the other crystals and materials.
Almost all values of the constants that have been measured can be found in
the Landolt-Bornstein (1979) tables.
A . Elastic Constants
The values of the second-order elastic constants are well known and are
available in the form of the compliance or stiffness constants, defined at
constant electric field or constant electric displacement. They have been
measured for most piezoelectric materials (Landolt-Bornstein, 1979).
TABLE I
VALUES OF THE 14TH INDEPENDENT THIRD-ORDER FUNDAMENTAL
ELASTIC CONSTANTS (in 10'' N/m2)."
OF QUARTZ
Standard Standard
Coeff. Value error Coeff. Value error
~ ~ ~
CIII -2.10 0.07 c

134 +0.02 0.04
c112 - 3.45 0.06 c144 - 1.34 0.07
113 +0.12 0.06 CIS5 - 2.00 0.08
CI,, - 1.63 0.05 C222 - 3.32 0.08
cl23 - 2.94 0.05 c333 -8.15 0.18
124 -0.15 0.04 c344 -1.10 0.07
c133 -3.12 0.07 c444 -2.76 0.17
Thurston et al., 1966

The third-order elastic constants of quartz have been measured by
Thurston et a/. (1966).There are 31 nonzero third-order constants, and among
them, 14 are independent. The values of the 14 independent constants are
given in Table I. These values constitute the only complete set available. But
confidence in these values is high because of the good agreement generally
observed between calculations and measurements of the sensitivities of
resonators, for example, to accelerations, forces, pressures, etc.
The third-order constants have also been measured for many materials
belonging to cubic, trigonal, and tetragonal crystallographic classes. The
values can also be found in the Landolt-Bornstein (1979) tables.
But the fourth-order elastic constants are almost completely unknown.
For quartz, only c6666 (Smythe, 1974),cllll, c3333(Fowles, 1967), and some of
the compliance constants (Gagnepain and Besson, 1975) have been measured.
B. Piezoelectric, Eiectroelastic, and Eiectrostrictive Constants
The second-order piezoelectric constants are known for most of the

piezoelectrics.In the third-order, two different kinds of constants appear in the
series expansion of the energy function. The electroelastic constants are
denoted by and couple one component of the electric field with two
components of the strain tensor, corresponding to the energy term (1/2)
wrnqUqk+In the constitutive equation, the strain derivative of this
quantity gives the stress tensor
q j OC em.ijklWmqkl. (46)
Therefore, the electroelastic effect appears as a nonlinear coupling between
electric fields and mechanical strains. If, for instance, W, is a static quantity
denoted by W,,and qj and qkl are dynamic quantities (Ej and &), then
relation (46) becomes
which represents a linearized form of the stress-strain relation. In that case,

(em.ijklWm) is equivalent to a correcting term for some of the second-order
elastic constants. The electroelastic effect induces therefore a direct change of
the elastic constants due to the application of a DC electric field.
The electrostrictive constants are denoted by and correspond in the
energy function to the coupling of two electric field components with one
strain component in the term (1/2) W, Wnqij.
After derivation with respect to strain, it follows that
Tj emn.ijWmWn, (48)
which is a stress component proportional to a quadratic form of the electric

field. This property, called electrostriction, can be observed in all materials,
even in materials that are not piezoelectric.
The electroelastic effect in quartz has been studied by Hruska (1977,
1978a,b), who evaluated the values of linear combinations of electroelastic
constants. Complete sets of the eight independent constants (there are 23
nonzero constants) have been determined by different authors. Kusters (1970)
and Brendel(1983a,b; 1984) used frequency measurements of resonators as a
function of an applied DC field. Reider et al. (1982).Kittinger et al. (1986),and
Kittinger and Tichy (1987)determined the same constants with a pulse-echo
method. The values obtained by these authors are given in Table 11.
Large discrepancies are observed between the values of these different
authors. This was noted by Hruska (1986) and Hruska and Brendel (1987),
TABLE 11
ELECTROELASTIC CONSTANTSOF QUARTZ CRYSTAL (INC/m2)
(THE SINGLE-SUBSCRIPT NOTATION
IS USED IN THIS TABLE).
Hurska Kittinger Reider

Kusters Brendel Hruska Brendel et al. et a/.
(1970) (1984) (1977) (1987) (1986) (1982)
- 2.91 - 2.73 -- 2.96 - 2.86 -2.18 2.61

e1.11
e1.13 -49.05 - 12 0.5 0.49
e1.14 - 28.81 33.4 -0.28 0.39
e1.22 - 114.76 3.05 1.1 - 1.47
e1.24 -85.49 34.6 -0.78 1.13
e1.34 2.12 50.5 - 1.63 1.35
e1.44 51.71 -0.6 -0.05 -0.15
e3.15 10.12 24.9 0.9 - 0.64
- 0.68 -0.42
- 0.90 - 1.99
E1.24 -0.88 -2.41
E1.44 0.90 1.02
E3.15 1.01 0.72
who indicated that only linear combinations of the electroelastic constants
can be presently determined (shown in Table 11), and that there is no dis-
crepancy between the authors concerning the values of these combinations.
The electrostrictive constants of quartz were also evaluated by Kittinger
et al. (1986) using the pulse-echo method. Their values are given in Table 111.
Lithium niobate and lithium tantalate crystals have high electromechan-
ical coupling factors and are used in particular for wide-band filters or acoustic
convolvers. In the convolver, large nonlinear constants are also needed for
increasing the efficiency (Ganguly and Davis, 1980). The electroelastic and
electrostrictive constants of LiNbO, were evaluated by Thomson and Quate
(1971), Koborov and Lyamov (1975), and for LiNbO,, LiTaO, by Agishev et
al. (1979), Chizhikov et al. (1982), and Zelenka (1982). It must be noticed that
not all these constants are homogeneous, some are material constants, some
others are effective constants. They are also not all defined with respect to the
same reference coordinate system.
C. Dielectric Constants
Crystal quartz has two independent second-order dielectric constants, one

of third order and four of fourth order. All have been measured (Gagnepain
and Besson, 1975). The third-order constants of lithium niobate are also
available. They have been evaluated by Ganguly and Davis (1980) from
electro-optic coefficients measured in the light-frequency range.
Electrostrictive and elasto-optic constants are equivalent tensors at low
and very high frequencies, respectively (DC and R F for the first, light fre-
quencies for the second). Similarly, the nonlinear dielectric and the electro-
optic constants also are equivalent.
A rigorous presentation of these different constants must take into account
the differences that are due to definitions at constant strains or at constant
stresses (Mason, 1966). A similar remark applies to the elasto-optic constants
defined at constant electric field or electric displacement. These distinctions
will not been made in this short presentation.
TABLE 111
ELECTROSTRICTIVE
CONSTANTS
OF QUARTZ (INFlm)."
CRYSTAL
e11.1 e11.2 e11.3 e11.4 e33.1 e33.3 e13.5 el,,
-4.8 1.1 10.2 - 2.2 0.8 - 3.9 -4.1 1.3
Kittinger et al., 1986

IV. CRYSTAL-LATTICE (A BRIEF REVIEW)

ANHARMONICITIES
The vibrations of the atoms of a crystal lattice, in the microscopic model,

are represented in terms of normal modes, which correspond to collective
movements of the atoms. The energy stored in each mode follows the rules of
quantum mechanics and is given by a number of phonons, a phonon being an
energy quantum. In the harmonic approximation, the different modes are not
coupled and do not exchange energy. The concept of specificheat is described
by this linear model. But on account of the nonlinear nature of the interatomic
forces, interactions and energy exchanges take place between the different
modes. This nonlinear behaviour is the origin of a variety of physical phe-
nomena in solids, known in macroscopic models as acoustic attenuation,
finite-heat conductivity, and thermal expansion, In addition, the higher-order
material constants are also directly related to the lattice anharmonicities.
A crystal lattice can be represented by a three-dimensional periodic array
of atoms. For a review of the general concepts, it is sufficient to consider just a
one-dimensional array (or chain). In the simplest case, only identical atoms are
considered, with mass m and distance a between adjacent atoms. Let N be the
number of atoms per chain (Fig. 3). The interaction potential between two
atoms as a function of their distance a is represented in Fig. 4. The mean
distance a, corresponds to an equilibrium position. The corresponding
interatomic force is given in Fig. 5.
Let u, be the displacement of the nth atom with respect to its equilibrium
position. Considering only the interaction between the nearest atoms with
force F in the linear approximation, the dynamical equation reads
mi, = F(u,+ - 2u, + u,- 1), (49)
and the corresponding interaction energy is
Considering a travelling wave with frequency w and wave number k, the

dispersion relation obtained from Eq. (49) is
4F . 2 k a
w; =-sin -
m 2'
n-1 n
- - -
un-1 un Un+l
FIG.3. Chain of atoms with mass M, and distance a.
distance between
atoms
FIG.4. Interatomicpotential (exact:-; quadratic approximation:-------).
For a three-dimensional lattice, there are three dispersion relations corre-

sponding to the longitudinal and the two transverse waves (called acoustic
branches). In the case of a chain composed of several species of atoms,
additional dispersion curves appear at higher frequencies corresponding to the
optical branches.
Relation (49) represents a set of N coupled equations. This system can be
transformed into N uncoupled equations by introducing the normal coor-
dinate Q k e following the transformation
and the interaction energy has the new form
The symbol * represents the complex conjugate, and &(t) = dQk(t)/dt.
t
8 /
+8 /
.-
U
E
s distance between
e atoms
s.-E
FIG.5. Interatomic force (exact:-;linear approximation:----------).

According to quantum mechanics, the creation and annihilation operators

a: = (2hok)-”2[04Qt - i&], (54)
a, = (2hok)-”2[okQk + @t], (55)
give the well-known expression for the Hamiltonian H , ,
where h is the Planck constant; hwk represents a quantum of energy (a phonon)

in mode k with frequency mk. The total mean energy can then be written
nk is the mean number of phonons stored in mode k. The summation is

performed over all the normal modes of the lattice.
A. Specijic Heat
Specific heat is defined as the temperature derivative of the total mean

energy per unit volume. The mean number of phonons nk follows the Bose-
Einstein distribution
nk = Cehak/krrT - wl, (58)
where kB is the Boltzmann constant and T the absolute temperature.
Therefore, the specific heat is
where I/ is the total volume of the crystal.

A more precise approach has to go beyond the harmonic approximation
and to consider higher-order terms in the atomic displacements. These
anharmonicities lead to interactions between phonons. Details can be found in
the works of Klemens (1 95 l), Maradudin (1962), and Maris (197 1).
B. Acoustic Wave Attenuation
Two cases must be distinguished, corresponding to low and high

temperatures.
In the Landau-Rumer theory (1937), the interactions are represented by
means of a higher-order Hamiltonian composed of products of the creation
and annihilation operators. Thus, for the three-phonon interaction processes,
the interaction energy term is
H, = 1 H(k, k’, k”)uluk,u,,!+ other combinations.
kk’k”
(60)
The interactions must verify the energy conservation law

h a , = ha,. + hok.,. (61)
The quasimomentum is conserved (normal processes) or not (umklapp
processes) following the law
k = k’ + k” + -,2nm
U
where m is an integer.
If Nk is the number of phonons in mode k when not in equilibrium (nk is the
number when in equilibrium), collisions (that is, nonlinear interactions
between modes) will force mode k back to equilibrium, with a relaxation time
t(k) given by
A sound wave is a beam of low-energy phonons with frequency R, with their

number being largely in excess with respect to the equilibrium number. On
account of the uncertainty principle, the finite lifetime of a phonon makes its
energy uncertain by h/z. Therefore, the Landau- Rumer method should be
valid when h / t << hQ, or QT >> 1. This corresponds to a high-frequency sound
wave or to thermal phonons with large lifetimes, i.e., when the temperature
is low.
A semiclassical approach due to Akhieser (1939) is valid in the limit
hR << k,T, when the phonon mean free path is smaller than the sound wave-
length. This condition is verified at high temperatures. In this theory, the
sound wave is treated macroscopically, and the anharmonicities are intro-
duced by stating that the frequency akof a phonon depends upon the state
of strains of the crystal.
The acoustic wave attenuation is due to the exchange of energy, with the
heat reservoir constituted by the cloud of thermal phonons. On average, the
exchange corresponds to a loss of energy of the sound wave, with the
attenuation factor (Maris, 1971)
where so is the sound-wave mean phase velocity and po the crystal specific
mass.
The Griineisen parameter Yk is the strain derivative of the phonon

frequency
which refers to a phonon of mode k perturbed by the acoustic wave of polar-

ization e i ( K ) and wave vector K j ; kj is a unit vector of direction K j . In
Eq. (641,
(x>= k Xw:nk(nk + /T "k2nk(nk + (661
has been used.
C. Heat Conductivity
Heat diffusion is another phenomenon due to a redistribution of phonons

between different modes of the lattice (without interactions, heat would not
diffuse but propagate with the velocity of the acoustic wave).
The heat flow in a given direction i is
where u,(k)is the phonon group velocity. The difference

ANk = Nk - nk (68)
is calculated with the Boltzmann transport equation, and after some calcula-
tion, the thermal conductivity coefficient takes the simpler form
Kij =C(ZU~U~), (69)
where C is the specific heat, and the averaging ( ) has the form given by
Eq. (66).
D. Thermal Expansion
Thermal expansion has its origin in the same phenomenon. The free energy
A of the crystal is composed of the elastic deformation energy and the thermal
phonon energy. The derivative with respect to strain of the free energy, at
constant temperature gives the thermodynamic tension, and the thermal
expansion coefficient aydis obtained by taking the derivative with respect to
temperature at constant tension (Maradudin, 1962).
caPydare the second-order elastic constants, and
is involved in the definition of the Griineisen constant of Eq. (65).

These results show that acoustic thermal conductivity, thermal expansion,
attenuation, and related velocity (or frequency) shifts all have their origin in
the crystal-lattice anharmonicities. The microscopic theory relates these
phenomena, which generally are considered as independent in the linearized
macroscopic approach. In this way, a connection can be made between
microscopic and macroscopic descriptions; and, for instance, the Griineisen
constant can be related to the third-order elastic constants (Briigger, 1965).
V. THERESONATOR:
SIMPLELINEARMODEL
An ultrasonic resonator is a device that stores energy by means of standing

waves created by a superposition of incident and reflected waves between two
reflectors. A maximum of energy is stored when conditions of synchronism are
verified between the waves travelling in the two directions; this corresponds to
a condition of resonance. Since their original invention, these devices have
found many applications as transducers for emitting and receiving ultrasonic
waves. They are also used as narrow- or wide-band filters. In oscillators they
control the frequency. Or, when sensitive to a physics quantity, they are used
as sensors and detectors. In this section, two kinds of resonators will be
described: bulk-acoustic-wave (BAW) and surface-acoustic-wave (SAW)
resonators.
A. Bulk-Acoustic- Wave Resonator
The simplest model corresponds to an elastic and piezoelectric medium

limited by two parallel free surfaces, with a distance 2h between the two free
surfaces and with infinite lateral dimension, as shown in Fig. 6. The two planes
are electric equipotentials, and a voltage 4 = 4,e'"' is applied between them.
Let be the normal to the planes and A$ its director cosines. The variable
coordinate along t axis will be s.
Combining the equilibrium and constitutive equations reduced to their
linear terms gives
POEj = cijkIuk.li + enij$,.ni, (72)
emklUk.lm - Emn4,mn = 0, (73)
a3
I
a1
FIG.6. Resonator with thickness 2h and infinite lateral sizes.
with
4 ' at
4 = +AP' s= +h. (75)
2
Let A, and ly) be the three eigenvalues (r = 1,2,3)and the three eigenvector
components of the system
(CijklNifl - n 6 j k ) l j = 0. (76)
After introduction of the curvilinear coordinate
s=ya,, (77)
and the resultant polarization
u, = p1 u I'.
the system of Eqs. (72) to (74) is transformed into
PO f i r = ~r U , s s + ~rb,ss,
YrKss -4?ss = 07
ArUr,, + yr4,,= 0 at s = fh.
This system has been written in a new coordinate system composed of the
three orthogonal eigenvectors, and spatial derivatives are performed with
respect to s, with the notation alas = ,s.
Now the equations of the three waves (r = 1,2,3) are uncoupled, and the
subscript r can be omitted in the following.
The coefficients 2, y, and E read
2 = cijk.&filjlk, (82)
y = enijNiNnlj, (83)
E = E,, N, N, . (84)
Integrating Eq. (80) gives the electrical potential, and substitution of the
potential into the boundary condition (81) leads to a system that for plane
waves can be satisfied only by an antisymmetrical mode solution (this means
that a symmetrical mode cannot be piezoelectrically driven).
The resonance is given by the determinant of the boundary condition
system of equations, which yields the transcendental equation
uh oh
- = K’tg-,
V V
where K is the electromechanicalcoupling factor,
and AD is the stiffened eigenvalue

LD = 1 + y 2 / E .
The approximate solutions of Eq. (85) are
p is an integer and V, is the wave velocity

v; = P / p , .
The normal component on the surfaces of the electric displacement
corresponds to the charge density. The electric current through the resonator
is obtained by taking the time derivative of the electric charge integrated over
the surface area A of the electrodes. This follows
oh
K2Q-
EA V
I = -jwq5,- 1-
2h wh wh *
K2tg- - -
v v
The first term in Eq. (90) corresponds to the current through the static
capacitor Co.The second one corresponds to the motional admittance and
contains the resonance ( I = 03) and antiresonance ( I = 0) frequencies. Cal-
culation of the impedance gives the equivalent electrical circuit represented in

Fig. 7.
The motional inductance and capacitance are denoted by L1 and C,. The
previous model does not take into account the internal acoustic losses of the
material. But these acoustic losses are represented in the equivalent circuit by
the motional resistor R , .
The different motional parameters are given by the relations
L --,
poh3
'
- y2A
4Ay2
TZ
2 D
1 h(2p +
R, =
n2hq(2p + q2 (93)
4yZA '
co =z
&A
(94)
for a resonator driven on an harmonic mode of odd rank ( 2 p 1); q is the +

effective attenuation coefficient introduced by the complex elastic constant
* - Cijkl
c ijkl +jWijki (95)
and
q = qijkl&Nlljlk* (96)
The quality factor can be defined from the (3 dB) bandwidth, or from the
ratio of the motional inductance impedance on the motional resistance; this
yields
co
FIG.7. Resonator-equivalentcircuit for frequencies near the resonance and antiresonance
conditions.
RESONATORS, DETECTORS, AND PIEZOELECTRICS i 07
Energy
I
(a)
R (b)
R
FIG. 8. (a) Plano-convex shape for a thickness shear resonator; (b) Energy distribution.
High Qs with narrow bandwidth will be needed, for instance, in stable

oscillators; by contrast low Q s with large bandwidth are necessary for
ultrasonic emission and detection.
In fact, the Q-factor is affected also by the losses due to the coupling of
the resonator vibration with the mounting structure. In thickness shear
resonators, which are the most widely used for high Q's, coupling with the
mounting supports is reduced by means of a plano-convex circular crystal
plate, which behaves as an acoustic lens and traps the wave energy near the
center, as shown in Fig. 8.
The Q-factor can also be improved by means of nonadherent electrodes
(Besson, 1976). When the Q-factor limit is only due to the material losses, the
product Qofo = AD/2nq is a constant for a given material with a given
cyrstallographic orientation. Values are presented in Table IV for some of the
piezoelectrics and most common cuts.
TABLE IV
.
MEANVALUESOF THE Qo fo PRODUCT
FOR DIFFERENT
PIEZOELECTRIC
CRYSTALS,
FOR DIFFERENT CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC
ORIENTATIONS
AND
VIBRATION
MODES.
Material Qo fo product
9 From
quartz AT (C mode) 1.3. 1013 Warner, 1960

quartz BT (B mode) 2.4. 1013 Ballato, 1977
quartz SC (C mode) 1.4. 1013 Kroupa, 1988
LiTa03
1.8 * loL2 Detaint and LanGon, 1976
doubly rotated
AIPO,, Y 2 2 * 10'2 Dumas et al., 1987
AIPO,, X
C mode
~8 - loLz evaluated from
Narayanan et al., 1984
The previous model corresponds to the thickness modes of a plate with

infinite lateral size and driven with an electric field perpendicular to the plate.
Many different modes and different driving fields have been studied: thickness
modes with lateral driving fields, extensional bars, torsional plates and bars,
face-shear plates, flexural plates and bars. A review of these different modes
has been given by Meeker (1985).
The extension to two- and three-dimensional models has been made for
studying the coupling between thickness modes and contour modes in thin
plates. An analytical method based on a series expansion in the plate thickness
of the elastic equations was developed by Mindlin (1955). Then the method
was extended to piezoelectric plates (Tiersten and Mindlin, 1962; Tiersten,
1969). Different kinds of contour (circular, rectangular, etc.) were studied (Lee,
1971). Introduction was made of energy trapping (Shockley et al., 1967;
Mindlin, 1967). Most of the latter models included also the mass-loading
effect due to the electrodes. A real need of such models comes from the
development of high Q-resonators and from monolithic filters.
B. Surface-Acoustic-Wave Resonator
Surface acoustic waves, like Rayleigh waves, cannot be reflected at the edge
of a plate (they do not satisfy such a boundary condition and are converted
into bulk waves). Standing waves are obtained by using multiple reflections in
a surface grating as proposed by Ash (1970). The reflection comes from the
electrical or mechanical perturbation on each element of the grating: the
shorting out of the piezoelectric field by metal strips and, in addition, the mass-
loading effect. For materials with lower electromechanical coupling factor,
grooves made by ionic etching are used (Staples, 1974). Ion-implanted strips
(Hartemann, 1975) and metal-diffused strips (Schmidt, 1975) have also been
studied.
The resonator is composed of two identical reflectors realizing a SAW
cavity, which is coupled to the external circuit by means of one or two
interdigital transducers, as shown in Fig. 9.
The surface-grating reflector has the properties of dispersion of a cor-
rugated structure (Fig. 10). If the wave frequency is in the range of the stop
band (near kd = n or 274 the corrugated structure behaves as a reflector
(Li et al., 1975).
A typical admittance curve of a one-port resonator is shown in Fig. 11.
This admittance is similar to that of the bulk-wave resonator and exhibits
both resonance and antiresonance. Resonance occurs when the phase
interference is constructive. This happens when the length of the cavity (the
distance between the effective centers of the reflectors) is an integral number of
half wavelengths.
P L L
FIG.9. One-port (a) and two-port (b) SAW resonators.
The one-port resonator can be represented by an equivalent circuit

(Fig. 12) composed of a series resonant circuit L , C , , with a capacitance Co
in parallel corresponding to the interelectrode capacitance of the transducer.
The R,-resistance involves the different losses, and R, represents the acoustic
radiation resistance of the transducer (Schoenwald et al., 1975), which can be
placed either in series or in parallel with the circuit.
The transfer admittance of a two-port configuration, when off resonance,
has the (sin x/x)* characteristic of a transmission delay line, since the gratings
are transparent in that case. At resonance, the standing wave sets up in the
I w s
2n
kcd
0 n 2n
kd
FIG.10. Theoretical dispersion curve for an infinite array of grooves of period d ; k , is the
unperturbed Rayleigh wave number, and k the wave number on the periodic structure.
10
c
h
Y)
.-
c
3
499 500 50 1
Frequency (MHz)
FIG. 11. Admittance curve of a one-port SAW resonator.
cavity and enhances the transmission between the transducers. This appears as
a sharp resonance on top of the transducer response (Schoenwald et al., 1975).
An equivalent circuit (Shreve, 1975), valid for two identical transducers is
given in Fig. 13. The two equivalent circuits of Figs. 12 and 13 are simplified
circuits valid near the resonance. Other equivalent circuits with a wider
frequency range have been also proposed (Joseph and Lakin, 1975).
In terms of the reflection coefficient r of the gratings, the motional
inductance and resistance are given by the relations (Staples et al., 1974;
P
L1
co c1
b
FIG. 12. One-port SAW resonator-equivalentcircuit.
0- Q
.L1 c1 RI
co 3 : co
0- -0
FIG.13. Two-port SAW resonator-equivalentcircuit.
Schoenwald et al., 1974)
where Leffis the effective cavity length, which equals the distance between the
two reflectors plus the penetration length in the reflectors; fo and Izo are the
resonance frequency and the mean wavelength.
The unloaded Q-factor of a SAW resonator is limited by different sources
of losses, as follows
1 1
- =- +-1 + -1 +--.
1
Q Qm Qd Qr Qb
The term l/Qm is related to the acoustic attenuation in the material and
-
corresponds to the ultimate limitation of the Q-factor. The Q f product can
also be used in this case for characterizing a given material with a given
crystallographic orientation and in addition for a given propagation direction
-
of the wave. For ST-cut quartz a Q f product close to l.lOI3 was evaluated
(Li et al., 1974).
If the device is not under vaccum, air loading will be also a limitation of the
Q, but generally the device is sealed in an enclosure under vaccum, and air
loading is eliminated.
The term l/Qd is the loss due to the diffraction of the finite-width beam.
During many transits, the beam spreads and a part of its energy is lost beyond
the aperture of the reflectors. This can be reduced by optimizing the beam
TABLE V
COMPARISON
OF BAW AND SAW-RESONATORS
Q-FACTORS.
Frequency 5 MHz 100 MHz 1 GHZ
BAW 3 . lo6 105 1-3 x 104

Q-factor SAW - 8 x 104 0.3-1 x 104
SC-cut (Y = 0)
width a with respect to the wavelength &. It has been shown that Qd is
proportional to (Li et al., 1974).Diffraction can also be generated when
the wave propagates on the grating. This will depend on the type of grating,
i.e., on the relative speed of the wave on the grating, with respect to the
unperturbed Rayleigh wave velocity, and higher transverse modes can be
excited (Staples, 1974).
Two other important sources of loss due to the gratings arise from the
leakage of energy because of imperfect reflections ( l/Qr), and because of mode
conversion into bulk waves (l/Qb).The reflecting coefficient can be improved
by using deeper grooves in a short grating, or by using a larger number of
shallow grooves. The Q-factor is improved by increasing the grooves’ depth,
but there is a limit, and beyond that limit the resonance can even vanish. This
has been attributed to bulk-wave generation at the front of the grating. A
solution consists in gradually tapering the groove depth up to its final value (Li
et al., 1975). The second solution consists in using a much larger number
( N 1OOO) of shallow grooves per grating, which minimizes the leakage loss
without increasing the bulk generation.
The interdigital transducer also contributes to the losses by spurious
reflections. It was proposed to use transducers made of aluminum strips
recessed in quartz grooves (Dunnrowicz et al., 1976; Haydl et al., 1976) for
reducing these reflections.
A comparison between achievable Q-factors of BAW and SAW resonators
is given in Table V.
PROPERTIES
VI. NONLINEAR
A. Propagation and Resonance of Finite-Amplitude Waves
The nonlinear terms of third and fourth orders change the characteristics
of the wave when its amplitude is finite (and not infinitesimal as it was the case
in the previous section). The first consequence of these quadratic and cubic
In this case rrr,r,t= r, when r" = r' = r, and = A, when r"' = 1'' =
r' = r, and are neglected for all values of r"', r", r' # r.
Several methods are available for solving these nonlinear equations: the
perturbation method of PoincarC, the method of multiple scales, the method
of characteristics, the method of coupled amplitude equations, etc., (Planat,
1984).
Using the PoincarC method, a solution is chosen in the form
V, = Vo cos Y + A 2 cos 2" + B2 sin 2Y + C2 + A , cos 3"
+ B3cos3Y + C,cosY + D3sinY +-.-, (110)
with Y = wt - kos.
In this expression, Uo is the amplitude of the driving signal, Vo cos ot at
s = 0, ko is the wave number ( k , = w/Vo),and Vo is the wave velocity in the
linear approximation.
Amplitudes of the different harmonics are obtained by substituting the
solution (110) in Eq. (109) and by identifying corresponding terms.
For the second harmonic,
for the third harmonic,
and for the fundamental,
The terms C, and D, generated at the fundamental frequency correspond

to amplitude and phase perturbation of the fundamental. Some discrepancies
have been observed between the PoincarC method and the method of
characteristics, in particular for Eqs. (1 13) and (1 17). This was explained by
Daher and Maugin (1989), who gave a more accurate solution, in agreement
with the method of characteristics, by using a multitonal solution leading to
i r
C, = ---U:k$s, (1 18)
41
Equations (1 11) to (1 17) show how the second and third harmonic levels
increase as a function of the propagation distance and absorb energy at the
fundamental frequency. For longer distances, coupling with higher-rank
harmonics will induce a reduction of the second and third, with, as a con-
sequence, an increase of the fundamental, and so on. Such effects do not
appear in the above relations, since the calculation is limited to the second
order of approximation, and the relations are valid only for distances close to
the source.
The additional terms at the fundamental frequency [Eq. (116)] and
[Eq. (1 19)] are equivalent to a perturbation of the amplitude and phase of
the wave. Combining with the main fundamental term gives the velocity-
amplitude effect
This effect is related to the nonlinear elastic constants, and since (r/A),
and
A/,? are of the same order of magnitude (see Section III.A), both third- and
fourth-order elastic constants must be taken into account.
A similar relation can be written for the resonance frequency of a reso-
nator. This well-known amplitude-frequencyeffect is shown in Fig. 14.
It should be noticed that these results are general. They take into account
both the vibration mode and the crystal anisotropy, but are limited to a one-
dimensional plate. Two-dimensional models have been studied by Tiersten
(1975).
A second nonlinear phenomenon that arises in resonators used as filters is
intermodulation. For a signal with two frequency components wt and 0,
(both close to the resonance frequency wo of the resonator, and within its
bandwidth), the quadratic nonlinearities generate frequencies 204, 20,,
o1+ a,,and o1- 0,. Cubic nonlinearities generate 3w1, 3wz, w1 + 20,,
0,+ 204, 2w, - w 2 , and 201, - wl. All these frequencies are completely
out of the resonator bandwidth, except 2 0 , - w, and 20, - ol. If
0 1 N 0,2: w,, (121)
-
-2 x 10-8 10-6 2 x10-6
FRACTIONAL FREQUENCY
FIG.14. Amplitude-frequency effect of a 5-MHz AT-cut quartz resonator.
it follows that
20, - 0 2 N 20, - o1N w1 N o2N 0,. (122)
Therefore, such frequencies will not be eliminated by the filter. This
intermodulation can have a serious effect, in particular in front-end filters
when high signal levels are received.
Intermodulation has been studied by Tiersten (1974), Smythe (1974) in
thickness-shear quartz resonators, and by Planat et al. (1980a)in X-cut lithium
tantalate resonators. It was shown that both third- and fourth-order elastic
constants are again involved. Because the fourth-order constants are un-
known, the value of intermodulation cannot be calculated, and, in fact, the
models were used for evaluating some values of fourth-order elastic constants
from experimental measurements of intermodulation. It should be noticed
that these evaluations were based on solutions including Eqs. (113)and (117).
The corrected solutions (118) and (119) will yield different values of the
corresponding fourth-order elastic constants. But this evaluation has not yet
been made.
A direct comparison between the elastic nonlinearities of quartz and
lithium tantalate resonators is shown in Fig. 15.
Lithium tantalate has nonlinearities that are much smaller than those of
quartz. The intermodulation ratio PIP, corresponds to the ratio of the power
of one of the test tones at frequencies 0,and o2(with Pw, = Po,= P) over the
PI Po (dB)
4
1 * P (dBrn)
-50 -30 -10
FIG.15. Comparison of intermodulation in 456 kHz face-shear mode quartz and lithium
tantalate resonators (Planat et al., 1980).
power at the intermodulation frequencies R = 20, - w, or R’ = 20, - o1

(with Pn = Pw).
The nonlinear propagation of surface acoustic waves has also been
intensively studied. The first approaches were made by Adler et al. (1973) and
Alippi et al. (1977). Analytical models were developed by Tiersten and
Baumhauer (1974) for isotropic solids and then by Vella et al. (1974,1977),and
by Planat et al. (1980b);and by Planat (1984)in the general case of anisotropic
crystals.
Surface waves are studied using the basic propagation equation [Eq. (lor)]
and Eq. (103),with addition of the boundary condition [Eq. (102)].
The solution of a Rayleigh wave propagating on a pure elastic substrate in
the s direction on the surface is in the infinitesimal amplitude approximation
where a2 is the direction of penetration normal to the surface, and ny) is the
complex penetration coefficient.
Applying PoincarC‘s perturbation (Planat et al., 1980b), and a much
lengthier calculation than for bulk waves, gives the second harmonic solution
where Ako is a perturbation of the wave number ko calculated by means of the

boundary condition.
At the next order of approximation, the solution is composed of the third
harmonic and of an additional term at the fundamental frequency. Since the
propagation distance is a large number of wavelengths, i.e., s >> A0/2a, the
terms proportional to s2 are predominant, and the terms proportional to s are

negligible. This yields the solution at the fundamental frequency
3
uj = - i i k i U : A 2 k o s 2 C C;!)e"r.
r
(125)
The second-order perturbation A2k, is also determined by means of the

boundary conditions.
Combining the different terms at the fundamental frequency gives the
velocity-amplitude effect
v= Vo(1 - k : U ; f , s ) (126)
This relation shows that the perturbation of velocity depends on the
propagation distance s, with fi being evaluated from the previous per-
turbation terms.
The corresponding amplitude-frequency effect has been measured on
SAW resonators. A comparison is made between BAW and SAW in Table VI,
using the A-F coefficient K defined by
w -0 0
= K12, (127)
WO
where I is the driving current through the resonator.

These results show that the amplitude-frequencyeffect for SAW resonators
is two orders of magnitude lower that for BAW resonators. This has also been
confirmed by intermodulation measurements. The difference is explained by
the lower energy density, per , I:unit volume, of surface acoustic waves.
B. Propagation in a Prestrained Medium
A second class of problems corresponds to the propagation of acoustic

waves in a nonlinear medium exposed to static or quasistatic deformations,
forces, or fields. Due to the nonlinearities of the solid, the wave and the static
TABLE VI
CoMPARISON OF THE COEFFICIENTK
AMPLITUDE-FREQUENCY
OF SAW AND BAW RESONATORS."
Frequency Cut Q-factor K

SAW
resonators
110 MHz ST 26 OOO 1.1 x 10-3/~~
BAW 100MHz AT 63 OOO 2.5 x 10-'/AZ

resonators 5 MHz 2.106 2 x 10-'/A2
a Planat et al.. 1980

deformation are coupled. This coupling produces a sensitivity of the wave
(velocity, amplitude, etc.), and therefore of the resonator (resonance fre-
quency), to external or internal perturbations resulting from mechanical,
thermal, or electrical phenomena.
The problem can be simplified by considering that the wave exposed to the
static deformation is of small enough amplitude to have no influence on the
static bias. Equations for the dynamic deviations from the bias are linearized.
New effective elastic, piezoelectric and dielectric constants can then be
introduced in the linearized equations. Finally, the change of velocity or
frequency is obtained directly by using a regular perturbation method. This
problem has been treated by many authors, in particular by Thurston (1964),
Baumhauer and Tiersten (1973), and Theobald et al. (1985a, b).
The action of the static (perturbation) and the dynamic (wave) de-
formations of the solid can be described in terms of three states (Fig. 16): the
natural state, of coordinates ai, when the solid is at rest; the initial state, of
coordinates xi,after the application of the static deformation; and the final
state, of coordinates Xi, when the dynamic deformation is superposed to the
static one.
Let po, p, and p, respectively, be the specific masses of the solid in these
different states.
Three mechanical displacements are distinguished:
static
- = x. - a:
u.
1 I 13 (128)
dynamic
E.1 = x.
I
- X.' 19 (129)
total
final (Xi)
dynamic u
natural (a,)
FIG. 16. Reference coordinate systems of a solid submitted to a dynamic deformation

superposed on a static bias.
1 20 JEAN-JACQUES GAGNEPAIN
Strains, stresses, and fields are also identified using the same static,
dynamic, and total notation.
Finally, let N,, 7ii, and n, be the cosine directors of the unit normal at a point
of surface in the different states.
1. Mechanical Equilibrium Equations

Following Eq. (21), the mechanical equilibrium equation (in the absence of
body forces) is in the final state
where zij is the total stress, composed of a mechanical part Tjand an electrical
part TE,
IJ =
7.. 1J + 7’:.
T.. (132)
The boundary condition corresponding to a free surface is
I IJ = 0
n.2.. on the surface. (133)
Equations (1 3 1) and (133) can also be written in the initial state
and
7i,Ksj = 0 on the surface, (135)
with K , representing the stress components with respect to the initial
coordinate system. That is
with
J = p/p. (137)
Finally, in the natural state,
d zu j aflj
P O F = -9
aa1
and
N,Sj = 0 on the surface, (139)
with
and
J= po/p. (141)
Similarly, the electrical equilibrium equation is written in the final state as

aD,
~
ax, = 0,
and in the initial state as
- 0.
agj -
-
aaj (143)
In Eq. (143),
g.=J -aa . D,.

J ax,
and
J = Po/P. (145)
If the static problem is assumed to be unaffected by the dynamic
deformation and fields (this is true if the amplitude of the wave is small), the
static equations can be written
N,qj = 0 on the surface, (147)

and
Subtracting Eqs. (146), (147),and (148), respectively, from Eqs. (138), (139),
and (143), and using Eqs. (128)-( 130), gives the dynamical system
N&, = 0 on the surface. (150)

and
2. Constitutive Equations and Effective Constants

In these equations, ej aj
and are obtained by developing the total stress
and electric displacement in a power series of the displacement gradients
axk/&,and the electric field W,or the potential gradient a4/aar7that is,
3)+ -
aii,
aar aar
Therefore,
where Aljkr and are effective elastic and piezoelectric constants given by
and
Similarly, the dynamic electric displacement is
where A,, is the effective piezoelectric constant and is the effective di-
electric constant.
The final form of the effective constants is obtained by using the

constitutive equations. This yields
and
These quantities depend on the elastic constants of the second and third
order, on the second-order piezoelectric constants, on the electroelastic and
electrostrictive constants, on the second- and third-order dielectric constants,
and on the gradients of the static mechanical displacements and electric
potential.
The dynamic problem is now represented by a set of linearized equations,
which can be solved by the usual manner by replacing the ordinary constants
by the effective ones. A perturbation method (Tiersten, 1978) can be used to
obtain directly the velocity or frequency variations.
For a sinusoidal wave ujeiootin the absence of perturbation, the mechan-
ical equilibrium equation is written
-
(the symbol is now omitted and the notation ,1 is used for alas,).
In presence of a perturbation, the solution becomes ujeiw', and the
equilibrium equation
-pow2uj = (161)
Multiplying the complex conjugate of Eq. (160) by uj and Eq. (161) by the
complex conjugate uj*, integrating over a volume V of the solid limited by a
surface S , and taking the difference, yields
where Ao = o - w,,.
The effective constants of Eqs. (157)' (158), and (159) are written in the form
-
= Cljkr + 21jkr, (163)
A,,j = e,ij
-
+ G j ? ( 164)
Ejr = &jr + Zjr, (165)
where Cljkr,trlj, and Fjr appear as perturbations of the regular elastic, piezo-
electric, and dielectric constants.
Using Eqs. (153)' (156), and the electrical equilibrium equation
9j,j
= 0, 9.
J.J , = 0 (166)
in Eq. (162)and applying the divergence theorem and the boundary conditions
gives the final relation
P
2p00,Ao J GjGT dV
V
r
+ ij,Ii?rIjc$: + iTIi?rIjc$,r
- c$,jE;.rc$f] dV. (167)
Therefore, determination of the frequency variation Am requires an

independent determination of the unperturbed wave solution tij and the
predeformations included in the perturbed effective constants.
For a plane wave,
i;i = ajeimo(r -Niai/Vo)
2 (168)
and only an elastic perturbation Eljkr, the perturbation relation takes the
simple form
where V, is the unperturbed wave velocity and

fjk =6jkrSNr- (170)
In the above relation, A o / w , = AV/V, at constant wave number k, was
used.
For surface acoustic waves, the unperturbed solution is
After integration over a wavelength and a thickness of the substrate much

larger than the penetration depth, this leads to the relation
n(n) = q, corresponds to the penetration coefficient.

As can be seen from the previous relations, the frequency or velocity
sensitivities to perturbations depend on the crystal anisotropy. Therefore, par-
ticular configurations can be expected to minimize the sensitivities when a
compensation between the different terms of the effective constants occurs;
this is important for the use of resonators in stable devices such as oscillators,
filters, and so forth. By contrast, a maximum of sensitivity to a given physical
quantity is appropriate for sensors, when this sensitivity can be made selective.
VII. SENSITIVITIES
TO EXTERNAL
PERTURBATIONS
AND
THE DESIGN
OF DETECTORS
A. Temperature
The temperature sensitivity of a resonator is usually described by the

thermal expansion coefficients of the crystal and by the temperature
coefficients of the fundamental constants, in this case mainly the elastic
constants. For quartz crystal, these coefficients were obtained by Bechmann
and coauthors (1962) from the frequency-temperature dependence of BAW
resonators. Bechmann’s coefficients are therefore phenomenological and can
be applied with confidence only to the kind of device used in measuring them.
They cannot be considered as fundamental constants. In fact, they implicitly
contain the contribution of the nonlinear elastic effects, through the crystal
deformation due to thermal expansion. The temperature derivatives of the
fundamental second-order elastic constants of quartz were determined by
Sinha and Tiersten (1978) by substracting the contributions of the third-order
elastic constants from Bechmann’s coefficients.
More recently, the same evaluation was made by Lee and Yong (1983)and
extended to the second-order temperature derivatives. But the latter must be
considered as effective coefficients, since they are a combination of the
fundamental second-order temperature derivatives, of the temperature de-
rivatives of the third-order elastic constants (unknown), and of the fourth-
order elastic constants (also unknown).
The temperature derivatives of the fundamental second-order elastic

constants combined with the third-order elastic constants, and the thermal
expansion coefficients are both necessary for describing nonuniformly heated
resonators. When the thermal distribution is not uniform, the temperature
gradients induce thermal stresses and strains. These stresses and strains
contribute additionally to the frequency variations by nonlinear effects. The
so-called dynamic temperature behavior has been studied in detail experi-
mentally and theoretically by Holland (1974a, b), Kusters (1976),Kusters and
Leach (1977),Ballato and Vig(1978),Ballato (1979a,b), Thtobald et al. (1979),
Sinha and Tiersten (1980), and Hauden and Thtobald (1980) in BAW and
SAW resonators.
The complete frequency-temperature dependence of a resonator is rep-
resented by the relation
’-fo
= a,(T - To)+ b,(T - To)’ + c,(T -
J T
+ a-,
dt
(173)
where a,, b,, c, are the first-, second-, and third-order static temperature
coefficients of frequency, and a“ the dynamic temperature coefficient. The
quantities a,, b, and c, are generally evaluated from the phenomenological
Bechmann’s constants, and Zis calculated by using the temperature derivative
of the fundamental elastic constants and nonlinear elastic couplings involving
the third-order elastic constants.
Since temperature gradients induce in-plane thermal stresses (Valentin
et al., 1985),compensation is achieved by determining a crystal orientation
such that the two in-plane axial stress components cancel out. This was the
definition given by Eernisse (1976) of the SC-cut.
In quartz crystal resonators, the first- and second-order frequency-
temperature coefficients a, and b, can be compensated. The resulting
temperature characteristic has a cubic shape, with, for instance, a sensitivity
of CZ~O-~/K’ near the upper turnover point for the AT-cut. For SAW
resonators, only the first-order coefficient is compensated (ST-cut), and the
resulting sensitivity s N -40.10-9/K2. Efforts have been made to find a SAW
configuration with a temperature characteristic similar to the BAW AT-cut,
but without real success.
Configurations with high temperature sensitivity and linear characteristics
have also been studied and used as temperature sensors. The BAW LC-cut has
a sensitivity of N 30 ppm/K, and similar characteristics were found for SAW
(Hauden et al., 1980).
The dynamic temperature behavior is characterized by the Zcoefficients of
Eq. (173)with values on the order of lo-’ sec/K for the AT-cut and a few lo-’
for the compensated SC-cut. The SAW dynamic coefficient is similar to that of
the SC-cut one (Hauden and Thtobald, 1980).
B. Forces and Pressures
The problem of force sensitivity has been extensively studied (Ballato,

1960; Ratajski, 1966; Lee et al., 1975; Ballato et al., 1977; Janiaud et al., 1978;
Lee and Tang, 1986). Figure 17 shows an example of the calculated sen-
sitivities of bulk- and surface-wave resonators and delay lines to external
diametrically applied forces. This shows the dependence of the sensitivity on
the direction of the force application and, in particular, the possibility of a
configuration with zero force sensitivity. Conversely, a configuration can be
chosen with maximum force sensitivity.
A generalizationof the sensitivity,at the center of a circular plate, to the six
stress components, following the relation
was presented by Eernisse (1976). This lead to the definition of the stress-
compensated SC-cut, which is very similar to the thermal transient-
compensated cut previously described.
The same generalization was extended to SAW resonators by Bigler et al.
(1987, 1989), who showed the possibility of compensation of two or four
symmetrically applied forces on circular quartz plates.
Bulk w a v e S u r f a c e wave
I5mm 4O m
I 1 1 1 I
30 60 90 120 150
Force aziriiuthal a n g l e
FIG. 17. Force-sensitivity of BAW and SAW resonators.
Sensitivity to hydrostatic pressure is an indirect problem in BAW

resonators. In principle, the resonator is under vacuum in its enclosure.
Therefore, there is no direct effect of the surrounding gas on the vibrating
crystal. However, gas pressure acts on the enclosure and deforms it. Forces are
then transmitted to the crystal by the mounting supports, and a frequency shift
occurs due to the resulting stresses and strains. For regular quartz resona-
tors, sensitivities of the order of lOW9/barare observed. With appropriate
mounting, this sensitivity can be reduced by almost a factor 10 (Delaite, 1985).
Configurations for pressure sensor applications have also been studied. In
most cases the pressure acts indirectly after transduction into a force
(Hammond and Benjaminson, 1969; Dias and Karrer, 1974), or by direct
application to a thin deformable diaphragm or cantilever (Reeder et al., 1975;
Hauden et al., 1980; Hauden et al., 1981; White, 1985).
An example of a SAW pressure sensor is shown in Fig. 18. This sensor is
made of a thin diaphragm supporting one or two SAW delay lines or
resonators located at the maxima of sensitivity on the substrate.
- I 4 1 a-
I
I
1:xperiiiieiital points
FIG. 18. SAW pressure sensor.
C. Accelerations
Under an acceleration field, the crystal is submitted to a system of body

forces due to the acceleration field and reaction forces exerted by the supports
(Valdois et al., 1974; Lee and Wu, 1977; Janiaud, 1978).
Great efforts have been made to reduce this g-sensitivity, because of its
implication for spatial and tactical quartz oscillators. Reduction of the sensi-
tivity from a few 10-9/g to a few lO-'O/g and even below has been achieved
on BAW resonators (Gagnepain and Walls, 1977; Besson et al., 1979; Ballato,
1979b; Przyjemski, 1978; Emmons, 1978; Debaisieux et al., 1983; Weglein,
1984).
With SAW devices, the basic sensitivity is much greater (lO-'/g) (Valdois
et al., 1977; Levesque et al., 1979) but improvements have also been obtained,
and sensitivities of the order of a few 10-9/g are obtainable today (Montress
et al., 1985; Shick and Tiersten, 1986).
The solution was mainly by exploiting the symmetry of the resonator
structure, as was shown primarily by Janiaud (1978).
Accelerometers are being also studied; but here, in general, the acceleration
field is transformed into a force by means of an inertial mass in order to
obtain higher sensitivities. Different configurations have been used: cantilever
(Hauden et al., 1985), diaphragm (Hartemann and Meunier, 1983), and tuning
fork (Kass and Snow, 1986).
Figure 19 shows an example of a SAW cantilever beam accelerometer, and
typical values of the main and transverse sensitivities are given in Table VII.
D. Electric Field
The application of an electric field to a resonator induces frequency shifts

by a number of different mechanisms. The first consequence is the change in
size and specific mass because of the piezoelectric effect, and the correspond-
FIG. 19. Principle of a SAW cantilever beam accelerometer.

TABLE VII
MAINAND TRANSVERSE
SENSITIVITTES
OF THE SAW
CANTILEVER
BEAMACCELEROMETER.’
SC-cut (Y = 0) Theoretical values Experimental values

at 100 MHz (Wg) (Wg)
Main g-sensitivity 1387 1318
Transverse g-sensitivity 3.3 10-3 not measurable
Compressiong-sensitivity 8 10
Hauden et al.. 1985
ing modification of the crystal stiffness because of the elastic nonlinearities.

However, the electric field also directly modifies the elastic constants by the
electroelastic effect. In addition, there is the effect of the electrostrictive
constants and nonlinear dielectricconstants. These contributions can be of the
same order of magnitude, and therefore all of them must be taken into account
(Brendel, 1983).
This electric field dependence was shown for the first time in quartz
resonators by Kusters (1970) and studied in detail by the authors previously
referenced in the section on the electroelastic constants.
As shown in Fig. 20, a fast frequency shift due to the previously described
effects follows the application of the DC field. The relaxation phenomenon
:02+
L.
-20t. L .
0 6 12 18 2L
TIME Ittours)
FIG.20. Influence of a DC electric field on a quartz-crystal resonator.
that appears after the initial frequency shift is due to ionic impurity migration
in the crystal.
The presence of interstitial impurities makes the crystal sensitive to
irradiation (Kahan et al., 1987). This phenomenon can be reduced by using
swept crystals, where the ions have been removed by applying a DC field at
high temperature (Martin, 1987).
The results also show how necessary it is to insulate the resonator from DC
voltages when used in high-stability oscillators. Conversely, this sensitivity
could be utilized to use resonators as voltage detectors. But for accurate
voltage measurements, the relaxation effect must be cancelled.
E. Miscellaneous Detectors
New acoustic resonators and delay lines are being developed for detecting
and measuring a large variety of chemical and biological substances
(Motamedi and White, 1987). The principle of operation is still based on the
detection of frequency, phase, or velocity variations, but these are now due to a
change of mass loading on the surface, which is covered with a chemically
sensitive coating. One of the first works on the use of SAW delay line as a
chemical detector is due to Wohltjen and Dessy (1979),Hou and Van de Vaart
(1987). The main difficulty is the selectivity of the coating, which can be
improved by different techniques. Porous coating can admit only molecules
smaller than a pore in diameter. Molecules can be distinguished by their rate
of adsorption (White, 1987). Simultaneous changes of mass loading and of
electrical conductivity were used by Venema and coauthors (1987) for
detecting NO, gas with a SAW delay line having a ZnO-SO,-Si structure. A
similar structure was proposed by Vetelino and coauthors (1987) for the
detection of H,S concentrations.
Most of the effort today is made on SAW detectors. But studies were also
made previously on the possibilities offered by BAW resonators (King, 1971).
More recently, they were used as a quartz hygrometer (Ito, 1987), as an
enzymes detector (Guilbault, 1983), and others.
Various applications were also made of acoustic detectors immersed in a
liquid. The difficulty is the high attenuation of the acoustic wave (of the order
of several dB/MHz/cm), which is minimized by operating, if possible, at lower
frequency and by using acoustic wave with horizontal shear polarization. An
interesting procedure was achieved by White and coauthors (1987), who stud-
ied the propagation of the lowest-order Lamb waves in very thin Si-ZnO
membranes. Velocities of the order of a few 100 mjsec were achieved with
membranes 1 pm thick, which make feasible a detector operated in a liquid.
Similarly, leaky waves were used for measuring liquid viscosity (Moriizumi
and Unno, 1987).
VIII. CONCLUSION
As has been shown, the basic properties of the crystals are related to the
nonlinear nature of the lattice. Consequently, the characteristics of acoustic
devices, and in particular of piezoelectric resonators, are strongly influenced
by these nonlinearities. Most of the efforts consist in trying to minimize the
nonlinearities that are at the origin of the instabilities of resonators, oscil-
lators, filters, etc. As a by-product, nonlinearities are also used for detection
and measurement of physical or chemical quantities. In both cases, the
control of the nonlinearities in relation to the crystal anisotropy requires
knowledge of the values of its fundamental constants. Today, many crystals
appear to be well characterised, particularly quartz. In fact, some important
gaps still exist. The fourth-order elastic constants are almost completely
unknown, and the temperature dependence of the third-order elastic con-
stants must still be measured. Some uncertainties also remain concerning the
values of the electroelastic and electrostrictive constants. This is the case for
quartz, and a fortiori for the other crystals. In addition to the deterministic
mechanisms that were described, problems of random fluctuations must also
be considered. For instance, the resonant frequency fluctuations of piezo-
electric resonators have not yet been completely explained, in particular the
part of the spectrum that exhibits a 1/f dependence.
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Scanning Electron Microscopy in the Petroleum
Exploration Industry
J . M . Huggett
Exploration Department
BP Petroleum Development Ltd .
Moor Lane. London. England*
I . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
I1. Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
A . Backscattered-Electron Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
B. Cathodoluminescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
C . Color Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
D. Fine-Particle Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
I11. Sample Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
A . Critical-Point Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13!!
B. Freeze-Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
C . Cryogenic Drying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
D . Conductive Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
E . Polymeric-Film Coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
F. Enviromenmental Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
IV . Reservoir Petrography and Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
A. Introduction to Clay Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
B . Sandstone Petrography and Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
C . Carbonate-Rock Petrography and Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
D. Shale Petrography and Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
E . Scanning Electron Microscopy in Experimental Diagenesis . . . . . . . . 183
V. Paleontology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
VI. Qualitative Pore Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
A. Pore Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
B. Direct Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
C. Porecasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
D . Fractures in Mudstone Reservoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
VII . Petrophysics and Reservoir Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
.A Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
B. Core Flood Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
C. Scale Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
D . Qualitative Porosity Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
E. Stimulation by Fracturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
VIII . Future Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
* Current address: BP Research Centre. Chertsey Road. Sunbury.on.Thames. Middlesex.
England
139
Copyright 0 1990 by Academic Press. Inc .
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
ISBN n-12-014677-o
140 J. M. HUGGETT
I. INTRODUCTION
This chapter covers the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in

the petroleum exploration industry from the time of the first commercial
SEMs to the present day. Brief mention is made of possible and likely future
developments.
SEM is a versatile and powerful tool for the evaluation of reservoir, cap,
and source rocks. Its magnification ( x 10 to x 50,000+) and imaging
capabilities, in particular the considerable depth of field, coupled with the ease
of sample preparation and instrument operation, have made the SEM a
routine tool in the petroleum industry for the analysis of conventional core,
sidewall cores, and cuttings samples. Over the past 15 years, the petroleum
industry’s understanding and knowledge of reservoir rock mineral, diagenesis,
texture, and pore space properties, particularly those affecting log response,
fluid flow, and rock-fluid interaction, have been significantly increased
through SEM data.
In the 1970s, the principal geological use of scanning electron micro-
scopy was to obtain 3D (three-dimensional) images using the secondary elec-
tron detector. X-ray analysis was only qualitative, because the surface being
examined was in most cases rough and x-rays could therefore not be col-
lected from a single spot without contamination. A few cathodoluminescence
studies of polished samples were reported, but it was not until the 1980s, when
back scattered electron (BSE) imaging became established as a technique for
petrographic and image analysis, that polished samples and quantitative x-ray
analysis became routine in geological SEM applications. Sophisticated x-ray
analytical techniques developed concurrently with the increasing use of BSE
imaging, and even quantitative analysis of rough surfaces is now possible.
At the same time when the analytical techniques were being developed and
applied, preparation techniques were being improved and methods of
examining samples in their natural state were developed. These developments
were of particular importance to the petroleum industry because they
permitted direct observation of core still wet with its original fluids, or dried in
such a way that their original textures were not lost.
Techniques are covered in the first section, and sample preparation in the
following one. The rest of the chapter is devoted to the discussion of topics
that make use of SEM in petroleum geology.
11. TECHNIQUES
This section covers relatively new techniques used by petroleum geolo-

gists. A description of secondary-electron imaging is not included, because its
use is universal.
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY 141
A . Backscattered-Electron Imaging
Backscattered electrons can give an image of the surface topography of a

sample, or one in which contrast is produced by variations in the mean atomic
number of the materials in the sample. The BSE mode of operation is most
frequently used with compositional information dominating over topographic
data (BSE contrast is lost with increasing topography); this is achieved by
using polished specimens. In the image so produced, elements or materials
with a high atomic number appear brighter than atomically light elements and
materials. Some contrast due to variations in crystal orientation may also
occur. This can be recognized easily, because the image intensity varies
considerably with changes in specimen tilt or rotation. In a BSE image,
resolution is poorer than in an equivalent secondary-electron (SE) image,
because the back scattered electrons come from a pear-shaped volume of
scattering around the point of contact of the primary beam, whereas the sec-
ondary electrons come from a much shallower depth. However, the resolution
is better than can be achieved with an optical microscope, and the simple
variations in atomic-number contrast (composition) make it especially useful
for phase and mineral identification. Details of the theory of atomic number
contrast are given in Hall and Lloyd (1981).
Several types of detectors have been reported over the past 20 years
including:
1) low-loss electron detector (Wells, 1971).
2) solid-state detector (Kuypers et al.; 1973).
3 ) unbiased scintillator-light/guide-photomultiplier
detector converted
from the SE detector (Kimoto and Hashimoto, 1968).
4) wide-angle scintillator (Takahashi, 1977),
5 ) annular silicon diode (Hall and Lloyd, 1981).
The mineralogical study by Robinson and Nickel (1979) introduced the
BSE technique to geology. Petrographers were quick to realize the ad-
vantages, in particular for the study of rocks too fine grained to be studied in
detail with an optical microscope.
Robinson and Nickel used a wide-angle scintillator- photomultiplier-type
detector in their SEM and were able to obtain BSE images up to x 3000 on
uncoated flat samples and almost an order of magnitude greater with gold-
coated samples. However, the gold coating partially or completely obscured
the atomic-number contrast in the samples. Most subsequent work has
therefore been performed either on uncoated or carbon-coated samples. The
depth from which information is obtained and the high signal-to-noise ratio
may be minimized by lowering the accelerating voltage to below 10 kV with
the use of a scintillator-light/guide-photomultiplierdetector and a Yttrium
Aluminium Garnet (YAG) single crystal (Bauer and Egg, 1984).
142 J. M.HUGGETT
Most operators now use solid-state detectors, because they routinely

operate at TV rather than slow scan rates, which until recently was possible
with very few scintillator detectors. Scintillator detectors have the advantage
of amplifier stability, which is essential for long automated runs. However,
there is now commercially available solid-state detectors with good amplifier
stability.
1. Quantitative Analysis of BSE Images

Since images of atomic-number contrast consist of discrete levels of
brightness, it is possible, so long as the particles of interest are larger than the
probe size being used, to measure the proportions of each mineral in the
image. The image signal is simultaneously processed by a multichannel pulse-
height analyzer (Hall and Lloyd, 1981; Hall and Skinner, 1981) and recorded
photographically. A numerical value (q)for the backscatter coefficient may
then be determined (Table I). The spectrum may also be used to determine
the proportions of the component phases, provided each brightness level is
displayed as a distinct peak, with the area under the peak being proportional
to the amount of that brightness level in the image and therefore to the
concentration of the mineral responsible for the peak.
Alternatively, the image may be quantified by interfacing with an image
analyzer (IA). An image is produced by using one or several gray levels and by
interfacing with an IA the relative proportions of the minerals, and size and
shape data may be recorded. The SEM has been used for quantitative image
analysis since the introduction of the Quantimet IA in 1972. Most early use
was restricted to pore analysis (Jongerius, 1974; Ismail 1975; Bouma et al.,
1977; Bisdom and Thiel, 1981). Geological use of image analysis for mineral
quantification took off with the popularization of BSE imaging, because this
allowed minerals to be distinguished on the basis of atomic-number contrast.
One of the earliest BSE imaging studies was on pore characteristics by
Bisdom and Thiel (1981). Their aim was to build up a database of reservoir
standstone, mineral, and pore data that could be used to better evaluate
reservoirs at the outset of exploration in a hydrocarbon province. By
combining BSE imaging with IA data obtained with a Quantimet, they were
able to recognize different pore types in a variety of reservoir rocks from the
Dutch sector of the North Sea. Porosity patterns, number of pores, shapes,
sizes, and diameters of pores were measured on the BSE-image micrographs
using the Quantimet. Mineral grains were characterized by using Energy
Dispersive Spectra (EDS) x-ray analysis.
Bisdom et al. (1983) used BSE imaging with a Quantimet to examine
Permian sandstones and limestones. Oil-bearing standstones were examined
after hardening with deep-penetrating gamma radiation. By using a mag-
TABLE I"
CI c2 I K
Chlorite Chlorite Illite Kaolinite
SiO, 27.00 26.5 1 49.36 49.9 1

TiO, 0.12 0.08 0.05 -
A1203 22.17 24.36 37.80 37.16

FeO 16.20 24.86 0.89 1.01
MnO 0.55 0.32 0.0 1 0.07
MgO 18.77 8.87 0.05 0.84
CaO 0.02 0.03 0.03 -
Na,O - 0.13 0.80 -
KZO 0.03 0.15 7.10 0.16

Total 84.86 85.31 96.09 89.15
Mean atomic
number 11.50 12.38 10.85 10.12
4 0.143 0.154 0.135 0.129
a The above are wavelength-dispersive elemental (WDS) analyses derived
using the Ortec ZAF program with full matrix corrections. The mean atomic
numbers and BSE coefficients were determined after estimating the H,O
content by difference.
Accelerating voltage: 15 kV.
Probe beam current: 10 nA.
Calculated mineral formulae from the above analyses:
c1: ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ o ~ ~ o . ~ o ~ ~
c2: ~ ~ ~ ~ . 8 z ~ ~ ~ . 8 ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ o , o 6 ~ ~ o . o i ~ ~ ~ ~
I: l.16Na0.20ca0.01~A~4.07Fe0.~OM~0.0~Ti0,01
MnO.OO)
Si6.35A11.35020(0H)4.
K:K0.0Z(A13.65M~0.10Fe0.07Mn0.GO)Si4.16010(oH)8 '
nification of x 60, they were able to obtain pore data from a sufficiently large
area to obtain realistic porosity measurements. At higher magnifications, the
clay morphology could be viewed. In pores partially filled with clay, the image
contrast between the clay and the resin-filled pore was insufficient for
automatic IA. Quantification of such pores was achieved by subtracting the
area occupied by clay from the bulk pore area. The high cost of Quantimet,
however, did rule out its widespread geological application. In the early 1980s,
simpler and lower-cost IA systems became available. Pye (1984) reports the
use of one such system to produce distributional images of phases in a range of
rock types, including shales, with far superior resolution to that achieved by
x-ray scanning maps produced with a windowless detector.
A major limitation of the BSE-imaging method is that it cannot
distinguish different minerals with the same backscatter coefficient. In a study
that aimed to quantify hydrocarbon reservoirs by mineralogy and pore data,
144 J. M. HUGGETT
Dilks and Graham (1985) showed that there is substantial peak overlap
between the backscatter coefficient histograms used to identify mineral phases.
They found that the sharpest peaks, and therefore the most easily quantified,
were those of quartz, K feldspar, and zircon (Fig. 1). Overlap problems can
now be overcome by using color X-ray maps to distinguish minerals with
similar atomic-number contrast but different chemistry. Cook and Parker
(1988) have shown that by using this approach, the mineralogy and porosity of
reservoir sandstones may be quantified to a similar if not greater degree of
accuracy to the approach that may be obtained through manual point-
counting with an optical microscope, with the additional advantages of speed
and automation. This is probably destined to become a routine petrographic
tool, though it is as yet in its infancy.
B. Cathodoluminescence
Cathodoluminescence (CL) is the phenomenon of light emission from

specimens as a result of interaction with an electron beam. The main
geological use of CL is for the detection of low levels of impurities, which may
indicate cement-grain boundaries and cement stratigraphies. As with x-ray
analysis, in the SEM the technique has the advantage of providing both
TASEIUM FELDSPAR
z
-
U
YI
a
E 10
0 20 40 80 80 tW 120 140 180 180 2W 220 240
GREY LEVEL SCALE, 0 * BLACK. 256 -WHITE, I B.E. INTENSITY I
FIG.1. Pixel-intensity histogram for an image. The arrows are weighted mean backscatter
coefficient values.
spatial and spectral information. For a general review of CL in the SEM, see
Muir and Grant (1974).
Scanning CL images were first obtained by McMullan and Smith (Smith,
1956), and Smith and Stenstrom (1965) who used a focussed microprobe elec-
tron beam to observe CL from crystals in thin section. The microprobe, how-
ever, is not an ideal instrument for CL, because the optics are poor and it is
expensive to dedicate exclusively for CL work. Subsequent scanning studies
have mostly been of metals (e.g., Horl and Mugschl, 1972) and semiconduc-
tors (e.g., Holt, 1974; Yacobi and Holt, 1986), with only a few published
geological studies (e.g., Grant and White, 1978; Dietrich and Grant, 1985).
Optical microscopes have been preferred for geological studies until quite
recently, because color images were easily obtained and the SEM light detec-
tors were no more efficient than light microscopes. Two types of optical CL
microscopes have been developed.
1) The cold cathode luminoscope, in which air is leaked into a sample

chamber, ionized, and used to produce an electron beam (Sippel, 1965).
2) The hot cathode luminoscope, which uses a preheated cathode
filament to generate electrons; these are then accelerated towards the sample
(Zinkernagel, 1978).
The cold cathode luminoscope has proved suitable for examination of
luminescence in carbonates, the hot one for quartz. There are, however,
problems associated with hot cathode systems (MacQuaker, et al; in press):
1) Although quartz luminescence is brighter, photographic exposure

times, even in the most efficient systems are long, typically 2-10 minutes.
2) Considerable specimen damage is produced during electron bom-
bardment, this results in increased luminescence decay time and consequent
smearing of the image.
3) Resolution is limited to > 10pm as a consequence of light absorption
in the lens system.
4) Limited further analytical capability, i.e., no BSE, SE, or x-ray
detectors available.
Advantages of using SEM rather than an optical system for examination

of quartz luminescence include:
1) Rapid image generation;

2) minimal specimen damage;
3) ability to compare data quickly using other detectors (i.e., BSE, SE,
and x-ray) attached to the microscope;
4) better resolution.
146 J. M. HUGGETT
TABLE I1
MINERALS
AND ROCKS SUCCFSSFULLY IhiACED BY
SEM CL."
Ideal formula
Silica SiO,
Feldspars KAISi,O,, NaAISi,O,, CaAI,Si,O,
Zircon ZrSiO,
Olivine Mg,SiO,
Pyroxene MgSiO,
Kyanite AI,SiO,
Kaolinite AI,Si,O d O H )*
Cassiterite SnO,
Corundum A1203
Sphalerite ZnS
Celestine SrSO,
Anhydrite CaSO,
Apatite CaAPO,),OH
Fluorite CaF,
Adapted from Kearsley and Wright (1988).
In the past, observation of luminescence in the SEM has been hampered by

low light intensity and poor collection efficiency. Recently, major improve-
ments in light collection and detector efficiency have made it possible to
examine not only quartz but a wide range of other minerals, too (Table 11).
The problem of inefficient light collection has been overcome through use
of parabolic rather than ellipsoidal mirrors to collect the emitted light.
Another useful development ought to be the multifunction detector with
signal-mixing facility. This allows BSE and CL signals to be mixed in variable
ratios, and either or both these signals may be mixed with the SE signal.
Unfortunately, the detector is hampered by inefficient light collection. How-
ever, this approach to imaging has successfully been 'applied to petrographic
studies of both sandstone and shale (Philips Electron Optics application
note 102).
1. Geological Applications
CL of quartz has three major petrological applications:
1) Distinction between grains and cements of the same mineral (usually
quartz in the SEM and carbonates in the light microscope);
2) identification of provenance from the style of quartz luminescence;
3) recognition and differentiation of quartzitic rock fragments.
SEM-CL of diagenetic quartz fabrics makes the distinction between
quartz grains and their overgrowths simple. Moreover, authigenic quartz-
cemented fractures within grains, which cannot be detected either optically or
with other electron-beam techniques, are easily recognized. MacQuaker et al.
(in press) have used SEM-CL systems with a parabolic mirror to examine both
reservoir sandstones and silty mudstones. In all cases, they were able to
observe luminescence and complex diagenetic zonation, even in overgrowths
< l p m (Fig. 2). Kearsley and Wright (1988) have used the same system to
distinguish between sutured grain contacts that are due to pressure solution
(i.e., silica loss) and those produced by silica cement growth (i.e., silica gain).
With SEM CL, all porosity-reducing mechanisms-cementation, pres-
sure solution, and mechanical compaction-can be quantified. In combina-
tion with the chemical data that can be provided by x-ray analysis and BSE
imaging, this is a powerful technique that should become routine for quan-
titative sandstone-reservoir petrography.
Spectral analysis of CL emission from quartz grain cores show a variety of
colors, with a violet-blue being most common (analysis of the impurity
contents of the quartz shows that crystals with high titanium concentrations
and low iron concentrations luminesce blue, whereas crystals with low
titanium concentrations and high iron concentrations luminesce red (Sprunt
and Nur, 1980; Sprunt, 1981). Authigenic quartz cements give a marked blue
response, but also show longer wavelengths of low intensity “brown.” Imaging
of narrow wavelength bands will undoubtedly distinguish quartz grains of
different origins and discrete zones within cement overgrowths. The light
wavelength data can be collected and displayed as spectra, but at present there
is no software available to correct for absorption effects. Consequently, the
spectral data remains qualitative. It should, however, be possible to use the
chemical data derived from spectra to find answers to some important
unsolved problems: namely, the actual nature of luminescence centres, their
distribution, and the cation ordering of luminescent ions.
Krinsley and Hyde (1971) and Krinsley and Tovey (1978) demonstrated
the value of SEM CL in environmental analysis based on surface textures.
They recognized at least seven different CL contrast features in quartz grains.
These features are primarily due to properties of the crystal lattice rather than
chemical or topographic factors, and are believed to be the result of abrasion
or stress that has altered lattice conditions. By using SEM CL, Krinsley and
Tovey were able to measure the area and thickness of disrupted lattice quartz
on and within quartz grains. They proposed that these parameters may be a
function of the degree and conditions under which grinding occured, i.e., they
may reflect the energy of the environment in which the grains have been
transported. For instance, quartz sand grains from dune, beach, and
weathered granite environments show fewer cracks in SEM CL than do those
148 J. M. HUGGETT
(b)
FIG.2. (a) BSE micrograph of quartz grains with overgrowths;(b) SEM-CL micrograph of
the same area reveals four growth zones in the overgrowth.
that have at some time passed through a glacial environment (Krinsley and
Hyde, 1971). The use of this approach in identification of sedimentary
environments is strictly limited to recent sediments, because the disrupted
lattice layers heal with time.
C. Color Imaging
The application of color to black-and-white BSE images or x-ray maps can

greatly enhance clarity of the data. This is a recent development in SEM but
is rapidly becoming widely used both in academic institutions and in indus-
try. One of the earliest color imaging facilities is described by Antonovsky
(1983). He assigned red, green, and blue to the BSE, SE, and low-collector-
voltage secondary-electron (LCVSE) images, respectively, and then mixed
them together. Higher atomic-number features appeared bright red. Sample
topography recognizeable in the SE image introduced yellow, brown, and
green shades to the red image, with the shade depending upon the intensity
of each signal. The LCVSE signal enhanced the sample features facing the
detector, which tended to result in a differentiation between subject and
background. Antonovsky used this technique to examine metallic ores;
however, it has not been taken up generally by either the mining or the
petroleum industries.
Color imaging facilities are now routinely available with x-ray software for
electron microscopes. Color x-ray maps can be produced and mixed, and BSE
images can be colored by assigning colors to specific gray-level ranges. By
superimposing color x-ray maps on color BSE maps, materials of the same or
similar backscatter coefficient but of different composition may be distin-
guished. Cook and Parker (1988) used this technique to examine a reservoir
sandstone, but it is not yet in routine use in the petroleum industry.
D. Fine-Particle Analysis
By using a combination of x-ray analysis and IA software, size, shape, and
chemical data may be obtained for particles dispersed on a low atomic-
number contrast substrate. The particles should be larger than the volume of
the probe being used if meaningful chemical data is to be obtained, and smaller
than the area being scanned. From the point of view of IA, fine-particle
analysis is easier than making pore measurements, because the particle
boundaries are clearly defined. The particles to be analyzed should be
mounted on a low-mean atomic-number substrate, such as a polycarbonate
filter, and well dispersed to avoid overlap, as overlapping particles of differ-
ent composition cannot be placed in the mineralogical classification. Particles
150 J. M. HUGGETT
of a particular atomic-number-contrast range can be selected or deselected,

for example dust and other organic contaminants may be excluded by cutting
out the low end of the range.
The technique is not yet in general use in geology, probably because
considerable user input, in the form of identification criteria, is required before
mineral particles can routinely be identified from their chemistry. There is,
however, great potential for use in the petroleum industry for analyzing the
fine particles that are released into drilling and production fluids, because not
only can particles too small for analysis by other techniques be characterized
but size and shape information simultaneously can be obtained for each
particle.
111. SAMPLE
PREPARATION
Under reservoir conditions, porous rocks contain fluid, with the exception
of dry gas reservoirs. It is adequate to examine air-dried rock; however, if
delicate, fluid-supported, fibrous or filamentous minerals such as illite or
hydrous clays such as smectite are present, air-drying will distort the
appearance of the minerals and may cause them to collapse or curl up. This
may be very significant in reservoir studies, since collapse of clay particles
alters the reservoir properties, in particular the permeability. To avoid this,
special drying techniques are required. These include critical-point drying
(reviewed by Cohen, 1977), freeze-drying from water and nonaqueous
solutions (de Harven et al.; 1970), and cryopreservation (Sargetn, 1982; Read
et al.; 1983). Without appropriate core preservation and drying, it is difficult
to interpret clay mineral textures and hence their effects upon reservoir
properties. This problem is particularly accute in the case of fibrous illite
cements.
If it is desirable to examine the rock in a wet state, special techniques are
again required. Fluid-filled rock samples cannot be placed directly into a
conventional SEM, because the water would vaporize and interfere with the
electron generation and/or detection system. The effect of hydrocarbons is
even worse, because they evaporate and deposit a contaminating organic layer
on the inside of the column. To overcome these problems, the samples must
either be dried and all traces of hydrocarbons removed, or volatile compo-
nents must be prevented from escaping up the microscope column, either
through freezing or through use of an environmental cell.
A. Critical-Point Drying
Critical-point drying (CPD) allows the specimen to be dried with zero

surface tension and helps to preserve delicate fabrics. In the petroleum
exploration industry, it is regularly used for drying core that has been sealed in
wax on the rig site. This is done as soon as it is recovered from the core barrel so
as to preserve the reservoir fluids as completely as possible. CPD is achieved
when a specimen is flooded with a fluid, which is then taken up to its critical
temperature and pressure. A slight increase in temperature renders the fluid
gaseous, the gas can then be bled off to leave a dry, undamaged sample because
at the critical point, the surface temperature is zero. The sample may then be
given a conductive coating if desired. Carbon dioxide is used because it has a
critical point at a suitably low temperature (32°C)and pressure (1200 psi), is
readily available, and is cheap to use. However, direct replacement by carbon
dioxide is not possible because it is not miscible with water. An organic
transition fluid such as methanol, ethanol, or amyl acetate may be used to
progressively replace the water before deplacement by CO, is possible. The
formation fluid (the fluid in a preserved reservoir core) is displaced by passing a
series of water-solvent mixtures through small core chips, allowing at least a
week for complete displacement, more for low-permeability samples.
CPD has been used with dramatic results by McHardy et al. (1982) and
Heaviside et al. (1983) to examine filamentous illite from sandstones of the
Magnus oil field (North Sea). These authors found that the SEM morphology
of diagenetic illite occurring in the pores of the Magnus sandstone is very
dependent upon the method of drying the specimen. In air-dried specimens,
there was little evidence of the ribbon morphology typical of the critical-
point-dried specimens (Fig. 3). Instead, the illite appeared to have dried to
form a continuous thin film adhering to the surfaces of sand grains (Fig. 4).
FIG.3. Critical-point-driedwispy illite.

152 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.4. Collapsed air-dried illite.
This was an important discovery, because it explained the dramatic difference

in measured brine and gas permiabilities recorded for the Magnus sandstone.
Subsequent work (e.g., Huggett, 1982; Cocker, 1986)has shown that C P D
does not necessarily make a dramatic difference to the SEM morphology of
illite. If the filaments are sufficiently thick (the precise thickness has not been
determined), they do not collapse, or at least they do not collapse so much that
they cannot be observed, if the sample is air dried. This is fortunate, because a
great deal of time is involved in preparing CPD specimens.
It should however be born in mind that drying is not the only means by
which the arrangement of the fibres can be changed. Hydrocarbons entering a
reservoir can also modify the fibre distribution, giving rise to various illite
textures. In a Brent group reservoir (North Sea), Cocker (1986) reports that,
after careful cryopreservation and CPD, filaments are preserved in the water
zone and in isolated water-saturated sandstones high in the oil zone. In oil-
saturated samples, he found that the illite is matted into flake and honeycomb
forms. Many textures in the oil zone are similar to those of conventionally air-
dried samples that have artificially induced illite morphologies.
B. Freeze-Drying
Freeze-drying has the advantage of being a simple technique. The sample

is plunged into liquid nitrogen, and the frozen specimen is then transferred
under liquid nitrogen to a freeze-dryer where it is dried under vacuum at
approximately - 50°C. The temperature is slowly raised to ambient temper-
ature over a period of several days. Freeze-drying is not such a satisfactory
technique as CPD, because the distortion produced by the formation of ice
crystals disrupts the delicate fabric of fluid-bearing or fluid-supported clays.
The technique has been very little used by geologists, because CPD was
available by the time it was widely realized that careful sample drying was
important for the correct interpretation of clay textures.
C . Cryogenic Drying
Cryogenic methods of specimen drying probably produce the least
shrinkage and distortion of water-bearing or water-supported structures. As a
result, the morphologies are believed to most closely resemble those in the
undried sample (Sargent, 1982).
Cryosystems provide a rapid method of SEM sample preparation. The
sample (which should be a few mm in diameter at most) is rapidly frozen by
plunging it into nitrogen slush at approximately -210°C. The specimen is
transferred under vacuum from the rapid-freezing chamber to a prechamber
attached to the SEM, where it can be fractured and coated with a conductive
layer. The specimen is then ready for examination on the SEM cold stage,
which is kept at a temperature of - 190°C by a flow of liquid nitrogen.
Cryopreservation has been used with moderate success to examine cores
cut in oil-bearing sands within permafrost (unpublished work by the author).
The technique was successful in so far as the oil did not evaporate and the
sample remained intact, allowing observation of textures (previous attempts
at sample preparation at room temperature had resulted in total disintegra-
tion). It was unsuccessful in that equipment problems resulted in ice for-
mation partially obscuring the sample surface and limiting petrographic
observation. Once such problems are overcome, the technique should prove
of great value to petroleum geologists wishing to examine either oily or un-
consolidated reservoir sands.
The relative position of various fluids within the pores of reservoir rocks
has been a major point of interest for those interested in secondary and tertiary
hydrocarbon recovery. The wettability, surface tension, and capillarity of
fluids in pores of various sizes and shapes, and with various lining minerals,
are factors that directly affect ultimate recovery. Laboratory measurements
and observations can provide indirect evidence, but until cold-stage SEM
became a reality, the direct observation of fluid-rock and fluid-fluid
interfaces within reservoir rock was not possible. This is an application of
SEM that has exciting prospects for the petroleum industry but is as yet in its
infancy.
154 J. M. HUGGETT
Schwartz (1980) examined frozen, fluid-saturated oolitic grainstone, San

Andres Dolomite, and Bromide Sandstone on a cold stage designed specifi-
cally for examination of wet rock. Oil was observed in both macropores
(intergranular) and micropores (intragranular) in the oolitic grainstone, but
brine was not readily observed. In the crystalline San Andres Dolomite, oil was
concentrated in the centre of vugs, and in the quartz-cemented low-
permeability Bromide Sandstone, thin films of oil were observed coating
quartz overgrowth faces and grains. Brine distribution was mapped as
chlorine using EDS. This proved essential to differentiate between brine and
oil, because in the frozen state their appearance was similar.
A method similar to that described above was used by Pesheck et at. (198 1)
to determine the distribution and morphology of liquid phases in porous rock
by SEM. Unlike Schwartz (1980), they were successful in distinguishing
between oil and brine in reservoir rock. They examined Berea Sandstone that
had been artificially injected with both fluids. In the micrographs, the
boundaries between both the frozen liquid phases and the rock minerals are
quite clear (Fig. 5).
D. Conductive Coating
As a matter of principle, totally unknown samples should always be
examined uncoated first. If a sample has surface features, these can be
FIG.5. Eldorado crude oil and brine in Berea Sandstone. B = brine, 0 = crude oil. Bar =
100 pm.
concealed by coating, or if the sample is unstable at the temperature at which
coating is carried out, it may be damaged or dehydrated. Most rock samples
can be examined uncoated at low kV, although they are nonconducting,
because the small amount of charge that accumulates is insufficient to be
detected in the image. If, however, as is often the case, it is desired to carry out
x-ray analyses, it is necessary to work at a minimum of 10 kV (20-25 kV is the
norm). Consequently, because rocks are poor conductors, they require
coating. Poor coating will result if a sample is not properly cleaned of
hydrocarbons, or if it has high microporosity that is not adequately degassed
before coating. Wispy illite often proves difficultto coat adequately to prevent
charging. In the authors experience, this is best overcome by using as small a
sample as possible, leaving it pumping overnight before coating, and applying
a light coat of carbon or gold. For most geological purposes, applying a
conductive coating does not interfere with observation of the sample, because
it is not necessary to work at such a high magnification that the coating can be
seen. However, a low-temperature coater should always be used if clays are
known or thought to be present in a sample to avoid structural or physical
damage to the clay.
E. Polymeric-Film Coating
Wet objects have successfully been examined in a conventional SEM after

coating with a polymeric film (Filipov et al., 1984). The sample is carbon
coated and then covered with a polymeric film deposited from solution. This
protects the sample from dehydration and degassing in the high vacuum of the
microscope. By using two symmetrically positioned BSE detectors, the
contrasts due to the structures of the specimen and the film are separated. By
using the secondary-electron-imaging mode, it is possible to study the
structure of objects covered with films whose thicknesses greatly exceed the
escape depth of low-energy secondary electrons. In the SE-imaging mode, the
film transforms the high-energy backscattered electrons from the specimen
into low-energy secondary electrons that are registered by the secondary
electron detector. In contrast to the BSE mode of operation, the microgeome-
try of the film’s external surface markedly affects image contrast in the SE
imaging model. Its use is therefore limited to smooth-surfaced, chemically
homogeneous films. N o published work on the use of this technique for the
examination of wet core samples is known to this author. This may reflect a
reluctance on behalf of petroleum geologists to use complicated and time-
consuming techniques to obtain improvements in qualitative data when
petrophysical methods can provide quantitative (though not directly ob-
served) measurements of reservoir characteristics.
156 J. M. HUGGETT
F. Environmental Cells
In an environmental cell, the high-vacuum electron generation and

detection systems are partially sealed off from the sample chamber. This is
achieved by the use of either a closed window (Swift and Brown, 1970), fast
pumping (Lane, 1970), or pressure-limiting apertures (Oatley et al., 1965; Lyon
et al., 1976; Robinson, 1975, 1976, 1978).
By the addition of a low-vacuum modification to the specimen chamber,
Robinson (1976) was able to examine wet, dirty, and porous samples without
contamination of the electron column. This technique has the added
advantage of reducing sample preparation to the production of a flat surface,
thereby allowing rapid examination of uncleaned and wet hydrocarbon
reservoir samples, and their subsequent reuse for other purposes, because they
have not been given a conductive coating.
Environmental cells have received scant attention from petroleum geolo-
gists, despite the fact that they permit rapid analysis of core chips because no
preparation is necessary. This may therefore be a technique of the future for
rapid petrographic analysis.
Iv. RESERVOIR
PETROGRAPHY AND DIAGENESIS
Most SEM studies in the petroleum industry come under the topic of
reservoir petrography and diagenesis. Diagenesis is the physical and chemical
modification of sediments after deposition; it is often thought of as the process
that makes a sediment into a rock, athough this is not strictly true, since the
sediment may still be uncemented after diagenesis. Diagenesis affects the
quality of sedimentary hydrocarbon reservoirs from the time of deposition
onwards. The final porosity and permeability of a sandstone is greatly
affected, even after burial-induced compaction, by the growth of authigenic
minerals, particularly quartz overgrowths, clays, and carbonate minerals.
SEM is an ideal tool for examining the effects of diagenesis on reservoir
properties, if the depth and timing of such diagenetic alteration can be
measured and the extent of diagenesis estimated, then prediction of the
diagenetic state of undrilled sandstones may become possible and diagenesis
related more closely to the timing of hydrocarbon migration and the
formation of hydrocarbon traps.
A . Introduction to Clay Minerals
Clay minerals are of paramount importance, in terms of the volume of

SEM data that exists, both published and unpublished. For the benefit of the
reader unfamiliar with this diverse group of minerals, a brief summary of the
most frequently occuring clay species has been included.
Clays are hydrous aluminosilicate minerals, which mostly occur as platy or
fibrous crystals. They consist of composite layers built from tetrahedrally and
octahedrally coordinated cations. The clay groups are:
kandites (kaolinite, dickite, nacrite, and halloysite);

illite (illite, hydromicas, and glauconite);
smectites (montmorillonite, beidellite, nontronite, etc.);
chlorite (ripidolite, clinochlore, chamosite, berthierine, etc.);
vermiculites;
palygorskite (palygorskite, attapulgite, sepiolite).
Interstratified clays can also exist; of these, illite smectite is the most
common .
Clays may be authigenic (i.e., formed in situ) or detrital. Under the SEM,
an authigenic origin is inferred from any or a combination of:
1) radiating grain-coating texture,
2) euhedral crystal morphology,
3) Overgrown upon other mineral cements.
Detrital clays that have recrystallized clays are harder to recognise; criteria
other than morphology may be used, such as crystallinity data.
The more common clay minerals are reviewed briefly in the section on
sandstone diagenesis.
For an account of the structure and crystallography of clay minerals, the
reader is referred to Brindley and Brown (1980), and for an account of clay
chemistry to Newman (1987).
B. Sandstone Petrography and Diagenesis
The major features of sandstone diagenesis are compaction, dissolution,

and cementation by quartz, clays, and carbonates. SEM has been important in
the study of all of these, in particular cementation. In the course of the 1970s,
many geologists working independently made the important discovery,
through use of SEM, that reservoir quality is profoundly influenced by the
crystallographic habit and aggregate structure of authigenic clay minerals.
Gradually, patterns of authigenic cement distributions emerged, and it be-
came possible to construct broad classes for diagenetic pathways, based on
environments of deposition (Hurst and Irwin, 1982), and hence to begin to
make predictions as to the nature of authigenic cements in reservoirs. How-
ever, the important influence of detrital clays on reservoir quality, whose
distribution may be possible to be predicted from knowledge of depositional
158 J. M. HUGGETT
environments, should not be neglected. This section reviews a selection of the

more significant studies.
1. Quartz Petrography and Diagenesis
Study of surface textures of grains was one of the earliest geological
applications of SEM. Previously transmission electron microscopy, (TEM)
had been used (e.g., Krinsley and Takahashi, 1964; Wolf, 1967), but despite
excellent resolution at high magnifications, shape and surface features are not
readily observed and were often damaged during the complicated and time-
consuming sample preparation. In contrast, SEM sample preparation for
surface texture studies is straightforward: The sample is simply mounted on a
stub and given a conductive coating if required.
Interpretation of grain surface textures in terms of provenance and
environment of deposition have contributed only marginally to sedimentolog-
ical understanding of reservoir sandstones. However much attention has been
paid to the examination of the surface microtextures of quartz (summarized
by Krinsley and Doornkamp, 1973). Stieglitz (1969), Setlow (1971) and Setlow
and Karpovich (1972) have attempted to relate heavy-mineral grain surface
microtextures to depositional environment. This has subsequently been
shown to be unreliable, due to the effects of diagenesis and previous erosion
cycles. Morton (1979) demonstrated the importance of depth control on
intrastratal solution of heavy minerals using examples from the North Sea. He
showed that there is an overall increase in corrosion on susceptible grains with
depth of burial, which correlates with a decrease in abundance of these
minerals. Features indicative of both mechanical and chemical activity on
heavy minerals have been observed using SEM. However the majority of the
mechanically produced surface textures were interpreted as resulting from a
previous cycle of erosion and sedimentation.
Quartz overgrowths were also the subject of many early SEM petro-
graphic studies. Pre-SEM concepts of how quartz overgrowths form and grow
were based on optical microscopy of thin sections and on examination of
replicas with the TEM (e.g., Waugh, 1965). Recognition of an overgrowth in
thin section is dependent on either the presence of a ‘dust’ line between the
detrital grain and the overgrowth or the overgrowth’s crystal faces. The first
published SEM study of quartz overgrowths was by Waugh (1970) who
combined this technique with the more classical petrographic approach.
Using the Permian Penrith Sandstone of Northwest England, for his example,
Waugh showed that the development of optically continuous quartz
overgrowths is governed by the atomic structure and crystallographic
orientation of the detrital quartz grains.
In a study of over a hundred samples of sandstones ranging in age from
Ordovician to Eocene, Pittman (1972) described (for the first time) both
pressue solution phenomena and overgrowths as seen using the SEM. The
following is a summary of his more important findings.
The dust line contact between overgrowth and grain is usually surprisingly
open, being a combination of voids and impurities such as rutile needles.
Overgrowths in sandstones start with numerous small incipient crystals that
may grow into a single crystal if physico-chemical conditions, space and time
permit (Fig. 6 ) . This results either by overlap and merging of crystallites
(Fig. 7) with the same crystallographic orientation (governed by the host
grain orientation), or by enveloping of crystallites by one of them growing
faster than the rest. The rate of growth of quartz overgrowths varies with
crystallographic orientation, being most rapid in the direction of the C axis.
Because space in sandstone pores is restricted, overgrowths extend until an
adjacent grain or overgrowth is encountered.
In many of the examples examined, the points of contact between quartz
grains are sites of pressure-solution. These appear on grain surfaces as circular
to ellipsoidal depressions marking junctions between visible grains and
formerly adjacent grains (Fig. 8). In detail, a pressure-solution surface may
have a series of radially arranged ridges and furrows, knobs, and pits.
Subsequent to such early descriptive studies, SEM has been used to
investigate the origin of quartz overgrowths with the view to understanding
and predicting both its distribution in hydrocarbon reservoirs and its influence
on overall reservoir quality. Houseknecht (1984) examined the influence of
FIG.6. Well-developed,euhedral quartz overgrowths,surroundingpore-filling kaolinite.

160 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.7. Epitaxial quartz overgrowths on a quartz grain partially coated by authigenic

chlorite.
FIG.8. Pressure-solutionscars are easily identified in SEM images. Scale bar = 100 pm.
grain size and temperature on pressure solution, quartz cementation, and
porosity in the quartzose Hartshorne Sandstone, from the Arkhoma Basin,
Ontario. He observed that the diameter of pressure-solution scars relative to
the grain diameter in sandstone increases in proportion to thermal maturity
(i.e., the maximum burial temperature). The absence of clay diagenesis has
been claimed as a reason for lack of quartz cementation in sandstones of the
Akata and Agbada Formations, Tertiary of the Niger delta (Lambert-
Aikhionbare and Shaw, 1982). They suggested that the lack of alteration of
authigenic smectite in the reservoir, which, if it had occured could have
released silica into pore solutions, and the presence of thick clay films around
the detrital grains are the principal causes for the poor development of quartz
overgrowths.
Whether or not clay coats on quartz grains inhibit overgrowth precipita-
tion has been widely debated in the literature. Colter and Ebbern (1978)
found that coats of tangentially arranged clay platelets (i.e., effectively con-
tinuous) did not seem to inhibit overgrowth nucleation. However, it is now
generally accepted that whilst thin illite or smectite coats may encourage
pressure solution and the formation of silica cements, thick clay coatings,
especially if of kaolinite and chlorite, will inhibit quartz overgrowth develop-
ment (Heald, 1956; Siever, 1959; Pittman and Lumsden, 1968; Heald and
Lareses, 1974; Houseknecht and Hathon, 1987). Clay coats that appear not
to have inhibited quartz overweight formation are probably discontinuous;
this is substantiated by TEM studies (Huggett, 1982).
2. Clay Petrography and Diagenesis
The use of SEM in reservoir studies had become routine by the late 1970s,
but because it could not be used in a quantitative manner, it was largely limited
to identifying authigenic (i.e., formed in situ) and detrital minerals, and
unravelling diagenetic sequences. In this latter role, SEM has proved
invaluable. An understanding of clay mineral occurrence is important
because, firstly, authigenic clays in sandstones have a huge surface area in
contact with the pore fluid, secondly, pore-filling and grain-coating clay
minerals can drastically reduce reservoir permeability, and thirdly, direct
observation of samples with the SEM makes it possible to distinguish the
genetic sequence of mineral cements. A combination of SEM and x-ray
analysis (XRA) is particularly effective for identifying mineral species. It
should be remembered that many of the geological SEM studies before about
1975 were carried out without the benefit of an x-ray analyser and that the
identification of minerals was based on morphology and independent x-ray
diffraction data. Moreover, even after XRA became a routine aid to
identification, analyses remained qualitative due to the problems of x-ray
“contamination,” which occur with rough specimens typical of those
162 J. M. HUGGETT
examined by petroleum geologists. There are now software packages available
that allow quantitative analysis of rough surfaces, but they are not widely used
in the petroleum industry, where it is felt that qualitative analysis is usually
adequate.
Before describing the role of SEM in reservoir studies in general, a brief
description of the distribution and crystal habit may be of benefit to the reader
unfamiliar with the subject.
The 1970s saw an outburst of publications on sandstone diagenesis and
reservoir properties that were illustrated with scanning electron micrographs,
mostly of clays, but also quartz and feldspar grains and their overgrowths.
Bohor and Hughes (1971) published micrographs showing a wide range of
morphologic features of kaolinite (the most common member of the kandite
group of clays) from sandstones, clay deposits, geodes, and underclay deposits
beneath coals. In the authigenic clays, they observed growth-related pheno-
mena such as layering, crystal habit, topotaxis, twinning, and spiral growth.
Detrital kaolinite consists of ragged, disaggregated plates. Authigenic kaolin-
ite morpholog y has also been studied in detail and reported in many papers
by Keller and co-workers (e.g., Keller, 1976a, b; Keller and Haenni, 1978;
Keller et al., 1986).This is largely a reflection of the commercial value of kaolin
deposits. Kaolinite and to a lesser extent dickite (another kaolin mineral)
have also been described in many reservoir studies (e.g., Amr, 1971; Stalder,
1973; Sommer, 1975; Pittman and Wilson, 1977; Land and Dutton, 1978;
Odom et al., 1979; Huggett, 1982, 1984; Kantorowicz, 1984; Goodchild and
Whitaker, 1986; Cowan, 1988). Authigenic kaolinite morphology may be
controlled by environment and time, relative to compaction, of deposition,
also pore fluid chemistry and possibly the parent minerals that have been re-
placed by the clay. Platey kaolinite morphology (Fig. 9) is thought to be evi-
dence of compaction or a result of further kaolinite precipitation in an already
tightly packed pore; conversely, blocky kaolinite (Fig. 10) may be indicative
of formation after compaction and formation of any platey kaolinite present
in the same sandstone (Huggett, 1982). Cowan (1988) reports early, poorly
crystalline, small particles of kaolinite and late, well-crystallized large parti-
cles. Authigenic kaolinite can also occur as an in-situ replacement of detrital
mica and chlorite in sandstones and mudstones (Huggett, 1982; White et al.,
1984,1985).BSE of polished thin sections is the technique used for examina-
tion of these very-fine-scale clay mineral intergrowths. Figure 1 1 shows a typi-
cal complex assemblage of clay minerals replacing chlorite. By using BSE
imaging and XRA, it was a simple procedure to unravel the sequence of
events. Huggett (1982) and White et al. (1984) showed authigenic clays in
mica and chlorite “stacks” to be interlayered on a scale not previously recog-
nized (Figs. 12 and 13), with clear deformation of the detrital phyllosilicate
structure caused by the authigenic clay. In Fig. 13 the fine-scale intergrowths
FIG.9. Platey authigenic kaolinite. Bar = 1 pm.
FIG. 10. Blocky authigenic kaolinite. Bar = 1 pm.

FIG.11. BSE micrograph of detrital chlorite partially replaced by kaolinite.
FIG. 12. BSE micrograph of detrital chlorite partially replaced by apparently cohesive
kaolinite.
FIG.13. BSE micrograph of mineralogically complex assemblage of phyllosilicates.

I Mg-rich chlorite, K = kaolinite.
= illite, C1 = Fe-rich chlorite, C2 =
appear to be coherent, suggesting layer-by-layer replacement of the chlorite

by kaolinite; however, where the kaolinite has grown to a measurable thick-
ness, it can clearly be seen that it is noncoherent and that the kaolinite growth
appears to have deformed the chlorite (Fig. 12). Further study by BSE micro-
scopy (White et al., 1985) demonstrated that phyllosilicate intergrowths
thicken and become more coherent with metamorphic grade. Work in pro-
gress by this author suggests that this form of authigenic kaolinite is more
common than is generally thought, because SE SEM images d o not reveal
the presence of the kaolinite.
Illite is the most abundant detrital clay and is also a widespread authigenic
clay. Authigenic illite occurs as platelets and laths (also described as whiskers,
needles, ribbons, or wisps). Authigenic, wispy illite, observed using SEM
(Fig. 3), has been described from many hydrocarbon reservoirs (Stalder,
1973; Hancock, 1978a + b; Colter and Ebbern, 1978; Sommer, 1978; Blanch
and Whitaker, 1978; Guven et al., 1980; McHardy et al., 1982; Seeman, 1982;
and others). It usually occurs as radial coatings on grains. Tangentially or
radially arranged grain coating, “cornflake”-shaped particles (e.g., Taylor,
166 J. M. HUGGETT
1978; Huggett, 1982) are also common. It is less easy to determine whether
these are authigenic but ragged, detrital, or recrystallized detrital illite.
Chlorite (Fig. 14) also occurs as platelets. In authigenic form, these are
usually pseudo-hexagonal, often arranged on grain surfaces with a radial
boxwork texture. More rarely, chlorite has a blocky pseudo-hexagonal
morphology, which is visually indistinguishable from blocky kaolinite.
Detrital chlorite is usually indistinguishable (on the basis of morphology
alone) from mica, when coarse grained, or detrital illite, when fine grained.
Authigenic chlorite in reservoirs is less widespread than authigenic illite or
kaolinite, however it has been well described (Land and Dutton, 1978; Alford,
1983; Kantorowicz, 1984; Huggett, 1984; Imam and Shaw, 1985; Hurst and
Archer, 1986). This is largely because early grain-coating chlorite is found
preserving porosity through prevention of quartz overgrowth nucleation (e.g.,
Imam and Shaw, 1985) and therefore can have an important influence on
reservoir quality (Fig. 14). However, more pervasive, late pore-filling chlorite
reduces porosity and permeability (e.g., Janks et al., 1985).
Authigenic smectite in sandstones consists of irregular, undulose platelets,
which form radial honeycomb grain coatings in samples (Fig. 15). Detrital
smectite is not generally observed due to its similarity to the more common
detrital illite. Authigenic smectite in hydrocarbon reservoirs is relatively rare
and hence infrequently described (Stanley and Benson, 1979; Lambert-
Aikhionbare and Shaw, 1982). It is tentatively recognized on the basis of x-ray
analysis and its honeycomb morphology.
FIG.14. Grain-coating authigenic chlorite. Bar = 5 pm.

FIG.15. Illite smectite containing 90% smectite layers.
Even less SEM data is available on interstratified clays. SEM data alone is
insufficient to identify these clays with certainty, because neither their
morphology nor their chemistry is sufficiently distinct to distinguish them
from their pure end-member constituents. X-ray diffraction data is required to
identify the interlayering. Tompkins (1981) describes corrensite (mixed-layer
chlorite smectite) from a reservoir sandstone in the Guadaloupe Formation
(Permian), West Texas. He concluded that this clay may be distinguished from
chlorite by its undulose honeycomb morphology. Consequently, it is usually
indistinguishable from smectite. Illite smectite is similar to illite in appearance
when it contains mostly illite layers, and similar to smectite when most of the
layers consist of smectite (e.g., Hurst and Irwin, 1982; Burley, 1984; Pollastro,
1985; Keller et a/., 1986). Keller et al. (1986) used SEM to examine the
morphology of illite smectite from deeply buried bentonites and hydrother-
mally altered Tertiary volcanic rocks from Japan. They found that the clay
morphology changed from the honeycomb appearance of smectite (Fig. 15) to
the platy appearance of illite (Fig. 16) at a composition of roughly 60-70%
illite layers. Pollastro (1985) records honeycomb illite smectite (also identified
by x-ray diffraction) with rigid laths and plates of ordered, highly illitic, illite
smectite growing out from the surface of less illitic illite smectite. From this,
168 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.16. Illite smectite containing 30%smectite layers.
Pollastro concluded that the ordered illite smectite formed by cannibalization

of the smectite layers in the substrate, as has been suggested by Boles and
Franks (1979).This, however, is not undisputed.
The foregoing illustrates, that whilst SEM usually requires no special skills
to identify the most common clays in reservoirs, those less-frequently
observed, including mixed-layer clays, should not be identified by SEM
observation alone, nor even by SEM and XRA, but by a combination of SEM,
XRA, and x-ray diffraction.
3. Diagenetic Controls of Sandstone Reservoir Quality

One of the earliest applications of SEM to reservoir-rock evaluation was
carried out by Sarkisyan (1971). By means of mineralogical and petrological
studies, zones of kaolinite, kaolinite plus chlorite, and chlorite clay cement
were distinguished in reservoir sandstone from the Volgograd region (Shilin,
1969). Good reservoir quality was characterized by grain-coating detrital
kaolinite or when authigenic grain-coating chlorite was observed. Poor
reservoir quality occurred where there was a mixture of authigenic pore-filling
kaolinite and grain-coating detrital kaolinite.
Until SEM generated serious interest in clay mineral cements, their
importance was not appreciated. It was known that the permeability of
sandstones depends, for a given fluid viscosity, on the rock pore sizes and pore
connectivity. The latter being determined principally by:
1) Median grain size and sorting, and
2) diagenetic features such as degree of cementation and compaction.
These factors, excluding median grain size, also directly determine the
porosity of a sandstone for a given median grain size. Hence, there should be a
constant relationship between permeability and porosity. For quartz or
carbonate cemented sandstones, this is generally the case. What was not
known before the use of SEM was widespread, was the influence that
authigenic clays can have on these relationships. One of the first to
demonstrate this was Stalder (1973) in a significant study of an important
North Sea gas reservoir, the Rotliegend Sandstone. He demonstrated that
shifts in permeability/porosity trends in the Rotliegend Sandstone may be
explained in terms of clay particle morphology and distribution. He showed
that there are two distinct trends, one for kaolinite-cemented sandstone and
one for illite-cemented sandstone. For a given porosity, he found the
permeability to be lower, sometimes by several orders of magnitude, in the
illite-cemented sandstone (Fig. 17). From SEM observations, Stalder was able
to conclude that this was because the kaolinite, which has a blocky pore-filling
texture (as in Fig. 6), is less damaging to the permeability of a reservoir than
the illite, which has a wispy, pore-bridging morphology with an extremely high
surface-to-volume ratio (as in Fig. 3). Wispy illite, therefore, can drastically
reduce the effective pore-throat radii (which are more significant to perme-
ability than are pore sizes) by massive subdivision of one pore throat into
thousands, without significantly reducing the porosity. A similar relationship
between illite, kaolinite, and poroperm was noted by Pittman and Thomas
(1978) for the upper Cretaceous Almond and Ericson Formation sandstones
from Southwestern Wyoming, and by Colter and Ebbern (1978) for Triassic
sandstones from the northern Irish Sea basin. They found that at porosities of
< lo%, small reductions in porosity by cementation produced considerable
reductions in permeability, probably due to the blocking of pore throats by
clay with a limited size range of some critical pore throat sizes. Through these
and other SEM studies (e.g., Seeman, 1982; Heaviside et al., 1983), it has now
been established that the most frequent cause of low-permeability, high-
porosity sandstones is authigenic, pore rimming platy, or wispy illite. Colter
and Ebbern (1979) found that adequate SEM data may be collected from drill
cuttings to establish the distribution of permeability-reducing illite. This was
important, because the ability to predict likely poroperm relationships from
observations on drill cuttings made it possible to reduce coring programs and
170 J. M. HUGGETT
2000
/-\
'O0O I Areas marked represent /
/ ' \
- the main concentrations / /
- of points I /
I /
- I /
/ /
KAOLlNlTE
/
100- -- CEMENTED
WELL
/
/
/ I
- / I
/
- /
/
/
/
10 -
/
--
/ / I
/ I I
- I f I
1-
- / / ILLITE
/
L-'
/
, CEMENTED
WELL
0.1 I I I I I
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 1
FIG. 17. Effect of the type of clay mineral cement on permeability of porous Rotliegend
sandstones of the North Sea basin. (From Stalder, 1973.)
hence cut well costs. However, most oil company work still uses core material
rather than cuttings, because core is required for many other geological and
petrophysical measurements.
SEM has proved a particularly useful means of studying sandstones that,
either because they are fine grained or argillaceous, have low permeability.
This is because it is usually straightforward to distinguish between authigenic
and detrital clay. Thomas (1978) found that early authigenic illite formation
had reduced permeability and effective porosity in shaley sands from
Wyoming and Alberta. As a result of early pore space reduction by authigenic
clays, fine-grained sandstones, such as these, are poor liquid-hydrocarbon
reservoirs but are still potential targets for gas. Pollastro and Bader (1983)
used detailed SEM and x-ray diffraction studies to obtain detailed mineralog-
ical characterizations of low-permeability gas and oil-bearing sandstone and
shale sequences in the Green River Basin, Wyoming. They found discrete
detrital illite to be abundant in the shales and authigenic chlorite in the
sandstones. In the cleaner sandstones, they also found authigenic illite
smectite. The authors point out that, because of these differences in clay
mineral assemblages between the sandstones and the shales, log interpre-
tations of these and similar low-permeability sandstones should not be
extrapolated from adjacent shales.
4. Diagenesis and Hydrocarbon Migration

In studies of the Middle Jurassic Brent Formation, Sommer (1975, 1978),
and Hancock and Taylor (1978) used SEM in conjunction with thin-section
petrography and x-ray diffraction to examine and interpret clay mineral
authigenesis and its relationship to hydrocarbon migration. Near the top of
the reservoir interval, they observed books of well-crystallized authigenic
kaolinite. A little lower down in the section were rare illite flakes surrounding
the kaolinite, and in the middle reservoir section, ragged books of illite
pseudomorphs after kaolinite were observed. Near the base of the Brent Sand
Formation, recrystallization is complete, with typical illite morphologies,
rather than pseudomorphs.
The authors suggested that oil migration into the reservoir inhibited and
was concurrent with the illite diagenesis. The earliest oil migration into the top
of the reservoir protected kaolinite from the K+-rich waters, which sub-
sequently reacted with kaolinite deeper in the reservoir to form illite. The
transition from kaolinite to illite with depth represents the gradual filling of
the reservoir. However, the work described above does not explain why there
are reservoirs where illite is absent from the water leg. In a SEM/optical-
microscope study of the Leman Sandstone (Permian), Arthur et al. (1986)
demonstrated that the formation of permeability-reducing illite increases with
the extent of pre-Cretaceous burial, and that late kaolinite in the gas-bearing
structures is precipitated from pore waters accompanying gas migration.
Inhibition of diagenesis through partial filling of a reservoir by hydrocar-
bons has now been observed in a wide range of diagenetic settings (Lambert-
Aikhionbare and Shaw, 1982; Rottenfuser, 1982). In the Bluesky and Gething
Formations (lower Cretaceous) of Northwestern Alberta, extensive deposits
of heavy oil occur. In-situ extraction technologies require a detailed know-
ledge of porosity, permeability, and mineralogy within the reservoir and the
effect of diagenesis on these porosities. The following is a summary of the work
by Rottenfuser (1982).
In the Gething Formation, migration of heavy oil effectively stopped, or
slowed down, diagenesis. Thin-section petrography and SEM were used to
establish the diagenetic sequence and the timing of oil migration. Authigenic
kaolinite and illite are most abundant in the water-bearing sandstones.
Secondary porosity was formed after feldspar overgrowths but before
172 J. M. HUGGETT
kaolinite formation. Oil migration occurred during kaolinite formation and

halted diagenesis in the oil zone. Clay authigenesis continued in the water
zone, consequently porosity is better in the oil zone; however, the effective
permeability has been reduced in the oil zone by the heavy oil.
Subsequent to oil migration into a reservoir, it can become biodegraded,
resulting in (usually) undesirable heavy oil or tar. Biodegradation is princi-
pally caused by aerobic bacteria, which also produce large amounts of CO,
and H,S as waste products. Understanding the nature of biodegradation is
important, because these difficult-to-recover hydrocarbons will be increas-
ingly important as reserves of the light crude oils become depleted.
SEM has been used to investigate biodegradation of crude oil in samples
from the Heterrostegina Limestone of the Damon Mound Salt Dome, Texas
(Sassen, 1980). Calcite, pyrite, and some elemental sulfur were found in
association with microbes, biodegraded crude oil, and gypsum. The surface of
the degraded crude oil represents the present oil-water contact and is a likely
site of microbial activity and mineral deposition. SEM revealed unexpected
variation in surface texture. A botryoidal form was frequently observed, whilst
the surfaces of other oil samples were characterized by hemisperical pits that
are possibly the result of gas evolution during biodegradation. In addition,
the crude oil was commonly found to occur as isolated globular masses,
10-100 pm across.
The sessile microbes are intimately associated with crude oil and gypsum
crystals. Moreover, surface textures of some of the samples suggested that
sessile microbes have been entrapped by successive depositions of migrating
hydrocarbons.
SEM has also helped to elucidate what becomes of the CO, and H2S that
are generated by the microbes. Secondary minerals characteristic of shallow
Gulf Coast salt domes (Feely and Kulp, 1957) occur both on the surfaces of
and enclosed within the crude oil. Euhedral to subhedral rhombic crystals of
calcite less than 100 pm across and small crystals of pyrite are often intimately
associated with the biodegraded crude oil. This is good evidence that the
minerals were deposited during biodegradation.
5. Carbonate Cementation
Carbonate cement in sandstones that is present as tiny crystals (micrite) is
readily observed. However, sandstones that have large crystals of pore-filling
carbonate are not usually suitable for fracture surface SEM examination
because the samples tend to fracture across the cement crystals, and the
infilling of interparticle porosity by the carbonate limits observation of any
earlier clay or overgrowth cements. Consequently, this SEM technique has not
been widely applied to the study of carbonate cements in sandstones.
BSE of polished thin sections has proved more informative. Coupled with
quantitative x-ray analysis it is possible to obtain data on the chemistry and
zoning of the cement. From this, the pore-fluid history may be deduced.
C . Carbonate-Rock Petrography and Diagenesis
SEM has proved invaluable in petrographic and diagenetic studies of

carbonate reservoirs (e.g., Sellwood et al., 1985; Aissaoui, et al., 1986; M’Rabet,
et al., 1986; Purser and Schroeder, 1986). This is particularly true of fine-
grained carbonate cement (micrite) and chalk. In fine-grained sediments, it can
be extremely difficult to distinguish between detrital and authigenic micrite,
but in the SEM, the equant form of authigenic micrite crystals is easily
recognized. Chalk is a very pure limestone composed almost entirely of
coccolith shells (e.g., Gillott, 1969; Scholle, 1974, 1977; Mapstone, 1975;
Patsoules and Cripps, 1982; Jorgensen, 1983, 1986), because their fine grain
size (generally 50- 500 pm) limits the amount of petrographic information that
can be gleaned using a petrographic microscope. Consequently, the emphasis
of this section has been placed on chalk. No attempt has been made to cover
the entire range of carbonates that has been examined by SEM, but the most
significant progress is illustrated by a selection of examples.
The transformation of carbonate ooze to chalk has been studied in Deep
Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) cores of Eocene sediments bordering the
Baltimore Canyon Trough by Wilkins et al. (1987). They found that
compaction in the purely mechanical sense, which crushes and rearranges
grains into a more compact microstructure, is dominant up to 100 m burial
depths. Many of the radiolarian, diatom, and foraminifera tests remain intact
through the ooze-to-chalk transition, though most of the coccoliths disinteg-
rate into their constituent plates. The open tests contribute as much as 15-
20% of the sediment porosity. At around 300 m, there is an abrupt zone of
dissolution of biogenic silica (opal A), which reprecipitates as opaline
lepisperes (opal CT), and a more gradual change in the morphology of the
calcite resulting from progressive dissolution and reprecipitation of CaCO, .
Qualitative and quantitative SEM examination of Cretaceous Chalk
petrography has led to the recognition of three nannofacies in the North Sea
chalk sequence on the basis of the percentage relationship of three grain
categories, i.e., microspar, carbonate mud, and nannofossils (Jorgensen, 1986).
The chalk nannofacies primarily reflect increasing diagenesis with depth of
burial. Pressure dissolution and reprecipitation of skeletal calcite are the most
important mechanisms of chalk burial diagenesis down to burial depths of
approximately 3000 m. The formation of microspar is quantitatively the most
174 J. M. HUGGETT
important diagenetic process observed, and it is believed to be responsible for

a significant reduction in porosity with depth under normal burial conditions.
Using SEM, Scholle (1977) observed a similar trend in progressive loss of
porosity due to dissolution and cementation and from this was able to deduce
approximate maximum burial depths.
SEM has shown that most of the pore space in the North Sea chalks
is preserved primary porosity (Harper and Shaw, 1974; Scholle, 1974;
Mapstone, 1975).There is some small-scale dissolution (as in most chalks), and
cementation at grain contacts (“spot welding”) is common (Rickards, 1974;
Mapstone, 1975), but most of the pore space remains uncemented. These
chalks, despite over 3000 m of burial, closely resemble onshore-chalks that
have been buried to less than 1OOOm. The factor that best correlates with
highly porous chalk is overpressuring. This has been clearly demonstrated for
the Ekofisk field in the Central graben by Harper and Shaw (1974) and
Rickards (1974).
Ramsden (1983) used SEM to show that the Cretaceous oil shales in
northwestern Queensland are in fact chalks, but that they differ from the
Cretaceous chalks found elsewhere in the world in that they formed under
anoxic conditions; and consequently, large quantities of organic matter have
been preserved. SEM was used to examine the organic matter in detail. From
this information, it was possible to identify the organic sources. Nondescript
lamellae comprise the bulk of the organic matter and probably represent the
algal biomass (plankton), which secreted the coccoliths forming the inorganic
portion of ;he rock. Minor filamentous organic matter and rare sporelike
bodies were also observed.
A carbonate reservoir that is not a chalk and that has been extensively
studied using SEM is the Midale Beds (Mississippian) in southeastern
Saskatchewan. The reservoir is in limestones, dolomites, and evaporites. Kaldi
(1982) showed that many of the characterisitc pore types in the lower zone of
the Midale Beds can be related to both original depositional environment and
to diagenesis. A lack of pore connectivity precludes this lithology from being
an effective reservoir. In the middle zone, dissolution of calcite or arragonite
from between dolomite rhombs after incomplete dolomitization has resulted
in good intercrystalline secondary porosity. The upper zone consists of
fractured calcareous microcrystalline dolomite. Porosity and permeability
have been reduced by stylolitization and anhydrite cementation, but this has
been offset by vertical microfractures, which enable hydrocarbon production
to occur.
SEM studies can beneficially be combined with stable isotope studies of
limestones. Baltuck (1987) examined Cretaceous cyclic pelagic sediments from
the North Atlantic. The pelagic cycles consist of dark, laminated marl,
containing 75-80% CaCO, and about 0.5% organic carbon, alternating with
lighter, bioturbated limestone with about 90% CaCO, and 0.1% organic
carbon. SEM observations indicate significant dissolution and diagenetic
precipitation of carbonate in the limestone but only minor precipitation of
carbonate in the dark marl. Isotopic analysis showed that the dark marl
contains heavier 18 0 and 13 C than the limestone. Precipitation of calcite
under elevated burial temperatures during diagenesis would result in the light
oxygen recorded in the limestone. The shift to the heavier carbon in the marl
may reflect changing paleoceanographic conditions.
1. Source-Rock Studies
Little is known of carbonates as source rocks compared with clastic source
rocks, and until recently there has been a reluctance by petroleum geologists to
accept that it is probable that some oils are sourced from limestones. Ferguson
(1987) showed that modern ooids can be artificially matured, using enhanced
temperature and pressure, in the presence of natural sea water, so that an
evolutionary series of kerogen and soluble hydrocarbons is produced that is
comparable with material isolated from British Jurassic ooliths. He confirmed
by SEM that the concentric voids between layers or aragonite needles and the
smaller voids between intermeshing needles in modern ooids are normally
filled with algal material. This, however, is probably only a minor source of
hydrocarbons.
D. Shale Petrography and Diagenesis
Most SEM petrographic studies of shales have been concerned with the
fabric. Until recently, this is probably because they were too fine grained for in-
depth petrographic analysis using SEM. Now, high-resolution SEMs are
available, and thorough studies of shale petrography are possible. So far, very
little at all has been published.
Shale fabric is of special interest to petroleum geologists in connection
with hydrocarbon migration, identification of depositional environment, and
the ability of shales to act as seals to hydrocarbon reservoirs. Shales are also a
common source of problems during drilling (most frequently, caving in, to give
an abnormally large hole that upsets downhole log measurements, and
swelling, which can cause the drill bit to stick). Such problems can often but
not always be ascribed to the presence of unstable minerals. When this is not
the case, the cause is likely to be physical rather than chemical, and
examination of the shale fabric and textures in the SEM could prove infor-
mative. So far, this use of SEM has not been taken particular advantage of.
176 J. M. HUGGET’I
Because of the difficulties involved in making detailed textural and

petrographic studies of fine-grained sedimentary rocks, most theories regard-
ing such rocks were based on gross generalizations or indirect evidence from x-
ray diffraction until SEM and TEM techniques became available. However,
very little petroleum-related SEM work on shales has been published,
reflecting the continuing general paucity of shale studies.
1. Fabric Measurement
Gipson (1965) demonstrated that SEM can be used to measure particle
orientation and fissility in shales by means of the “gap” test and the “chi-
square test” to determine particle orientation. Combined optical and electron
microscope studies revealed that particles in a fissile shale that overall exhibit
a strong preferred orientation locally have a random distribution. It was
inferred from these studies that fissile planes occur:
1) in zones of preferentially oriented particles;
2) at interfaces between zones of preferentially oriented particles and
organic matter;
3) at interfaces between zones of randomly oriented particles and organic
material.
In a study of Ordovician shales from Ontario, Gillott (1969) showed that
although a shale may display well-developed fissility in hand specimen and
even when examined at low magnification with a SEM, high-magnification
SEM images show a surprising degree of random arrangement of platey
particles. These findings were confirmed by Huggett (1989), who also showed
that the numerical x-ray diffraction method for fabric measurement described
by Gipson (1966) can be correlated with SEM fabric studies. This enabled a
numerical classification of fabric types observed with the SEM, which could be
incorporated into a statistical analysis of the correlations between fabric,
mineralogy, and textures. Fabric studies may improve our understanding of
shale behavior during drilling.
2. Environmental Significance of Fabric

It is important for petroleum geologists to be able to recognize indications
of depositional environment in sedimentary rocks. With this information, it is
possible to predict the extent and quality of reservoir rocks, caprocks (often
shales), and source rocks (organic-rich shales). Consequently, studies of shale
fabric and mineralogy ought to be a routine part of oil-company petrographic
studies. However, because shales are usually cored by accident rather than
design, this is not the case.
SEM studies of clay fabric in shales have proved successful in distinguish-
ing various depositional environments (OBrien et al., 1980; OBrien, 1987;
and others). O’Brien et al. (1980) used SEM of mudstones fractured
perpendicular to bedding and TEM of platinum replicas of fissile plane
mudstone surfaces to establish close correlation between clay-flake-preferred
orientation and fissility. He found randomness of clay flakes to prevail in
nonfissile claystones. OBrien et al. (1980)demonstrated, using SEM, that clay
fabric may be used in combination with other sedimentary features to
distinguish hemipelagic (deep-, quiet-water) sediments from turbidites (deep-
water sediments deposited by intermittent turbidity currents). By using x-
radiography and SEM, O’Brien (1987) investigated the effects of bioturbation
on the fabric of 50 different shales. He distinguished bioturbated fabrics from
those formed from lithified, flocculated clay by the absence of the stepped clay
domains or stepped cardhouse fabric characteristic of the latter. In this
author’s experience, however, this is not at all straightforward, since there are
many factors, especially compaction and formation of authigenic cements
during diagenesis, which may influence shale fabric. Only bioturbated and
nonbioturbated fabrics are readily distinguished (Byers, 1974; Cluff, 1980;
Rhoads and Boyer, 1982). Torresan and Schab (1987) and Huggett (1989)
concluded that the dominant fabric of undisturbed shale is not controlled by
the different depositional settings but rather by the dominant clay mineralogy,
which may be influenced by the environment of deposition.
3. Shale Diagenesis
Because most theories of diagenesis rely to some extent upon exchange of
fluids containing reactive ions, between shales and sandstones, an understand-
ing of shale petrology and diagenesis is needed if sandstone diagenesis is ever
to be fully understood. This topic is covered in the section on BSE microscopy,
because this is the SEM technique generally used to investigate shale
petrography and diagenesis.
Most published geological BSE studies have been of shales (Krinsley et al.,
1983; Pye and Krinsley, 1983; White et al., 1984; Shaw and Primmer, 1987;
Primmer and Shaw, 1989; Huggett, 1989). This is undoubtedly because
electron-microscope resolution is almost essential for detailed petrographic
analysis of shales, with the optical microscope being inadequate for most
petrographic studies of fine-grained rocks. Indeed BSE imaging has probably
been partially responsible for the increasing interest shown in shales by
geologists. The burial diagenesis of shales is slowly becoming of major
research interest in petroleum geology. The nature of the pore fluids expelled
from shales and their role in sandstone diagenesis, organic maturation, the
importance of fabric to seal capacity and hydrocarbon expulsion, the relative
178 J. M. HUGGETT
importance of time, temperature, pressure, and changes in pore-water

chemistry to shale diagenesis are all incompletely, or poorly understood.
Surprisingly few authors (White et al., 1985; Huggett, 1986) compare the
diagenesis of sandstones with that of shales.
Pye and Krinsley (1983) found clay stacks similar to those seen in
sandstones by Huggett (1982) in lower Jurassic shales from the North Sea but
interpreted them as being completely authigenic, having formed at shallow
burial depths during early diagenesis. They argued that these structures are
too delicate to have been transported. However, their interpretation seems
improbable because micas are not known to form at the low temperatures and
pressures associated with diagenesis. It is most probable that they are detrital
micas partially replaced by authigenic clay.
The progressive diagenesis with depth of the Gulf Coast Shales has been
the focus of much attention over the years, however, the interpretation of
diagenetic reactions from bulk shale X R D and chemical analyses remains
speculative. Perry and Hower (1972), Hower et al., (1976), Yeh and Savin
(1977), and others have proposed that the observed depth trends in clay
mineralogy are the result of progressive illitization of smectite and replace-
ment of kaolinite by chlorite. They suggest that decomposition of detrital
feldspar and mica provides the extra K t and A13+ required for illitization,
with S O 2 , Fe2+ and Mg2+ being released and reprecipitated as chlorite.
Using BSE imaging, direct observations of shales have been made (Pye
et al., 1986; Burton et al., 1987; Shaw and Primmer, 1989) that previously had
only been studied in depth by x-ray diffraction. BSE observations by Pye et al.
(1986)confirmed the mineralogical trends with depth reported by Hower et al.
(1976) for the Frio formation in the Gulf Coast Shales and produced new
evidence concerning the causes and timing of the changes. EDS analyses of
clay aggregates confirmed the increase in K and A1 and the decrease in Si and
Fe. From textural and chemical data provided by BSE and EDS, they
concluded that the sequence of diagenetic changes was:
1) reduction of pH due to excess decarboxylation of organic matter
during simultaneous iron reduction;
2) dissolution of carbonate;
3) dissolution of feldspars and micas;
4) buildup of negative octahedral layer charge due to reduction of Fe3+
in mixed layer clays;
5 ) fixation of interlayer K + and substitution of A13+ for Si4+;
6) precipitation of neoformed illite and chlorite in pores, and partial
replacement of kaolinite by chlorite.
More recent BSE and microprobe data from overpressured shales also in
the Gulf Coast Frio formation (Shaw and Primmer, 1989 suggest that the
illitization of smectite is accompanied by loss of A13+ and the incorporation of
Mg2+/Fe2+into the structure to produce the increased layer charge required
for illite fixation of K'. However, other recent work by Pearson and Small
(1988) supports the reaction proposed by Hower et al. (1976):
smectite + K + + AI3+ = illite + Si4+;
clearly this is a mechanism that will continue to be argued over for a while yet.
Shaw and Primmer also found that the K + content of illite smectite in
foraminifera tests and other cavities, as opposed to the rock matrix, increases
with depth, becoming indistinguishable from illite. It is possible that this
reaction may have contributed to the overpressuring through the release of
water from the smectite layers. In an overpressured system, the fluid flow is
insignificant, which usually results in diagenesis being halted or restricted to
very localized diffusion-controlled reactions. However, Shaw and Primmer
did not find that overpressuring has inhibited diagenesis in the Frio formation.
Whereas the system may have been effectively closed in terms of long-distance
fluid migration, there was apparently sufficient fluid-rock interaction and
fluid migration laterally and over short vertical distances to allow diagenetic
reactions to proceed. In addition to illite and illite smectite, Shaw and
Primmer found authigenic chlorite (Fig. 18), kaolinite, pyrite, and calcite in
FIG. 18. BSE micrograph of fossil shell containing authigenic chlorite and illite smectite.
180 J. M. HUGGETT
shells and foraminifera tests. Pye et al. (1986) also noted infilling and
replacement of foraminifera tests by illite; but perhaps because they did not
observe the illitization of illite smectite with increasing depth observed by
Shaw and Primmer, they concluded that this mineral is at least partially
neoformed and not entirely produced through the transformation of smectite.
However, it is important to remember that the pattern of shale diagenesis
found in the Gulf Coast differs from that in many other sedimentary basins
such as the North Sea, the Niger Delta, and the Po basin. The vast number of
publications on the Gulf Coast can give an unbalanced view of the global
variation in shale-diagenetic pathways. In contrast to the Gulf Coast, many
North Sea Jurassic shales initially contained little smectite or mixed-layer
illite smectite relative to degraded micas, and experienced low burial
rates (Irwin et al., 1977; Huggett, 1986; Pye and Krinsley, 1986; White et al.,
1984). White et al. (1984) also examined an argillaceous oil shale of
Carboniferous age from Lothian, Scotland. The microstructure of the clay and
pyrite framboids, and the angular quartz grains and calcite are clearly
seen in the BSE micrographs (Figs. 19 and 20). The compaction of the
FIG. 19. BSE micrograph of an oil shale showing a vein or fossil fragment of calcite.
FIG.20. BSE micrograph of an oil shale showing the presence of pyrite framboids.
phyllosilicates around the large quartz fragments and the pyrite framboids are
clearly visible. Optical microscopy revealed neither the compaction, nor the
blocky nature of the calcite. BSE imaging also revealed fine-scale inter-
growths in the clays of illite and chlorite (identified by x-ray analysis). X-
ray mapping was used to map out areas rich in elements characteristic of
specific minerals; Fig. 21 shows how this was used to map carbon. The ability
to image-map for carbon, in addition to oxygen and nitrogen, allows the
distribution and diagenesis of individual grains of organic matter to be
monitored in terms of these elements. This could prove important in
improving understanding of organic maturation and migration processes in
oil source rocks, because current source-rock studies are, with few exceptions
(e.g., unpublished work by Kearsley), concerned with the bulk organic matter
rather than individual in-situ particles.
4. Shale Source Rocks

Most hydrocarbon source rocks are organic-rich shales. Studies of source
rocks have mostly concentrated on geochemical aspects rather than physical
properties such as fabric and texture. Consequently, there are few published
182 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.21. (a)BSE micrograph of an oil shale with the discrete organic matter appearing very
dark; (b) secondary electron image of the same specimen in 6(a). The internal structure of the
organic matter is now visible. (c) Map showing distributionof elemental carbon seen in the same
specimen as 6(a),confirming the high carbon content to be expected in the organic particles. The
higher the carbon concentration,the more intense is the signal (same scale as (a) and (b)).
SEM studies of source rocks, although with increasing interest in the

Kimmeridge Clay (an important North Sea source rock) and greater use of
BSE detectors (see above), this is beginning to change.
The SEM work of McAullife (1979), Barrows (1980), and Nuhfer et al.
(1981) demonstrated that the most continuous fabric element of laminated
shales is the organic network. McAullife (1979) was able to examine the
organic network, together with associated pyrite, in three dimensions by
removing the mineral matter and bitumins with acid and carbon disulfide from
shales of moderate organic content. Using SEM to study the fabric, porosity,
and fractures in organic-rich Devonian mudstones from West Virginia,
Nuhfer et al. (1981) were able to explain gas production in terms of fabric
properties. Surprisingly, the most porous rock constituent is aggregates of
pyrite, with 30-50% of the total porosity being associated with this mineral.
The remainder appears to be micropores of less than 5-A diameter in the
associated clay matrix. However, SEM reveals that the pyrite-associated pores
in source rocks are poorly interconnected (Fig. 22), except perhaps in the
organic matter, where it is possible that permeability is sufficient for primary
hydrocarbon migration, because the anastomosing organic network is
sufficiently well interconnected (Huggett, 1988). Numerous thin laminae
appear to favour lateral migration of fluids. Most of the gas production in the
West Virginia Devonian mudstones is from thinly laminated and lenticularly
laminated intervals (Nuhfer and Vinopal, 1978), rather than homogenous (this
frequently means bioturbated) fabrics. However, whether this could be
because the laminated intervals contain more organic matter is not apparent.
Total porosity in the source rocks is insufficient to account for hydrocarbon
production.
FIG.22. BSE micrograph of unusually large clusters of pyrite framboids.
E. Scanning Electron Microscopy in Experimental Diagenesis
Huang et al. (1986) showed through experiments on the conversion of

feldspar to illite that variation of the fluid-rock ratio (flow rate) has a
significant effect on the kinetics of feldspar dissolution and illite precipitation.
The results were visually monitored by SEM. Dissolution of albite in near-
neutral KCI solution at 200°C and 500 bars showed that Si and Na rates of
release per unit surface area of albite is faster with a higher fluid-rock ratio,
and the precipitation rate of secondary minerals is lower. This has the
important implication that under similar reservoir conditions, porosity and
permeability may be enhanced where flow rates are high.
Their experiments also showed that there can be mass nucleation and
growth of illite platelets on albite surfaces in an initially acidic solution with
low fluid-rock ratio (Fig. 23). In similar experiments with higher fluid-rock
ratio, kaolinite formed instead of illite (Fig. 24), due to there being insufficient
reactive solid to titrate the large volume of acid solution passing through the
system.
This work marks an important improvement in our understanding of the
controls on diagenesis and has particular implications for the Rotliegend
Sandstones referred to above. Kaolinite and illite are the most frequently
encountered authigenic clay cements in these reservoirs, with kaolinite
dominating in those with a better permeability. However, it would be unwise
to assume from a single account of experimental results that this is the only
control of kaolinite and illite distribution in sandstone.
184 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.23. Illite platelets experimentally grown on a feldspar grain in a 1 M KCI solution at

200°C. Bar = 2 pm.(From Huang et al., 1986.)
FIG.24. Kaolinite platelets experimentally grown on feldspar grain in acidic solution with
high fluid-rock ratio at 200°C and 500 bar. (From Huang et al.,1986.)
V. PALEONTOLOGY
The study of surface features of microfauna and microflora was one of the
earliest geological applications of SEM (e.g., Hay and Sandberg, 1967; Wise
and Hay, 1968a,b; Muir, 1970).With SEM, highly detailed observations could
be made of the surface features of microfauna and flora (particularly pollen
grains). This resulted in major improvements in classification and hence in
biostratigraphy. This in turn had important consequences for the petroleum
industry: better well correlation and better climatic and environmental
interpretations. Today SEM continues to be widely used in paleontological
studies.
PORESTUDIES
VI. QUALITATIVE
The purpose of most pore studies is to relate observed pore character to

reservoir quality and measured petrophysical parameters, and eventually, to
improve production efficiency. This section deals mainly with the qualitative
study of pores in 3D: quantitative 2D (two-dimensional)pore studies are dealt
with in the section on BSE imaging and image analysis.
A. Pore ClassiJication
Pores in sandstones may be either simple, as in a clean quartz sand, or they

may be partially filled with clay. According to Neasham (1977),common pore
types, in order of decreasing reservoir quality and pore aperture size, are:
1) discrete, loosely packed clay particles partially filling pores (Figs. 9
and 10);
2) clay lining pores (Fig. 14);
3) clay bridging from one sand grain to an adjacent sand grain (Fig. 25).
Soeder and Randolph (1984) used the SE imaging mode of polished plug
ends to identify pore types and relate them to core-analysis poroperm mea-
surements. Observations of the Mesa Verde Sandstone (a tight gas reservoir)
revealed three types of pores:
1) grain-supported pores;
2) solution pores connected by narrow intergranular slot pores;
3) matrix porosity.
Type 2) was the most frequently observed in the Mesa Verde Sandstone.
186 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.25. Pore-bridgingauthigenic illite. Bar = 1 pm.
Carbonates contain the following pore types:

1) interparticle (primary or secondary due to removal of cement);
2) intraparticle (primary, e.g., within a fossil fragment, or secondary due
to partial dissolution of a particle);
3) vuggy (very large, often due to dissolution);
4) moldic (due to complete dissolution of a fossil or fossil fragment).
B. Direct Observation
Porosity may be directly observed in the SEM using either fracture surface
samples or polished thin sections. BSE of polished thin sections is particularly
valuable for observing pore-filling cement and porosity distributions in 2D.
Cowan (1988) used BSE imaging in this manner to complement SE fracture
surface imaging and other standard petrographic techniques in a study of
the diagenetic textures in Carboniferous reservoir sandstones from the East
Midlands, United Kingdom.
Most oil companies use SEM to make simple visual assessment of poros-
ity. But it is permeability that determines whether a reservoir with good po-
rosity will flow, and this is hard to estimate using SEM. In one of the earliest
SEM pore studies, Weinbrandt and Fatt (1969) attempted simple permeabil-
ity measurements using SEM. This was probably the first study to produce
semiquantitative measurements from SEM images of porosity, pore sizes, and
the tube interconnection parameter, B,which is defined as the number of flow
channels connected to each flow channel. Stereo pairs were found particularly
useful for B-parameter measurement, because the additional depth perception
enabled the viewer to recognize pores partially obscured by overhang. The
connectivity has also been expressed as the number of throats connecting each
pore by Wardlaw and Cassan (1978),who called it the “coordination number.”
Timur et a/.(1971) used SEM to investigate the pore systems in a diverse group
of lithologies at magnifications, which for the time, were very high (over
x 10,000).The main purpose of this study was to investigate the extremely
small pores in shales and granites, which had not previously been imaged; they
did, however, also examine sandstone, limestone, and dolomite.
In a study of the Spirit River Sandstone (a tight gas sandstone), Walls
(1981) used qualitative SEM observations to interpret the measured permea-
bility data. He concluded that pore structure was the major factor in
determining permeability behavior, with clay content being of secondary
importance in the Spirit River Sandstone. Pore types identified were flat cracks
between quartz grains and a few open pores partially filled by illite. He
concluded that the flat cracks provide most of the permeability at low effective
pressures, however they would easily be closed by increasing overburden
pressure and may not be significant at reservoir depths.
SEM has been widely used to determine porosity types in fine-grained
carbonate reservoirs. In North Sea Cretaceous Chalk SE (Harper and Shaw,
1974; Rickards, 1974; Mapstone, 1975; Kaldi, 1982; and others), Matiisen and
Shehata (1987) showed that the two main porosity types in the Midale Beds of
the Tatagwa oil field, Southern Saskatchewan, could be related to reservoir
properties measured from core plugs and downhole logs. The Midale Beds
consist of a marly dolomite with good to excellent intercrystalline porosity
and a vuggy unit with intergranular, moldic, and vuggy porosity. Because of
the varying types of porosity and its varying areal distribution, these two
limestone units show a significant difference in reservoir characteristics.
Consequently, each one requires a separate approach with regard to
completion, production, and enhanced recovery.
C . Pore Casts
Pore casts are epoxy-resin replicas of pore space. Prior to the widespread
use of SEM in petroleum geology, pore casts had not been much used, because
light microscopes are inadequate for examining all but the largest pores and
pore throats and have a severely limited depth of focus.
Pore casts are undoubtedly the best technique available for evaluation of
pore shapes and their connectivity, but they have the disadvantage of not
188 J. M. HUGGETT
being quantitative (except in the case of a complex technique described below).

This is best resolved through integrated studies such as that by Pittman
(1979), who showed how SEM examination of pore casts and their corre-
sponding rocks can be integrated with mercury porosimetry data and optical
microscopy to evaluate the pore geometry and its influence on reservoir
productivity.
Pore casts are made by dissolving the rock in HCl and then HF after resin
impregnation of the pore space. Pittman and Dushatko (1970) showed, using
pore casts, that a continuous network of pores surrounds every grain in quartz
sandstones with a few percent or greater porosity. These interconnected pores
are commonly invisible in thin sections. Pittman and Dushatko observed that
the original pore network in a quartz sandstone shrinks without disruption of
continuity as a result of quartz overgrowth, but that this still leads to drastic
reductions in permeability. This important observation has subsequently been
supported by the observations of tight gas sandstone reservoirs by Walls
(1981) and Soeder and Randolph (1984). In contrast, they noted that the same
volume of intergranular cement (e.g., calcite) concentrated in fewer pores
would have less effect on permeability.
The distribution and flow of a nonwetting phase such as oil within a
reservoir is of interest to petroleum engineers. Through examination of
Wood’s metal pore casts obtained over a range of impregnation pressures,
Swanson (1977) was able to observe the extent to which a nonwetting fluid
was able to penetrate the pore network of the Permian San Andres Limestone.
At low impregnation pressures, only the largest, most accessible pores will be
impregnated, and as the pressure is increased, the width of the pore throats
that are penetrated decreases. From this information, the pores from which
hydrocarbons will most readily be expelled during a water flood, and those
that are likely to be bypassed may be identified. Moreover, estimates of the
relative proportions of various grades of pore allows rough calculation of the
amount of hydrocarbon that is recoverable. This is now a routine petroleum
engineering procedure.
In the San Andres, Swanson found pores 3 mm long and with diameters of
up to 80 pm (created by natural leaching of carbonate skeletal fragments),
which contributed greatly to the permeability (Fig. 26), whereas the dominant
dolomite matrix pore system with very small pores was bypassed by Wood’s
metal pore casts, except at the highest impregnation pressures (Fig. 27). The
implication is that the tubular pores offer pathways that, depending upon
wetting states, could bypass the smaller pores during a water flood, leaving
much oil behind.
Chalk has been the subject of numerous resin-impregnation pore studies.
This is because in some areas it is both an important hydrocarbon reservoir
and has a wide range of porosities and permeabilities. Even with the high
FIG.26. Wood's metal pore cast at low impregnation pressure.
FIG. 27. Wood's metal pore cast at high impregnation pressure.

190 J. M. HUGGETT
magnification offered by the SEM, direct visual examination of the pore space
provides little information about chalk microstructure. But SEM examination
of pore space casts in chalk can be very informative, particularly if stereo-pair
micrographs are used, because these make it possible to undertake
quantitative analyses of pore geometry. Walker (1978) impregnated chalk
samples from southern England using an epoxy resin. Patsoules and Cripps
(1982)were successful in producing resin casts of chalk, which replicated every
detail of the microstructure. Their SEM observations of complete pore
networks and internal microstructures in chalk showed that the accessible
pores are connected by tubes and sheetlike throats. Various pore shapes were
observed, including tabular, spherical ellipsoidal, polyhedral, discoid, and
ring-shaped (in section). Quantitative analysis of pore-size distribution of the
Upper Chalk from East Yorkshire (England) showed that the bulk of the pores
have a range between 0.3 pm and 10 pm, with a median size of 1.5 pm for
throats and 5.9 pm for pores. These results are rather different from those
obtained by Price et al. (1976), who, by using a mecury-injection method,
found pore diameters between 100 and 0.012 pm with a median size of 0.39 pm.
However, this could well reflect lithological variation, since the data of Price
et al. was obtained from the Middle rather than the Upper Chalk. Quantita-
tive measurements by Patsoules and Cripps of pore connectivity give values
of between 13 and 18 for the Upper Chalk (no units given). As should be ex-
pected, they found a strong inverse correlation of pore connectivity with per-
meability, rather than pore or pore-throat diameter. Walker (1978) records
different pore diameters for mercury injection and SEM measurements from
the same samples. In this case, the difference is probably due to the fact that
the mercury-injection measurements are calculated as spherical diameters,
whereas SEM observations indicate that the pores are lamellar.
Yadav et al. (1984)developed a technique for examining the distribution of
wetting and nonwetting phases in reservoir rock. They injected Berea
Sandstone with wetting (resin) and nonwetting (Wood’s metal) phases, which
could then be solidified. Serially cut, polished thin sections allowed them to
build up a picture of the 3D distribution of the phases. The nonwetting phase
engulfed some clay particles, but in most instances the clay did not allow the
metal to penetrate the entire pore space, because the capillary pressure was
low. The wetting phase penetrated into the kaolinite booklets, but only
partially into clays that were very fine-grained and in-situ replacement of
grains.
A rather more complicated method for examining the 3D structure of
pores was evolved by Straley and Minnis (1982).A resin-impregnated sample
was etched out completely by using acid and replaced with a second resin of
contrasting backscatter coefficient. Replicas produced by this means were
sliced with a microtome to give sections just a few microns thick. Serial
sectioning revealed the 3D structure. Although a much more complicated
procedure to follow than pore casting, this technique has the advantage that
the data is readily digitized and hence may be used quantitatively. However,
due to the complex and time-consuming sample preparation, this technique
has not been widely adopted by the petroleum industry.
D. Fractures in Mudstone Reservoirs
Many economic gas reservoirs exist in shales in the United States, though
not worldwide. In these reservoirs, fractures are the crucial conduits.
SEM observations of shales suggest that microfracturing does not make a
significant contribution to mudrock porosity (Nuhfer et al., 198 1; Huggett,
1988). Natural macrofractures enhance production flow rates, but appear to
provide a minor contribution to total reservoir storage volume (Nuhfer and
Vinopal, 1978; Vinopal et al., 1979; Vinopal, 1981). Most gas encountered in
macrofractures is depleted during the first few hours of production (Schettler,
1979). Nonetheless, the presence of natural fractures in gas wells can improve
production, and the completion of such wells by hydraulic fracturing is a
proven method for increasing production.
SEM study of the surfaces of natural fractures has helped to explain why
some fractures are associated with increased open flow to wells, whereas others
are not (Vinopal et al., 1979). Fractures with high open flow invariably have
surfaces whose original fabric is undamaged (Fig. 28). In contrast, those
FIG.28. Natural fracture in mudstone, the original fabric is undamaged.

192 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.29. Slickensliding on natural fault in mudstone.
natural fractures that appear to have no association with enhanced gas

production reveal surfaces whose fabric has been destroyed (Fig. 29). In the
former type of fracture, a tension stress appears to create failure of the indi-
vidual particles, so that the fabric remains open and undamaged. In the
latter type, the fracture surface is glazed, which in organic-rich shales appears
to be an effective seal (Nuhfer et al., 1981). The sealing properties of such
fractures have not been tested for a wide variety of shales, so their overall
importance is unclear. Nuhfer et al. (1981) showed that laboratory prepara-
tion damage to shales is analogous to that induced by drilling wells and by
slickensiding on faults in thinly laminated shales as shown in Fig. 29. The rock
permeability is damaged by smearing of clay across the cut surface. Con-
versely, artificial tensile fractures have pores open to the fracture. More petro-
physical studies of samples with induced damage are required to measure
the extent of the permeability damage.
VII. PETROPHYSICS
AND RESERVOIR
PRODUCTION
A . Introduction
The 3D relationships between grains, clays, and pores as determined by

SEM aid the interpretation of porosity and permeability and other petrophys-
ical measurements, and may aid in predicting core flood efficiency. The
potential for problems involving clay swelling or migration of loosely attached
fine particles may be qualitatively assessed from SEM images. SEM of fracture
surfaces is particularly useful for these types of studies because it clearly shows
the pore surfaces exposed to fluids, rather than a section through the grains
and their coatings as is seen in thin sections. The technique also provides an
insight into fracture mechanisms and the rock-fluid interactions resulting
from real or experimental hydrocarbon production operations. Experimental
studies have the advantage that the rock sample may be examined before and
after fluid flow tests.
B. Core Flood Tests
Acid stimulation of the reservoir is undertaken to enhance permeability. In

the near wellbore region, acidization is often undertaken to remove drilling
mud that has invaded the rock and reduced the permeability. A number of
approaches have been tried using SEM in conjunction with core flow tests, to
evaluate the effects of acidization and other treatments used in drilling and
production. If only the effluent is of interest, then the filter on which it is
deposited can be coated and directly observed in the SEM. The examples
below summarize the range of procedures that have been adopted. Hancock
(1978a) examined the effluent from North Sea sandstone plugs that had been
injected with seawater. The purpose of this study was to determine whether
their were any deleterious effects of injecting unfiltered seawater into the
reservoir. He found that pores became plugged with fines, which by SEM
observations of the filters were revealed to be planktonic particles from the
seawater. Hancock showed that whether the particles form a filter cake or
penetrate into the reservoir and block the pore depends on the relative size
of the particles and the pore-throat diameters. The most important plugging
constituents proved to be coccoliths of 3-5 pm diameter, which unfor-
tunately are difficult to filter out from seawater, though this can now be
achieved.
The simplest method for examination of the rock both before and after
flooding involves cutting pairs of plugs, using one of each pair for the
treatment and the other as a control. Both samples are then examined in the
SEM. This approach was employed by Pittman and Thomas (1978) to
examine the effects of flooding sandstone core with a surfactant-water
mixture. The original mineralogy as indicated by the control plug included
partial grain coats of smectite. In the treated sample, the smectite had become
detached and had migrated into pore throats and partially blocked them,
thereby reducing permeability. A similar method involves the removal of a
slice from either end of a core plug before the plug is subjected to flow (Boyer
194 J. M. HUGGETT
and Wu, 1983).This has the advantage over the first method that there are less
likely to be differences between the two ends of one plug than there are
between two plugs. The slices are examined in the SEM to determine the grain
and pore structure prior to treatment. After the flow test, the treated core plug
is examined using the untreated ends as a reference for evaluating changes. The
plugging of pores and dissolution effects may be observed, but because the
same pores and grains are not examined before and after the test, minor
changes, such as small-scale calcite dissolution, may not be detected. Nor is it
possible to be sure whether an open pore was previously filled with loose
particles or not.
Kantorowicz et al. (1986) used SEM to examine sandstones, partially
cemented by thin quartz overgrowth and siderite, before and after acidization.
They found that acidization removed siderite and chlorite, with a consequent
slight rise in porosity. However, the dissolution released fine clays and silt-
sized quartz grains into the pore space. This countered any improvement in
permeability resulting from the siderite and chlorite dissolution. In addition,
the thin quartz overgrowths were etched, resulting in an increase in the
proportion of loose grains. These results indicate that acidization could result
in either production of sand and other fines with the hydrocarbons, or the fines
could cause minor blockage of the pore throats around the wellbore. Which of
these happens will depend upon whether the fines are predominantly smaller
or larger than the pore throats. Neasham (1980)showed that whilst kaolinite is
stable in the presence of acid, because it is frequently loosely attached to grain
surfaces, it has the potential to be mobilized when fluid flow occurs during
production. Kantorowicz et al. (1986) also examined sandstone core plugs
before and after water injection. Permeabilities measured on the same plugs
were lower after injection, but some of the loss was reversible. The authors
concluded that the reversible permeability loss was due to fines migration, and
the irreversible loss was due to expansion of swelling clay.
The effect of brines saturated with CO, on limestone reservoirs was
investigated and observed by Sayegh et al. (1987) and Krause et al. (1987) using
SEM. The core floods were conducted in both “circulating” and “once-
through” modes. The measured permeability changes during flooding ranged
from large increases to decreases. All postflood cores showed dissolution
textures. Large crystal faces display rhombic corner- and staircase-etching
features, whilst etching in micrites gives the rock a chalky appearance, which
close up was seen to be due to micron-sized needles and abundant crystal-
shaped pits. SEM observations also showed that the brines etched and
followed preferred paths, forming a braided network of variably sized tubules.
Insoluble minerals such as quartz and illite bound to the matrix and mixed
with drilling fines were released during the etching process. These migrated
and, in some cases, became lodged in constrictions. Hence, as with acidization,
the result of using carbonated brines, from the point of view of enhanced oil
recovery, may or may not be beneficial.
McLane and Scott (1983)also used SEM to study the effects of acidization
on reservoir rocks, but in an indirect manner. They were concerned with
evaluating the maximum HCl strength that may be used in acid stimulation of
a highly fractured, slightly dolomitic sandy limestone from the Mission
Canyon formation, North Dakota. The rock was characterized through
detailed SEM/x-ray analysis and optical microscopy. One-gram samples were
tested for acid solubility by placing them in 5 % , 15%, and 20% HCI at room
temperature and allowing them to react for three hours. The fines remaining
after dissolution were examined by SEM and analyzed by using an EDS
attachment. They were found to consist of quartz, illite, illite-smectite, albite,
and incompletely dissolved dolomite and anhydrite. The proportion of sample
remaining after acid treatment (i.e., the fines) decreased with acid strength,
thereby confirming that low-strength acid is most suitable for acid stimulation
because it releases fewer fines than does high-strength acid.
A system whereby the same point in a sample was examined before and
after treatment was used by Thomas et al. (1976). The samples were reference
marked before examination so that clay particles could be relocated. After
preliminary examination in the SEM, the samples were stripped of their
conductive coating (aluminium rather than gold or carbon was used for the
coating because it is easily removed by acid), treated, recoated, and re-
examined with the SEM. Thomas et al. (1976) used this technique to evaluate
the effects of commonly used stimulation (HCI and mud acid) and clay
stabilization treatments (hydroxy aluminium and zirconium oxychloride) on
Berea Sandstone. Results showed that on prolonged exposure, hydroxy
aluminium forms extensive deposits on clay surfaces and produces fusion of
platelets. Zirconium oxychloride, however, was found to stabilize clays
without buildup of reaction products on the clay surface. Mud acid was found
to rapidly dissolve clays within the matrix of the rock, with negligible attack
upon the sand grains.
The technique described above has two disadvantages. The samples
examined are not those used in the flow tests, instead they are saturated with
the solutions, whilst the core flow test samples are simultaneously flushed with
the same solutions. The effect of flow (as opposed to saturation) on particle
movement and filtrate straining can therefore not be evaluated. The other
disadvantage is that the aluminium coating is stripped with a 28% HCI
solution. Thomas et al. demonstrated that this caused no morphological
damage to kaolinite or illite, but this would not be the case for chlorite or
carbonate minerals. Also it was not known whether the surface chemical
properties were changed.
Coulter et al. (1983) and Rothbard et al. (1987)overcame these problems by
196 J. M. HUGGETT
clearly marking each end of the core plug with locating marks and by
examining the sample uncoated before treatment. To prevent charging, this
was done at 5-kV accelerating potential. Coulter et al. (1983) used this
technique to examine the effect of fracturing fluid on permeability. The
permeability of each sample was measured before and after treatment with 2%
KCI solution in the pH range 4.7 to 11.5. They found only very slight
permeability changes and negligible change in the surfaces observed with the
SEM (minimal in the range pH 7 to 9). Rothbard et al. (1987) examined
uncoated reservoir core plugs before and after formation of a siderite
mudcake, a 6% HCI preflush and a 2% H F acid wash. The mudcake occluded
many pores at the point of contact, indicating mud invasion (Fig. 30). The 6%
HCI was not found to be effective at removing the mud (Fig. 31); the sub-
sequent 2% H F flood was, although it also caused pitting of the framework
grains, especially feldsparts.
SEM is also an ideal tool for the examination of effluent from core flood
tests, or for “real” fines produced with water or hydrocarbons. The particles
are readily mounted on a stub; or if they have been collected on a filter, this
may be attached directly to a stub. This technique may be used to examine the
size, shape, and mineralogy of fines (Muecke, 1978; Ward et al., 1981; Udell
and Lofy, 1985). Software is now available for both physical and chemical
quantification of fine particles. By adding in chemical criteria for mineral
identification, it is possible to obtain output that combines mineralogy and
FIG.30. Berea Sandstone with drilling mud coating grain surfaces and bridging pores.
FIG.31. Berea Sandstone after mud treatment and subsequent 6% HC1 treatment.
size data, either plotted as area/volume or as the number of particles in each

category. Now that fines can be quantified, their study is likely to become an
important SEM application.
Crocker et al. (1983) used SEM to obtain rapid analyses of pore size, pore
geometry, pore size distribution, and diagenesis of sandstones used in ion-
exchange capacity experiments. Understanding ion-exchange processes in
reservoir rock is an important part of understanding the adhesion of oil to
rock on a molecular scale, which could assist selection of chemicals for oil
displacement in tertiary hydrocarbon recovery. They found:
1) ion-exchange capacities of rocks are directly related to the type of clay
and its distribution among the sand grains in the rock;
2) ion-exchange capacity and surface area are related to the distribution
of the clays in the rock matrix.
C . Scale Evaluation
A minor, but important, use of SEM in petroleum production has been the
examination of pipe scales (Figs. 32 and 33). The surface textures of these can
give valuable indications as to the type of fluid that deposited the scale and the
flow conditions under which deposition occurred. SEM also provides a rapid
means of obtaining an x-ray analysis from which the nature of the constituent
minerals can often be identified, as scales rarely have a complex mineralogy.
198 J. M. HUGGETT
FIG.32. Barytes scale. Bar = 10 pm.
FIG.33. Iron oxide pipe scale from an oil terminal. Bar = 10 pm,
Scale formation is a problem in injection and production wells and in the
associated process equipment. It is frequently the unwanted byproduct of
seawater injection into a reservoir to maintain well pressure; either the pH and
temperature change may precipitate insoluble salts from the seawater, or the
mixing of seawater and the formation water may cause precipitation of solids.
Both mechanisms can result in damage to the near-well-bore formation in
injection wells. In production wells, the associated pipes may also be affected,
particularly by sulfur-bearing hydrocarbons.
Read and Ringen (1982) used SEM coupled with x-ray diffraction (XRD)
to observe laboratory tests designed to evaluate the extent of formation
damage that could result from scales formed within a North Sea reservoir
scheduled for major seawater injection. As a result of this study, they were able
to prepare remedial and preventative (scale inhibitors) strategies for the real
operation. Porous alumina cores (used because they are temperature and
pressure stable) were first injected with reservoir formation water. They were
then injected with formation water and seawater, from separate ports to
prevent scaling of the outside of the core before the waters entered into the
pores. SEM examination revealed pores blocked by large euhedral crystals
of strontian barite [(BaSr)SO,]. These are mainly large planar crystals,
sometimes twinned (in cores where a high proportion of seawater was injected,
or stacked (Fig. 32). Where the injection fluid is dominated by formation
water, well-developed rosettes of crystals are more frequent. The worst
permeability loss occurred for blends of 90% formation water and 10% sea
water; the loss increased with decrease in the percentage of seawater injected.
SEM has also been successfully used to determine the composition,
textures, and growth history of pipe scales. These commonly consist of
carbonates, sulphates, or iron oxides/hydroxides. Morphologies include
feathery gypsum, baryte (Fig. 32), or (BaSr)SO, crystals, blocky porous baryte
or calcite, arld many other crystal morphologies that can be used as indicators
of the chemical environment of deposition. Iron oxide/hydroxide scales often
include siderite or sulfur crystals and have a globular (Fig. 33), vuggy, or
vesicular form, with abundant gas/fluid escape holes visible with the SEM.
BSE microscopy has proved particularly useful in this respect for distinguish-
ing zones of CaCO, scale from BaSO, or (BaSR)SO, and for unravelling the
sequence of chemical events that led to the scale formation.
D. Qualitative Porosity Measurement
SEM has found widespread use in the petroleum industry as a means of

making rapid and simple qualitative measurements of reservoir porosity. Such
data is now routinely used to improve interpretation of log and core analy-
sis data, and thin-section measurement of visible porosity. In particular,
200 J. M. HUGGETT
potentially productive zones in carbonate reservoirs may easily be missed

because log suites fail to indicate the extent and nature of effective porosity. In
an example from the Silurian Interlake Formation, Vida field, northeastern
Montana, Powell and Stevenson (1981) showed that large moldic pores
isolated by a tight dolomite matrix, and abundant microporosity developed in
pellets and carbonate muds may yield anomalously high log porosities, which
taken in isolation would be misleading. Similarly, in oomoldic limestones (i.e.,
limestones that contain molds of ooids) such as the Jurassic Smackover
Formation, Texas, can exhibit high resistivity, high porosity values and low
calculated water saturation (which is frequently taken to indicate high oil
saturation), yet have low permeability and produce water with little or no oil.
The ooids in the Smackover were cemented by a fine-grained calcite cement;
the ooids were then dissolved leaving large, poorly interconnected pores,
hence the low permeability despite the high porosity. Mitchell-Tapping (1983)
demonstrated by using SEM that the Smackover high porosity and low water
saturation was due to the relatively low surface areas of the oomoldic pores.
There have also been instances of over-estimation of the irreducible water
saturation for specific zones of the Smackover (Turner, 1983), which again has
been interpreted with the aid of SEM. In these zones, the recrystallized ooids
have rough irregular surfaces as well as intercrystalline porosity within the
particles. Water adheres to these grain surfaces and occupies some of the
intercrystalline porosity in hydrocarbon-productive zones. This results in high
water saturation values despite the presence of hydrocarbons in the pores.
Using log values to pick diagenetically altered zones (confirmed by SEM
data), Almon and Schultz (1979) also determined that anomalous water
saturation values are related to large pore-surface areas, for the Cretaceous
Muddy Formation (Powder River Basin). Clay-rimmed pores have particu-
larly high surface areas, and hence may give rise to especially high water
saturation measurements. Similary in carbonate reservoir rocks, it is impor-
tant to determine the relative amounts of micro- and macroporosity. When
the reservoir has approximately equal amounts of each and the macropores
are interconnected, bound water in micropores can yield high water satura-
tions based on log calculations. This in turn may lead to underestimation of
hydrocarbon production potential.
Kieke and Hartmann (1973) used SEM to assess the effects of microporos-
ity (defined as pores < .5 mm; Pittman, 1971) on water saturation. By using
pore geometry in formation evaluation and by relating their findings to log
responses, they determined that micropores may account for many anomalous
results, in particular high values for log-derived porosities for reservoirs that
have low measured permeabilities or low hydrocarbon flow rates.
A rather different, but equally important clay mineral effect on measure-
ments of reservoir properties was reported by Heaviside et al. (1983). They
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY 20 1
found puzzling differences between reservoir permeability derived from well
testing data and laboratory-measured core permeabilities. In the oil zone, well
test data indicated reservoir permeability to be about 1.2 times greater than
that from routine core data, rising to 20-30 times greater in the water zone, yet
initial SEM core studies showed no significant petrographic differences
between the oil and water zone. Subsequent permeability tests on preserved
core samples that were prepared by critical-point drying (see section on sample
preparation) gave values comparable with the well test data. This suggested
that it was the drying process that was responsible for the high permeability to
gas. This was confirmed by SEM examination of critical-point-dried core
chips. These show large amounts of filamentous illite clay, spread throughout
the pore space (similar to that shown in Fig. 3). This clay had not been
observed in the air-dried samples because it had collapsed onto the grains, and
being very thin particles (a few nm at most), they had no relief detectable
within the resolution limits of the SEM (as in Fig. 4). The much greater
discrepancy between the well test and laboratory permeability data for the
water zone, compared with the oil zone, was found to be due to the presence of
greater amounts of filamentous illite in the water zone. The actual amount of
clay is not great in either zone, but its effect on permeability is considerable
because this clay has an extremely high surface area to volume ratio,
combined with morphology that results in a tortuous pore system.
E. Stimulation by Fracturing
The SEM has seen increasing use as a means of studying fracture

mechanisms in rock since the pioneering work by Brace et al. (1972). Most
subsequent work has concentrated on fracture mechanisms. More recently,
SEM has been used to examine explosively induced damage in sandstones, in
order to test such fracturing processes as a means of assessing their suitability
for reservoir stimulation. Results have not been promising. The absence of
long fractures from the gas-bearing sandstones observed by Durham (1981)
after experimental explosive loading suggests that reservoir stimulation by this
means is unlikely to be profitable.
VIII. FUTURE
DEVELOPMENTS
SEM began as a tool for making qualitative observations and has evolved
into one capable of sophisticated analytical measurements, which are
increasingly automated. This is reflected in the increasing use of SEM to
obtain analyses of individual particles, quantification by point counting, and
202 J. M. HUGGETT
pore measurements. Manual point counting of thin sections could become a

thing of the past. The accuracy will be increased once robust means are devised
for identification of minerals, and the precision will be improved because
many more particles may be measured in less user time.
The development and improvement of BSE and CL detectors have meant
that chemical variations can be observed, and improved resolution has
recently enabled the detailed examination of fine-grained rocks. The detailed
study of fine-grained rocks is an SEM application that will undoubtedly
become more frequently used in the petroleum industry, both by those
interested in the diagenesis of shales and its influence on the diagenesis of
surrounding rocks and by engineers investigating the effects of drilling and
drilling fluids upon shales. The study of quartz grains and cements is
beginning to benefit from recent improvements in CL detectors, and no doubt
other minerals will too.
A disadvantage of SEM has been that three-dimensional observations
have always been limited to qualitative measurements of pores and particles
exposed on fractured surfaces. Now a software package is available for
measurement of depth in stereo pairs. If this can be combined with automated
image analysis of rocks and pore casts, it will be a significant advance in
accurate pore and pore throat measurements.
Petroleum geology is continually becoming a more numerical subject. So
long as the development of techniques, such as those outlined, continues to
meet the demand for new types of measurement and improved accuracy, SEM
will remain an important tool in the industry.
REFERENCES
Aissaoui, D. M., Coniglio, M., James, N. P., and Purser, B. H. (1986).In “Reef Diagenesis” (J. H.
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Signal Analysis in Seismic Studies
J . F. BOYCE
L . R . MURRAY
Wheatstone Laboratory
King’s College. London
United Kingdom
I . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
I1. The Wave Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
A . The Force Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
B. Dilatational Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
C. Shearstress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
D. Derivation of the Wave Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
E. Solution of the Wave Equation for Uniform Density . . . . . . . . . . 220
F. An Ideal Seismic Pressure Impulse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
G . Absorption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
111. Wave Propagation across Plane Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
A . Propagation across a Liquid-Solid Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
B. The Generation of Evanescent Waves at a Liquid-Solid Interface . . . . . 235
C. Wave Propagation across a Solid-Solid Interface . . . . . . . . . 236
D . Numerical Examples at a Solid-Solid Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
IV. Preprocessing and Prestack Deconvolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
A . Dix’sEquation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
B. Noise Characterisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
C. F-K Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
D. Multiple Suppression and Primary Reflection Enhancement . . . . . . . 254
E. Predictive Deconvolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
V. Velocity- Field Determination and Stacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
A. Stacking Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
B. Normal Moveout and Stacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
VI. Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
A . Geometrical Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
B. DipMoveout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
C. The Common Midpoint Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
D . Fourier Space Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
E. Finite-Difference Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
VII . Amplitude Variation with Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
A . Approximations to the Zoeppritz Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
B. Subsurface Parameter Estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
209
Copynght Q 1990 by Academic Press. Inc.
All nghts of reproduction in any form reserved
ISBN 0-1 2-014677-0
2 10 J. F. BOYCE AND L. R. MURRAY
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
A. The Wiener Filter for Common Midpoint SeismicGathers . . . . . . . . . 308
B. Ray-Acoustic Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
C. Stacking by Maximisation of the Posterior Probability Distribution . . . . . . 313
Acknowledgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 16
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 16
I. INTRODUCTION
Seismic exploration geophysics is concerned with the location and

identification of economically useful deposits. This objective requires the
determination of the geometrical structure of the earth’s subsurface.
Petroleum deposits originate from carbonaceous source rocks, from which,
due to their mobility and relatively lesser density, they rise, until trapped by an
impervious cap rock. The aim of petroleum exploration is to locate such traps,
where the deposit forms a gas, oil and water sequence. Significant deposits
mostly occur in sedimentary basins, where the original strata occur in layers.
Traps may be caused by subsequent deformation of the layers, occuring, for
example, as an anticlinal cap rock formation, or as a closed high point of a
dipping layer that is truncated by a fault. In favourable circumstances the gas-
oil or oil-water interface may be directly observable as a “bright-spot’’ in a
seismic section. In any event, complete three-dimensional information is
necessary. Although other methods of exploration such as gravimetric,
magnetic and electrical play important roles, the primary technique, especially
for hydrocarbon exploration, is that of acoustic seismic reflection surveying.
From an imaging viewpoint, the main characteristics of seismic surveying
are as follows. An amplitude is observed rather than an intensity; in this it
resembles radar imaging. There is a well established, and approximately linear,
theory underyling the physical phenomena. Although the initial signal-to-
noise ratio is poor, this is compensated by the ability to gather multifold data,
both multisignal and multireceiver, thereby permitting the application of
statistical techniques without the necessity for ergodicity assumptions. The
problem is three-dimensional, with the large overhead of data storage and
processing that it entails. As in astronomical imaging, exact comparison with a
defined experimental configuration is not practicable. Comparison is, of
course, made with the results of borings; but these occur only at a few
separated points. The inferences must be consistent with deductions from
other survey techniques and, most importantly, be geologically acceptable.
This latter condition imposes stringent conditions upon the results and is the
point where the experience of the interpreter becomes predominant. In fact,
SIGNAL ANALYSIS IN SEISMIC STUDIES 21 1
the task of a seismic processor is to present the information to the interpreter
in as useful a manner as possible. This may, for example, mean accepting a
lower signal-to-noise ratio than would otherwise be possible, if, by so doing,
the “character,” i.e., the fine structure, of a particular reflection horizon is
preserved. Similarities between this and diagnostic medical image processing
are apparent.
A typical seismic experiment, or “shot” (Dobrin, 1976; Aki and Richards;
1980; Claerbout, 1985), consists of the generation of an impulse of sound
energy (either an actual impulse or one synthesised via time convolution of an
extended signal) at a point at or near to the earth’s surface. The acoustic
response to such an impulse is recorded on a linear array of geophones. The
geophones record either the vertical component of velocity, if land based, or
the variation of pressure, if sea based. The received signal lasts for about 5
seconds and is sampled at 2-millisecond intervals with a digital word length of
15 bits. A geophone array typically contains 96 geophones with an interphone
spacing of 30 meters. The trend is to larger arrays and smaller spacings. Each
geophone record, or “trace,” contains 38 Kbits. Each shot therefore generates
some 3.6 Mbits of data, known collectively as a “shot gather.” The seismic
survey proceeds by shifting the source and geophone array along the array
direction (or seismic line) and by repeating the experiment. Each kilometer of
survey generates approximately 100 Mbits of data. When account is taken of
the necessity to repeat the complete sequence along parallel seismic lines in
order to cover the two dimensions of the earth‘s surface, the magnitude of the
data handling problem becomes apparent.
Sound energy propagates within the earth according to the wave equation
for elastic solids (Kennet, 1983) where both longitudinal and transverse modes
of excitation are supported, in a manner determined by the elastic moduli and
density of the subsurface material. The waves are thus subject to the usual
phenomena of reflection, refraction, diffraction, and attenuation, but with the
additional complication of mode conversion at impedance discontinuities.
Their velocities lie in a range from 1500 ms-’ to 6000 ms-’ with wavelengths
from 30 m to 200 m, hence the corresponding frequencies are typically from
5 Hz to 200 Hz. Aliasing effectsdue to the finite sampling lengths in space and
time are an ever-present problem. Since the 5 seconds of geophone record
represents a two-way travel time, information is being obtained from depths
down to 5 or 6 kilometers.
Transversely polarised waves generally attenuate more rapidly than
longitudinal excitations (Ricker, 1977; Ben-Menachem and Singh, 1979). As a
result, except for certain specific phenomena, they may, as a first approxi-
mation, be ignored, though their possible presence must be born in mind
during any detailed interpretation. The space-time variation of the (pressure)
wavefield, p ( x , y, z, t), at position r and time t is then determined by the bulk
212 J. F. BOYCE A N D L. R. MURRAY
modulus K(r) and density p(r), via the equation
In sedimentary basins, the regions where petroleum deposits are normally

encountered, the subsurface is stratified, with large variations of density
occurring only at the stratum interfaces. These are, in general, dipping.
However, even where faulting has occurred the structure remains locally
stratified. For the region within a stratum, the above equation becomes
approximately
W r , M r , t ) = 0, (2)
with
(3)
where
is the acoustic velocity.

The exploration problem then becomes that of determining the intra-
stratum velocities together with the interface positions and fault boundaries.
Acoustic energy is reflected only from points where there is a sharp change
of acoustic impedance, this being the product of density times acoustic velo-
city, and in significant amounts only when the interface is locally continuous.
The standard approach (Claerbout, 1976) is to first determine the velocity
field and then the stratigraphic structure. The two problems are not truly
separable in any realistic situation; however, the amount of processing that
would be necessary to solve the complete problem is at present economically
infeasable, though this may change in the not so distant future. Two general
principles of the processing system are, firstly, to reduce the volume of data
to no more than that which is necessary for exploration purposes, secondly,
to apply only computationally simple algorithms to the full data set, with the
algorithm complexity increasing as the volume of data is reduced during the
processing sequence (Berkhout, 1982,1984).
The objective of seismic processing is a three-dimensional map of the
earth’s acoustic reflectivity as a function of position, together with the cor-
responding acoustic velocity field, and any additional lithographic charac-
teristics that may be accessible, for example from the variation of reflectivity
with angle of reflection. As will be discussed in the sequel, this requires that the
SIGNAL ANALYSIS IN SEISMIC STUDIES 213
seismic field be migrated, i.e., continued in space and time. The complete
processing sequence may be conveniently considered as three successive
subsequences:
(1) Preprocessing and prestack deconvoiution.
(2) Velocity determination and signal-to-noise ratio enhancement via
stacking.
(3) Migration.
We shall give only an overview of each topic, referring the reader, at
appropriate points, to the more exhaustive reviews that exist within the seis-
mic literature. There have, however, been some recent developments, firstly
in the area of velocity determination and stacking, known as “prestack partial
migration,” “offset continuation,” or “dip moveout,” and secondly in the di-
rect detection of oil and gas deposits via “bright-spot’’ identification, and
characterisation, known as “amplitude variation with offset,” which we shall
cover in more detail.
In the interest of consistency and completeness, we begin in Section I1 by
deriving the equation for acoustic waves in a homogeneous isotropic medium
for the domain of linear elastic theory. The assumption of homogeneity
permits an explicit formal solution as a Fourier integral expansion of
progressive plane waves, both forwards and backwards, and having both
dilatational and shear degrees of freedom, together with corresponding phase
velocities. The analysis of shear wave data, with the objective of determining
lithological characteristics, is likely to be a field of development. The prop-
agation of seismic energy is then considered by describing the form of an
idealised pressure impulse, or Ricker wavelet, together with the effect upon
it of attenuation, both due to spherical divergence and absorption due to
frictional effects.
Since we shall later be concerned with the variation of reflectivity with
angle as an indicator of the presence of hydrocarbon deposits, Section 111
discusses the incidence of dilatational waves on a liquid-solid and a solid-
solid planar interface, respectively, derives expressions for the corresponding
transmission and reflection coefficients,and exhibits their angular dependence
for representative interfaces.
Preprocessing and prestack deconvolution is discussed in Section IV.
A standard reflection experiment in the ray approximation (geometrical
acoustics) is introduced, leading to the formation of “shot,” “geophone,”
and “common midpoint” gathers. Examination of such gathers reveals the
potential of utilising signal coherence across a gather as an analytical
tool. The various sources of coherent noise are described together with the
techniques of deconvolutional filtering that have been developed for their
discrimination.
214 J. F. BOYCE AND L. R. MURRAY
The assumption of a horizontally layered model of the earth in Section V

permits the introduction of the concept of a stacking velocity via Dix’s
equation relating time delay to source-receiver offset distance. The resulting
normal moveout transformation serves both to define the stacking velocity
field and to establish the stacking procedure whereby a common midpoint
gather of traces is reduced to a single optimal trace that most closely resembles
the ideal signal that would be recorded by a source-receiver pair normally
above the reflection location.
The process of migration, which relaxes the preceding assumption of
horizontal layering, is described in Section VI. After demonstrating the
necessity for migration, the method of prestack partial migration is presented.
The wave equation is expressed in the common midpoint coordinate frame
and then utilised to continue the observed amplitude, which is obtained at zero
depth for all significant time delays, to the required amplitude, which is needed
at zero time for all significant depths, using either Fourier-based or direct
methods.
Section VII then contains a discussion of how “amplitude variation with
offset,” i.e., the variation of the reflectivity with the angle of incidence of the
wave, may be utilised to characterise and hence locate “bright-spots” which
are indicative of gas-oil interfaces.
11. THEWAVEEQUATION
A. The Force Law
The wave equation is an expression of Newton’s second law, relating the

transient deformation induced by a stress, together with the constituent
relations between stress and strain within an elastic material.
Consider an isotropic material of density p and within it an elemental
cuboid with centroid (x,y,z) and having sides Sx, Sy, 6z parallel to the
coordinate axes (see Fig. 1).Let a, be the traction, i.e., the force per unit area on
a surface with normal in the x direction, with similar definitions for ay and a=,
and let u(x, y, z ) be the deformation of the material induced by the stress. The
increase across the elemental volume of the component of the force in the x
direction due to a, is
[ ( + ”2” - ( -,? )]
axx x -, y , 2 a, x- y, z 6 y S z = -a%,
6x6y6z.
ax (5)
Similarly, the component in the x direction due to a,, is
[ay,(x, y + 2, z) - ayx(x, y - 2,z)] 6 x 6 =

~ da nyySx x 6 y S z , (6)
FIG. 1. Traction across a cuboid.
while that due to a, is
[ (
a,, x, y, z +- F) -a
,,
( x, y, z - -
F)] 6 x 6 y = -a%,
6xdy6z.
ax
(7)
Hence the total net force in the x direction acting upon the elemental volume
of the material is
{% +%
ay + %aZ) d x 6 y 6 r .
By Newton's second law, the increase in the force acting on the two faces,
i.e., the net force, equals the rate of change of momentum in the x direction,
therefore
and hence
Due to isotropy analogous equations apply for u, and u,,
and
B. Dilatational Stress
If we consider the stress induced within the material by a deformation that

+
is represented by the coordinate transformation x --f x’ u, then the as-
sociated change of elemental volume is
6x 6y 6z --+ 6x’ 6y‘ 6z’
where the Jacobian of the transformation is
-
to first order in the derivatives. Hence the fractional increase in volume is V u,
and assuming that the material responds elastically, this will induce a cor-
responding outwards pressure on each face of the cuboid. Therefore,
a
, = ayy= cTzz = AV ’ u, (15)
where 1 is the dilatational elastic constant of the material. This is the con-
stitutive equation of dilatational stress.
C. Shear Stress
Suppose that a shear stress acts as shown in Fig. 2. Under the action of the
above deformation, the point A(x, y, z) transforms to A’(x’, y’,z’), with
similarly B(x + dx, y, z) transforms to B’(x’,y’, z’), where

x’ = x‘(x + Gx,y,z) = x + u, + 2)
( +-1 6x
y’ = y’(x + Gx,y,z) = y + uy + 2auax6 x (17)
z’ = z‘(x + 6x,y,z) = 2 + u, + -6x

8%
ax
A B X
FIG.2. Shear stress.
while C(x, y + 6y, z) transforms to C’(x‘,y’, z’) with

XI = x’(x, y + 6y, z) = x + u, + -6y
au,
aY
y’ = y’(x, y + 6y, z ) = y + uy + (1 + -
?)6 y (18)
au
2’ = z’(x, y + 6y, 2) =z + u, + -2
6y
aY
One effect of the deformation is to introduce a shear s t r e s s t h e y s c t i o n
which is proportional to the scalar product of the vectors A’C’ and A‘B’. The
corresponding stress is
oxy6x 6y = pA‘C’ .A’B’
d -
where p is the shear stress constant of the material.

It follows that, to first order in the derivatives,
oxy= + $),
and due to the isotropy of the medium, the corresponding relations that are
obtained by cyclic permutations of x, y, and z apply also.
Now the deformation of BD relative to AC, viz., the change in length of

AB, is accompanied by the stress
d d A +
axx(Sx)2= p{A’B’ * A’B’ - AB * A B ) (22)
and therefore, to first order,
together with its cyclic permutations.

3%
aYy= 2 p - ; a,, = 21.1-. (24)
aY aZ
Equations (20), (21), and (23) are the constitutive equations of shear stress. The
total stress is the sum of the dilatational Eq. 15 and shear contributions.
Notice that, if the stress is due to a pressure field p , then, considering the
component in the x direction and combining Eq. (15) and (23),
-p = AV * u + 2p-.8%
ax (25)
Upon averaging over the three directions,

- p = K V . u,
where
K = (1 + $,U) (27)
is the bulk elastic modulus of the material.
There is therefore a direct correspondence between a dilatational distor-
-
tion V u of an elastic material and an accompanying pressure field p .
D. Derivation of the Wave Equation
Upon utilising the constitutive equations of dilatational and shear stress in

the force equation for the x-component of deformation, we obtain
”i
ax 1 ( V * u) + 2PdU.j
ax +; { P ( Z + $)}
+ f{ P ( Z + $)] = ; {P%)
If we assume that the material is homogeneous, then the elastic constants are
independent of position. This assumption will not be valid in general, since the
elastic constants may be depth dependent. It should be noted, however, that
the density occurs in terms to which time derivatives are applied, not space
derivatives. From homogeneity, it follows that
+
i.e.,
a
(A + p)-(V
ax
* u) + pvzu, = -
:t{ p-
2}.
By cyclic symmetry in x, y and z, it follows that
(A + p)V(V - u) + pv2u = at
a { p- }: ,
or by making use of the vector identity,

v x v x u = V(V * u) - v2u, (32)
an alternative expression is
(A + 2p)V(V - u) - pv x v x u =-
a { p-
at }: . (33)
The above equation is the wave equation for homogeneous isotropic elastic
-
materials. It relates the dilatational (or fractional volumetric) distortion V u,
together with the components of the shear distortion V x u, to the instanta-
neous rate of change of momentum.
The two components may be separated by taking the divergence and curl
of Eq. (33), when the following independent equations are obtained,
(A + 2p)V2v = ;iP$} (34)

and
pvw=-
2 :t { p-
7}:
(35)
where v =V u and w = V x u, it therefore follows that

v.w=o (36)
also.
For media of constant density, the above equations may be recognised

as wave equations, having corresponding phase velocities c p and cs, where
c: = p-l(12 + 2p) and c: = p -- ' p , respectively. We may identify the dilatational
wave, v(x, t), with that of the accompanying pressure wave via Eq. (26), and
hence with the wave equation given in Section I and the solenoidal vector field
w(x, t )with that of shear waves. Since physical values of the elastic constants L
and p are always positive, the phase velocity of the pressure wave is always
greater than that of the shear waves. (As a result, pressure waves arrive before
shear waves, and for this reason the two are known as P, or primary, and S , or
secondary, waves, respectively.)
E. Solution of the Wave Equation for Uniform Density
In a material of constant density, the wave equation of the dilatational

field corresponding to Eq. (34) is
where cz = p - l ( L + 2p). Any square-integrable solution of the equation may

be expanded as a Fourier integral of wave-vector and frequency components
as
s I .
v(x, t) = (d3k) (dw)v(k,W ) exp{ - i(k x - at)},
where solution of the wave equation requires that

(38)
s s
(d3k) (dw)(02 - c:k2)v(k, w)exp{ - i(k x
Since this must hold for arbitrary x and t, thus,

- - cot)} = 0. (39)
v(k, W ) = v(k) S(o2- c:k2) (40)
and hence the general solution may be expanded as
j
u(x, t ) = -[v'+'(k) exp{ -i(k
: ; (
.x - w p t ) }
+ v'-)(k)exp{ -i(k - x + ~ ~ t ) } ] , (41)
'
We use the notation (d3k)o d3k/(2n)3and (dw) 0dwl(2n)together with &w) o 2n6(w),
with 6 being a Dirac delta function.
where up= cplkl,with c p being the P-wave velocity; d+)(k)is the amplitude of
the dilatation having wave vector k, which is travelling in the positive k-
direction; d-)(k) is the corresponding amplitude in the negative k-direction.
Since the dilatational field is real, is follows that
U(+)(k)*= v ( - ) ( -k). (42)
An analogous analysis may be applied to the wave equation satisfied by the
shear vector field w, resulting in
w(x, t) = s (;2
-[w‘+)(k)exp{ - i(k x
+ w(-)(k)exp{-i(k. x + cost)}],
- cost)}
(43)
where 0,= cslk(, with cs being the S-wave velocity, with c3 = p - l p . The
solenoidal character of the shear field
v-w=o (44)
requires the conditions
k * w(*)(k)= 0. (45)
For each wave vector k, we may define transverse unit vectors e,(k), or-
thogonal to k,
-
k e,(k) = 0 u = 1,2, (46)
in terms of which the shear field amplitude may be expanded as
2
w(*’(k) = 1 w!*’(k)e,(k),
a= 1
(471
it following that
w(x,t) = {(;2.fl1
- [w!+)(k)exp{ -i(k. x - cost)}
+ wb-)(k)exp{ - i(k - x + w,t))]e,(k), (48)

where wF’(k) is the shear wave amplitude of wave vector k travelling in the
positive k-direction and polarised transversely to k in the e,(k)-direction;
wb-)(k) is the corresponding amplitude in the negative k-direction.
Since the shear wave field is real,
Wb+’(k)*= wb-’( -k) (49)

The general displacement amplitude u(x, t) resulting from the combined
dilatational and shear waves (Eqs. (41)and (48),respectively),may be obtained
from Eq. (33), viz.,

a2u
p- = (A + 2p)Vv - p v x w, (50)
at2
i.e., upon Fourier expanding,
s s
u(x, t) = (d3k) (do)u(k, o)exp{ - i(k x - at)>,
it follows that
- (51)
p
5 3kS
(d ) (do)w2u(k,o)exp{-i(k - x - at))
= i(A + 2p) j(2 -k[u(+)(k)exp{ -i(k. x - qd)}
+ u(-)(k)exp{-i(k.x + opt)}]
+ wh-)(k)exp{ -i(k x + wst)}]. (52)

Upon multiplying by exp( - i o t ) and then integrating over t,
1 (53)
and hence the total displacement field may be expanded as
[d+)(k)exp{-i(k -x - opt)}
+ u(-)(k)exp{-i(k - x + opt)}]
--
2pw:
ip
1 k x e,(k)[wh+)(k)exp(-i(k
a= 1
-x - cost)}
+ w!-)(k) - + wst)}3 ,
exp{ - i(k x
)
where d*)(k) are the dilatational (P) wave amplitudes corresponding to wave
vector k in the fk directions and w;*)(k) are the analogous shear (S) wave
amplitudes polarised in the direction defined by the unit vector E,(k). (In the
case of a liquid, p = 0 and the displacement field reduces to the dilatational
component.) Now cs/osk, e,(k), e,(k) form a right-handed orthonormal set of
vectors, hence
It follows that
If el(k) is chosen in the vertical and e,(k) in the horizontal plane, then wH(k)
represents horizontally and w,(k) vertically polarised shear waves, re-
spectively. Upon choosing e,(k) and el(k) within and normal to the surface
plane, i.e.,
then, explicitly,
Since the P and S wave velocities are given by (A + 2p) = pc: and p = peg, it
follows that the total displacement field may be expressed as
u(x, t ) = i
j
(d3k)
(;:p
-
k[u(+)(k)exp{ - i(k x - opt)}
+ u(-)(k)exp{ -i(k - x + opt)}]

-7
CS
[{q(k)wr)(k) - e2(k)wv)(k)}exp{ -i(k
2%
.x - cost)}
+ {el(k)wk-)(k) - e2(k)wL-)(k)}exp{ -i(k x + ost)}]
(60)
where wH(k)is the amplitude of horizontally and w,(k) of vertically polarised

shear waves, viz., SH and SV amplitudes, respectively.
Now
v(x, t) = v u(x, t )
= ](d3k)M
20:k 2 [ u ( + ) ( k ) e x p {-i(k. x - apt)}
-i(k -x - apt)}
+ u(-)(k) exp{ - i(k x- + w,t)}]

+ shear terms. (62)
Hence, if u(+)(k)is nonzero only for k in a vertical direction upwards, i.e.,
kw, = (0, 0, c,k2), then the vertical component of velocity is
8%
-(x, t ) N -cpu(x, t),
at
and therefore, the velocity and pressure pulse profiles will be similar. As a
result, the signals recorded by marine geophones, which respond to overpres-
sure, and land geophones, which react to the vertical component of ground
velocity, will be approximately equivalent.
Notice that u can be written in the form
U(X,t ) = V ~ ( Xt ,) + V x A(x,t), (64)
where 4 is determined by v, and A by w, being a scalar and a vector potential,
respectively, which leads to an equivalent formulation in terms of potentials
rather than fields.
F. An Ideal Seismic Pressure Impulse
We shall consider a marine seismic survey where the initiating seismic

signal is produced by a submerged impulse generator. We shall approximate
the impulse by an instantaneous increase of pressure of p o within a sphere
of radius a about the origin of the coordinate system. From Eq. (26), the
corresponding dilatational increase is
u(x,O) = -u,B(a - Ixl), (65)
with uo = p 0 / x while, since the increase is instantaneous,
a0
-(x,O) = 0.
at
Being a liquid, the sea does not support shear wave propagation, hence only P
waves are radiated. Equation (41) is the general expression for a P-wave
amplitude. Upon requiring it to satisfy Eqs. (65) and (66) at time zero and
utilising the Fourier expansion of a theta function
J
O(a - 1x1) = (d3k)7
ns[i):(
--
1
cos ka exp{ - ik x},- (67)
1
we may identify the solution at any positive time to be
a!;s[)i
u ( x , ~=) U O ( d 3 k ) 7 --
cos ka
1
x exp{ -i(k -x - wt)} + exp{ -i(k. x + w t ) } ] (68)
by choosing the k-axes such that k, is in the x-direction, and integrating over
u(x, t ) = 7
avoIrn
the angles, the expression becomes
(T dki1 sin(ka) - cos ka
(69)
This represents a superposition of outgoing spherical waves. The maximum

wave number amplitude occurs when
-[
d 1 (--coska)]=O,
sin(ka)
dk k ka
namely,
2ka
tanka =
k2a2 - 2'
for which the dominant solution occurs when ka I 1.5. Since the velocity of
sound in water is 1500ms-', an initial impulse generated by a volume of
radius a = 1 m yields frequencies I350 Hz. As r increases, the wave amplitude
decreases as r-', due to the geometrical spreading of the spherical wave front.
The amplitude at subsequent times may be expressed as a Fourier integral
expansion of the wave-number amplitude.
G. Absorption
It has been shown by Ricker (1953) that absorption may be taken into
account by including within the dilatational wave equation a frictional term
that is proportional to the first time derivative of the dilatation, the equation
then becoming
1 av 1 a20
VZU(X, t) +- -(x,
at
woc2
t ) = - -(x,
c2 at2
t),
where wo, having dimensions of frequency, is a measure of friction. He further

showed that the solution corresponding to a unit impulse at time zero is given
by
+ p2)-1/4c0s
For large values of r, due to the negative exponential, only those values of /?
that are close to zero will yield any significant contribution to the integral. We
may therefore replace the exponent and trigonometric argument by their
lowest-order approximations in p, thereby obtaining
v(x,t) x -
001
:1 p2 exp{ - Wp2}
C cos{%(r
C - ct)b
2c a2
C C
= 2q”)5’2[(2)(r - ct)2 - l]exp{ -%(r

2cr - ct)2
with the form shown in Fig. 3.

Equation (74)may be expressed as a wave-number expansion of the pulse
by defining
k=-,0 0 s (75)
C
when we obtain
az
u(x, t ) = -- exp{ik(r - ct)} dk
exp{ik(r - ct))dk, (76)

[z
E
(D
Tina Id .
FIG.3. Ricker wavelet.
which may be identified as an outgoing spherical wave having wave-num-

ber spectrum
2nc 3
v(k) = -Tk2exp (77)
UOT
with the form shown in Fig. 4.

The maximum at wave number k,,, = ( 2 0 ~ / r c ) ' / is ~ equivalent to a
frequency of v, = (2w0c/r)'/*.Hence the dominant frequency decreases as
r-1/2, i.e., the higher frequencies of the initial pulse are attenuated by prop-
agation through the earth.
Seismic energy can be absorbed either by viscous fluid flow and internal or
solid friction (White, 1965). In the viscous fluid flow model, the instantaneous
pressure varies across the accumulation as the wave propagates, giving rise to
pressure gradients and the movement of fluids within the pore spaces. Energy
is taken from the wave as work is done against the fluid viscosity. A pore
containing compressible gas should, therefore, have a different attenuating
action from one containing incompressible fluids such as oil or brine. Thus
absorption gives some information about the type of interstitial fluid present,
but there is no method yet available that allows this information to be elicited
directly from surface seismic data.
1e.w - I 1
16.00 -
14.00 -
P)
-0
3
Y
2
a
E
Q
r
0
2
P,
>
Q
3
0.W 0.02 0.04 0.04 0.00 0.10 0.12 0.16 0.16 0.111 0.20 0.22
Yavenunber ( 1 /n) .
FIG.4. The wave-number spectrum of a Ricker wavelet.
The internal friction model (Biot, 1956; Volarovich et al., 1969), how-
ever, is regarded as representative of the most important loss mechanism in
low-permeability rocks (Gregory, 1977). The internal friction of a volume
of material when it is cycled under stress at a given angular frequency o is
given by
where E is the peak strain energy stored in the volume, - 6E is that energy lost
in each cycle due to imperfections in the elasticity of the material, and Q(w) is
the quality factor. A high Q-factor = 200 indicates that a material has a very
small attenuating effect. In seismology, the attenuation of a signal comprised
of a range of frequencies is involved, and it has been experimentally verified
that this attenuation is linear with frequency (McDonal et al., 1958; Attewell
and Ramana, 1966; Tullos and Reid, 1969).This is referred to as the constant
Q-model of attenuation (Kjartansson, 1979).
For a linear stress-strain relation, the wave amplitude A is proportional to
E 'Iz, and applying the constraint that successive peaks have almost identical
strain energies, Q >> 1,
Setting A ( t ) = A . at t = 0, as A decreases by n/Q at successive intervals

t = 2nzn/w, n = 0, l , . . .,
As n + co,that is, for long times,
A(t) = Aoexp --
{ 3 .
Since the angular frequency is related to the wave number by w = cI kl, and the
wave front of a spherical wave is given by r = ct, the decay factor of the
amplitude due to absorption is
A(r) = exp{ -%},

and hence the amplitude of an outgoing spherical wave becomes
u(x,t) a!jm
r. -w k’exp{ - g ] e x p { i k ( r - ct)}dk
when it may be compared with that derived from the Ricker model in Eq. (76).
For the limited range of wave numbers that occur in seismic wavelets, the
difference between a linear and a quadratic k-dependence in the exponent is
unlikely to be of significance.
111. WAVEPROPAGATION
ACROSS PLANE
INTERFACES
A . Propagation across a Liquid-Solid Interface
Although in marine surveying the initial displacement field is purely

dilatational, ( P waves), shear displacements, (S waves) are generated at the
first interface, and thereafter mode conversion takes place between P and S
waves at each subsequent interface. The equations of continuity at any
interface are conveniently expressed in terms of the wave-vector amplitudes
u( *)(k)and wb*)(k), respectively.
The conditions of continuity at an interface remove (as stated by
Hadamard) are that the displacement field u(x,t) be continuous across the
FIG.5. Incident, reflected, and refracted wave amplitudes
interface and that the normal component of the traction
= Ox& + a y v y + a,%, (84)

where ii = nxi + n,,j + n&, be continuous also. If we consider a plane interface
normal to the z direction, as shown in Fig. 5, then a, = a,, with components,
from Eqs. (15) and (23),
azy= p($ + %),

Is,, = I V . u + 2 pauaZL .
We shall consider a dilatational (P)wave incident on the interface. Physical
parameters of the upper (lower) half spaces will be distinguished by being
unprimed (primed), respectively. Incident (refracted/reflected) wave functions
and angles will be unprimed (primed/doubleprimed). Dilatational (shear)
wave-vector angles will be denoted by 0(4),as shown in Fig. 5. Initially, we
shall consider a liquid-solid interface (e.g., the sea bed) so that no progressive
shear waves are generated by reflection.
From Eq. (60), the incident, reflected, and refracted wave amplitudes may
be expanded as
Ik
-
u(k) exp{ - i(k x - opt)},
SIGNAL ANALYSIS I N SEISMIC STUDIES 23 1
s
u”(x, t ) = i (d3k”)-
Ik”
2p0 ; 3
.
u”(k)exp{ - i(k” x - w;t)},
u’(x,t) = i ~ ( d 3 k ’2P
) [ ’~OuP ’ ( k ‘ ) e x p ( - i ( k ’x - wkt)}
2
-- y’ 1 k’ x e,(k’)wb(k’)exp{-i(k’.x
2 ~ 0 ,
,3
a=l
- wkt)}]. (88)
Due to the orthonormality of c$/w‘k‘, E2(k’),and q(k’), it follows that

2 w’
1 k’ x &,(k’)wb(k’)= 7
a=l
{El(k‘)W;l(k’)- ~z(k’)w;(k’)).
CS
(89)
If el(k’) is chosen in the vertical and e2(k’) in the horizontal plane, then
wk(k’) represents horizontally and w;(k‘) vertically polarised shear waves,
respectively.
Continuity of the normal component of displacement at the interface
requires
UZ(X,t ) + U:l(X, t ) = Ui(X, t ) (90)
2 = 0,
whereas continuity of the z-component of the traction acting on a surface
normal to the x-direction requires
t)
a~x(x, + all,(x, t ) = a:,(x, t) z = 0, (91)
together with the analogous expressions for a,, and a,,,
%y(x,t ) + all,(% t ) = a:&, 0,
192)
azz(x,t ) + &(x, t ) = ai,(x, t ) 2 = 0.
Since the medium occupying the upper half space is a liquid, p = 0, and,
from Eq. (85), the three conditions of continuity of traction across the interface
become
(93)
-
IV u(x, t ) + IV u”(x, t ) = A’V ’ u‘(x, t ) + 2p‘-.
aU:(x, t )
aZ
Equations (90) and (93) represent the conditions that the displacement fields
given by Eqs. (86)and (88) must satisfy on the interface z = 0.
Upon Fourier-transforming Eq. (90) with respect to x, y, and t, we obtain
where, due to the translation invariance in x and y,

k, = k: = k:; kY = k”Y = k’Y ’ (951
while the delta functions in w arise from time-translation invariance.
Now
+
wP = cp(kZ k,’ + k:)’I2 (96)
and thus
the continuity of the normal component of displacement hence becomes
with
where
cpkp = (w’ - c:(k: + k;))”’,
ClpkZ = (W 2 - c;?(kZ + k,2))”2, (102)
c$k$ = (0’- ck’(k2 + k;))”’.
The equations that represent continuity of traction are also invariant
under space translations in x and y, and time translations, hence they too give
rise to linear relations between the wave-vector amplitudes at wave-vector
values given by Eqs. (101)and (102).
From the first equation of conservation of traction, we obtain
0 = ur(klp) + -(k,Z
w
c$k$
+ ky) 2 -112
whereas from the second follows
x [
-k,k$w;(k$)
C’
- $k$’k,w;(k$)
C‘
+ ”ky(k:
W
+ k;)w;(k$)
1
. (104)
Upon subtracting the product of k, times Eq. (103) from the product of k,
times Eq. (104), we obtain
wh(k$) = 0, (105)
hence no horizontally polarised shear waves are created at the interface.
The third condition of conservation of traction yields
Ik’ Rk’
-o(k) +- U”(k”)
kP kP
1‘”’ p’kp
= ___ o’(klp) + -u’(klp) + 2p‘(k; + k;)”’W;(k$). (106)
kZ k,
Equations (loo), (103), (104), and (106) reduce to three independent equa-
tions, namely,
k2
1-(u(k) + U”(k”))= (I’kp + 2p’k;?)u’(klp) + 2p’(k3 + kt)”2w;(k;).
kP klp
Since
kcp = k‘ck = w
in terms of the reflection and refraction angles,
0
(k: + kyZ)1/2= -sin 8,
CP
when the continuity equations become
At normal incidence,
(u(k) - d’(kl’))= u’(k;),

w;(k$) = 0,
(v(k) + v”(k”)) = -u’(klp),

P’Ck
PCP
from which it follows that, at normal incidence,

Therefore, the transmission and reflection coefficients may be identified as
u’(k‘)
T(k)=- =2
u(k) pc, + p’cl, ’
u”(k”) = - p ~ -p p’cl,
R(k) = -
u(k) pcp +
p‘cl, ’
with
T(k) + R(k) = 1. (115)
B. The Generation of Evanescent Waves at a Liquid-Solid Interface
The z components of the wave number at a liquid-solid interface are given

by Eq. (102), where, since the elastic moduli are positive, clp > c $ . Assuming
that cl, > c p ,the condition that kl, be real is
c:(k: + k,’ + k t ) - c;?(k: + k,’) 2 0; (116)

however, as
o2
(k: + k,’) = C P sin’ 8,
the above is the condition that the angle of incidence be less than the critical
angle of dilatational (P) waves, i.e.,
Naturally there is a similar, though less stringent, condition for dilatational-

to-radiative shear wave conversion, namely,
Equation (116) may be equivalently expressed as
g (c?
~gk2 - cg)(k: + k;), ( 120)
therefore such a condition should be included in the solution for z 5 0 , i.e.,
Eq. (86), in order for Eq. (88) to be applicable.
For ranges of k p where the critical angle of the dilatational (P) wave has
been exceeded, but that of the shear wave has not, we may look for solutions of
the wave equation having the form of Eqs. (86) and (87) for z I 0, whereas
instead of Eq. (88),
+ u’(-)(k’)exp{-i(k’ - x’ + wkt) - k,z})

-12
x exp{ -i(k‘ - x - wit)}],

where
o;(k) = clp(kI + k,’ - k ; ) l ”
Equation (122) may be obtained from Eq. (88) by making the replacement
k, -+ - i k , in the dilatational component of the integrand. As a result, the
analysis leading to Eq. (110) proceeds formally as before, subject to the
replacements
klp” -+ -kip"; klp” = k: +- k,’ - klp”, (123)
The solutions now describe refraction of an incident dilatational wave at a
liquid-solid interface for incident angles that are greater than the dilatational
critical angle but less than the shear-wave critical angle. For z > 0, the solution
is an evanescent wave that is localised on the interface, viz., the amplitude
decays exponentially with the distance from the interface. Each of its am-
plitude components u’(*)(k’) propagates transversely along the interface
in the direction determined by k = kxil + kyi2, with corresponding phase
velocity clp. This wave can become radiative at a scattering centre within the
surface, caused by morphological distortion or material inhomogeneity, when
it generates dilatational waves upwards, as shown in Fig. 6.
C. Waue Propagation across a Solid -Solid Interface
From Equation (60)the general displacement for z < 0 takes the form
ik
-i(k-x - w,t)}, ( 124)
I\ L
I
FIG.6. Evanescent and refracted wave generation.
and
u”(x, t ) = (d3k)
s
--
ic;
( ;:,
1 k x e,(k)[wb+)(k)exp{-i(k.
.
u”(k) exp{ - i(k x - wpt)}
x - w,t)}
20s a=t
+ w!-)(k) exp( -i(k + w,t)}]

x
), (125)
whereas for z 2 0,
U’(X, t) =
s(d3k’)clpz-
202
ik’
[u’(+)(k’)exp{ - i(k’ x
+ u’(-)(k‘)exp{ - i(k’ - x + mpt)}]

. - w,t)}
--
ic;’ 12
k’ x e,(k’)[wl+)(k’)exp{-i(k’
2 ~ a =s l
-x - wst))
+ wb(-)(k’)exp( - i(k’ - x + wst)}]), (126)

Continuity of displacement at the interface requires that
u(x, t ) + U”(X, t ) = u’(x, t). (127)
Now the time invariance of the constraint implies
0
, = w; = a; = = w ; l = w, ( 128)
whereas space invariance in x and y requires similar identities between the x-
and y-components of the wave vector k. The relations between the amplitudes
may be obtained by inverse Fourier transforming and utilising Eq. (98),
We adopt the definitions given by Eqs. (101) and (102), with, in addition,
ki = (kx, ky,- M Y
and utilise
+
(1 2p) = pc:; p = pcs”,
(131)
(n, + 2p’) = PIC:; p’ = p’ck2.
2
Continuity of the x component yields
1
-{u(k) + u”(k”)} + (kf +c sk:)-ll2
ki
{ o- wk(k:) + cskswk(kB))
k,
while from continuity in y,

1
-{u(k)
kP
+ V”(k”)) + (kf +csk:k:)-llz { -co:wp(k”) + csksw’;(k”)
= -u’(k‘)
1
+ (kf + k;)-li2 wh(k’) - c;k;w;(kf)}, (133)
kk c$kk
and from continuity in z,
where wy represents vertically polarised and wHhorizontally polarised shear

waves, respectively. By subtraction of the equations that express the con-
tinuity of the x- and y-components, we obtain
w&(ki) - W;(ki) = 0, (135)
the equations then reducing to
and
sin I$’’ sin fp’
{U(k) - v”(k;)} +-
cos
w’;(ki) = d(kk) + -w;(k$),
cos fp‘
(137)
where they have been expressed in terms of the angles defined by Eq. (109).
The conditions for continuity of the normal, i.e., z components, of traction
are
aza(X, t ) + a:b(x,t ) = a:a(x, t), a = X, Y , Z, (138)
with ozagiven by Eq. (85). Written fully, the equations are
and
Upon inverse Fourier transforming the corresponding relations among the

amplitudes become
0
2pk,{~(k)- u”(kg)} - 2p’k,~’(kk)+ p,(kf + k;)-’/2
csks
CSkX 0
k;k,w;(k;) - -(ki2 - k; - k;)w;l.(k:)
w
x { C$kX
-k$k,wL(k$) - -(ki2
w
- k,2 - (141)
with
0
+
2pkY{u(k)- u”(kg)} - 2p’kYu’(kk) p F ( k f k:)-”2 +
csks
{
x -k;k,w;(k;)
csky
- -(k;2 - kf - k;)w’;(k;)
0
0
and
ckk,
+k$k,wh(k$) - -(kk2
w
- kf - k;)w;(k$)
I = 0, (142)
k2
&-{U(k) + v”(kg)} + 2ppkp{~(k)+ u”(kg)}
k,
- 2pp(k; + k;)1/2W;l.(k;) - 2p1p’(ki+ k;)’/2w;(k$)
k k2
- 2p’p’kk~’(k;) - 2A’p’- ~’(klp)= 0. (143)
klp
Upon multiplying Eq. (141) by k, and Eq. (142)by k , and then subtracting, we
obtain
Wk(kg) + wh(k$)= 0. ( 144)
Taken in conjunction with Eq. (135), we may infer
wk(kg) = wh(k$) = 0, (145)
and hence that no horizontally polarised shear waves are created at a planar
interface.
In terms of the angles defined by Eq. (109) and by utilising the identity
A + 2p cos2 e = pc; cos 24, (146)
the pair of independent equations becomes
2/l{~(k)- d’(kg)} - 2/i’~’(klp)
and
cos 24 cos 24’
pep- {u(k) - u”(kg)} - p’c’p-
cos 4 cos Wlp) el
- 2pc, sin @’w’;(ki) - 2p’c$ sin 4’w;(k$) = 0. ( 148)

At normal incidence, the equations become
w;(k$) = w’;(kg) = 0, (149)

{v(k) - u”(kg)} - o’(kb) = 0, (150)
pcp{u(k) + u”(kg)} - p’ClpU’(klp)= 0, (151)
Equations (149), (150), and (151) are identical with the corresponding
equations, Eq. (11l), of the liquid-solid interface propagation, hence the
reflection coefficientsat normal incidence are, similar to Eqs. (1 13) and (1 14),
with
T(k) + R(k) = 1. (1 54)
We may identify Eqs. (136), (137), (147), and (148) with the more usual
statement of the Zoeppritz equations, as given, for example, in Appendix 2A of
Waters (1981), by making the identifications
where
is the Snell parameter. The transmission and reflection coefficients at nonzero

angles of incidence are hence defined by
cose u’(k(p)
T(k) = __
cos8’ u(k) ’
~
(157)
D. Numerical Examples at a Solid-Solid Interface

Two horizontally layered models having typical values of density and
velocity are shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The parameter values of Fig. 7 illustrate a
normal interface, having a density and P-wave velocity that increase with
depth; those of Fig. 8 are representative of values to be expected at a “bright-
spot” arising from a shale-gas sand interface, exemplified by decreasing
density and P-wave velocity.
cp = 2400 m/s
chalk c. = 1475 m/s

p = 2.0 g/cc
c,‘ = 3600 m/s
shale c.’ = 1470 m/s

p’ = 2.4 g/cc
FIG.7. Densities and velocities typical of a normal interface.

cp = 3600 m/s
shale c. = 1470 m / s
p = 2.4 g/cc
c,' = 2900 m/s
gas-sand c.' = 1925 m/s
p ' = 2.1 g/cc
FIG. 8. Densities and velocities typical of a shale-gas sand interface.
1.00
-_ _ _ _ _ _ y---=-
e
. 0.60 -
C
!! 0.40 -
RP
-0 -
u-
* 0.20
0
u0 0.00
7m -0.20 -
-
-
c,
a
E
-0.40 -
-z -0.60 -
-0.80 -
-1.00
O.W 10.00 3.00 30.00 40.w s0.w 60.00 70.00 moo 90.00
Angle o f Incidence Ideg) .

FIG.9. P-wave reflection and transmissioncoefficientsat a normal interface.RP = reflected
P-wave, TP = transmitted P-wave.
The reflection and transmission coefficients corresponding to the normal

interface are shown in Figs. 9 and 10.
For the normal interface, a critical angle for P-wave reflection occurs a t an
angle of incidence of 42", leading to zero P-wave transmission together with
accompanying evanescent and hence refracted waves at larger angles. The P-
wave reflectivity is approximately constant for angles of incidence less than
243
I\
I \
0.06 - I
I
\
\
I \
r 0.w - I
I \
\
C / \
-a, 0.07 - , /
I \
\
-0 TS, '
-_ _ _ - - - -
0 \
u- \
u- \
a, 0.00 \
0
0
P)
-0
3
r
-
d
n
E
<
A n g l m o f Incldoncm (dog).
FIG. 10. S-wave reflection and transmission coefficients at a normal interface. RS = reflected
S-wave, TS = transmitted S-wave.
--- - - - ---_
'
----_- -
I
-
1.00
0.0 -
Tp
. ..
\
0.60 - \
\
\
\
0.40 - \
\
\
\
0.20 - \
\ -
\
\
0.00
Anglm o f ~ncidoncm Id091 .

FIG.11. P-wave reflection and transmission coefficients at a shale-gas sand interface.
RP = reflected P-wave, TP = transmitted P-wave.
Anglo o f incidmcm I&$.

FIG. 12. S-wave reflection and transmission coefficients at a shale-gas sand interface.
SP = reflected S-wave,TS = transmitted S-wave.
30", but increases rapidly as the critical angle is approached. The energy is
mostly concentrated in the P-wave mode, there being little P-to-S-wave
conversion.
The form of the coefficients for the shale-gas sand interface is shown in
Figs. 11 and 12. No critical angle exists for P-wave reflection. The P-wave
reflection coefficient becomes more negative as the angle of incidence
increases, with the ,corresponding transmission coefficient gradually reducing
to zero at glancing incidence. As in the previous example, there is relatively
little P-to-S-wave conversion.
IV. PREPROCESSING
AND PRESTACK
DECONVOLUTION
A. Dix's Equation
The standard exploration reflection experiment consists of the excitation

of a source of acoustic energy (the shot), which is localised in both space and
time and the subsequent recording of acoustic signals over a period of time at
an array of receivers (geophones), as shown in Fig. 13. For definiteness, we
shall consider mainly marine seismic data, the basic principles of the analysis
SI GI Ga Ga G Ga Ga
FIG.13. Shot gather source-receiver configuration.
are common both to it and land data. The major differences between the two
cases are that marine data suffers from reverberant effects caused by the sea-
surface/sea-bed forming an effective waveguide, whereas land data is affected
by static corrections due to local variation of the earth’s surface and by
difficulty of geophone placement and acoustic coupling caused by terrain
irregularity.
A typical marine shot gather is shown in Fig. 14. It may be regarded
as being composed of a plethora of approximate Ricker wavelets at varying
time delays and magnitudes. There is a clear coherence between events as
represented by similar wavelets across the gather. The strong early arrivals
that form a steeply dipping collection are a combination of direct (water-
bourne) arrivals and refracted waves. As we shall now show, their hyperboli-
cally correlated successors are a combination of primary and multiple
reflections.
As a first approximation the earth’s subsurface may be represented by a set
of distinct horizontal layers (strata) of homogeneous isotropic material having
arbitrary thicknesses but constant physical properties. This assumption, the
horizontally layered earth approximation, together with that of ray optics for
wave-front propagation, is sufficient to establish the basic experimental
parameters such as shot interval and number of geophones. The assumptions
within the approximation may then be progressively relaxed.
Consider the earth model shown in Fig. 15, with a single shot and
geophone, and where refraction of the rays and multiple reflections have been
8
d
8 ni
u
0
n 4
U
5
w f
*u G
Lr,
ri
i
8 8
ni
d
ignored. Even in this simplest of models, it is necessary to determine both the
times of delay of the reflections from each of the interfaces and the wave
velocities of the separate strata in order to predict the depths of the interfaces.
It is therefore necessary to consider a collection of shot-geophone responses
at different separations. Practically this means a number of geophones for
each shot at a set of increasing separations with, for simplicity, a fixed
intergeophone distance. If we assume a constant velocity c, then, for a
reflection from an interface at a depth z, a geophone at distance 2h from the
shot will receive a reflection signal at time 2t, where
h = ctsine; z = ctcose. (158)

At a source-receiver separation of zero, i.e., if both shot and geophone were
located at M of Fig. 15, then the reflection time is 2t0, where
z = cto. ( 159)
Hence
to = t COS e, ( 160)
and therefore, from Eqs. (158) to (160),
hZ
t 2 = t; +7
(known as Dix’s equation (Dix, 1955)). It follows from the above that reception
times vary with source-receiver separation in a velocity-dependent manner
and that if a set of corresponding reflections can be identified and their arrival
times be determined with sufficient accuracy, then the corresponding velocity
can be deduced. Since Eq. (161) may be rewritten as
the (t, h) dependence is hyperbolic (the moveout hyperbola), symmetric about

separation zero, and with a curvature that decreases as the velocity increases,
and thus usually decreases with depth. A collection of geophone traces
corresponding to a single shot upon which such reflection time variation may
be observed is a shot gather. The intergeophone separation determines the
sampling rate of the acoustic field in the horizontal direction, and thus, via the
sampling theorem, the limit of the horizontal resolution that is possible. The
rays do not all reflect from the same reflector point; therefore, any change in
reflection properties will affect the reflected pulse. For the horizontally layered
earth approximation and ignoring refraction, this effect may be removed by
considering common midpoint gathers, these being collections of traces
corresponding to shot-geophone pairs having increasing separations while

remaining symmetrically disposed about a common midpoint. Such data sets
are obtained by combining appropriate traces from successive shot gathers.
The shot and geophone linear array are displaced between successive shots in
the array direction by a distance equal to the geophone separation. A sequence
of such operations results in a “line” of data.
It is illuminating to display the shot and geophone positions as a two-
dimensional grid, see Fig. 16, a stacking chart, relative to the shot and
geophone positions along a shooting line, each point of the grid representing a
single geophone trace. A collection of traces from a grid line that is parallel to
the geophone axis is a common shot gather, with all of the traces originating
from the same shot. A collection of traces that is parallel to the shot axis is a
common geophone gather, with all of the traces arising from geophones at the
same location. For a spread of geophones that is asymmetrical relative to the
shot, as shown in Fig. 13, only a portion of the stacking chart is accessible.
Collections of traces at angles of n/4 to the axes are common midpoint
and common offset gathers, respectively. Common shot and common offset
gathers become significant when noise characterisation and removal is con-
sidered. Three-dimensional coverage is provided by shifting the entire shot-
geophone array complex laterally relative to its axis and repeating the
procedure, thereby generating a succession of seismic lines of data.
As may be observed from Fig. 13, only half of the traces of a shot gather
yield reflection points that lie vertically beneath geophone locations, the
remainder being at positions that are midway between such locations;
therefore the number of traces (or “fold”) of a common midpoint gather is half
that of the shot gather from which it derives.
42
C
-
0
a common common shot common
m Idpo Int 0ffm.t
m
0
L
a
0
m cmmon
U pophonm
O O D O
0 0 0 0
Shot potnt
FIG. 16. The stacking chart.
B. Noise Characterisation
An ideal recorded data set consists of a collection of geophone time traces

recorded at a sequence of grid points on the earth's surface; these being the
responses to a series of seismic shots at points on the same grid. The purpose of
the inital stage of processing is to reorganise the data into a form convenient
for the subsequent processing; to filter it such that any individual shot
dependence is removed, with all shots becoming equivalent to a unit impulse at
time zero; to reduce the effective shot and geophone vertical heights to a
common datum plane; and to eliminate, as far as possible, surface waves and
short-period multiple reflections, which otherwise obscure the primary reflec-
tions present in the data.
The types of coherent energy may be classified according to the
corresponding ray path geometries as:
1. direct arrivals, which on land includes both an air wave having a
velocity of 350ms-', and ground roll, the latter being a surface wave for which
the earth's surface acts as a free interface; for marine surveys, this corresponds
to a water wave with a velocity of 1500ms-', for which the water layer acts as a
waveguide;
2. refractions, caused by the evanescent waves formed at an interface
when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, and which can
then reradiate from interface discontinuities. The velocity of propagation of
the evanescent waves along the interface is that of the lower stratum; such
waves occur at the sea bottom. Since the wave velocity is greater in the sea bed
than in water, energy refracted from the sea bed precedes that transmitted
directly in spite of the longer path length, except when the source receiver
offset is so short that the direct path is faster;
3. reflections, of which the significant information are the true reflections,
but which must be distinguished from multiple reflections, long period arising
from reflections of which one reflector is the surface, and short period from
interbed reflections; together with ghost reflections, both of the shot and
receiver in the water surface;
4. diffractions, arising from discontinuities that are usually associated
with reflecting interfaces, yield hyperbolic correlations across the gather, but
with vertices that lie vertically above the discontinuity.
The raw data is demultiplexed, i.e., reorganised from a time-sequential to a
trace-sequential order. Each trace is scaled using an exponential gain factor in
order to compress the dynamic range of the data, thereby approximately
compensating for the geometrical dispersion and attenuation of the seismic
waves. Approximate shot independence is achieved by deconvolving each shot
gather, as will be described in Section E.I. Obviously “dead” or highly noise

corrupted traces are removed. For land-based data, the traces are the simul-
taneous responses of localised clusters of geophones with the cluster being
designed to attenuate incoherent and surface-associated noise. The vertical
height of each cluster is reduced to a common datum level by time-translating
the corresponding trace. Similarly, each shot point, which may also be formed
by a cluster of individual shots triggered simultaneously, is reduced to the
datum level by shifting entire shot gathers. An equivalent, though simpler,
static correction is applied to sea-based data.
The shot gathers are reorganised into common midpoint gathers, viz., a set
of traces each having the same midpoint between the shot and geophone
locations. The reason for this rearrangement is to prepare for the deter-
mination of the velocity field together with signal-to-noise enhancement and
its accompanying reduction of data volume. The effect of surface-wave
propagation, i.e., ground roll, is reduced by the use of arrays of both shot
generators and geophones rather than the single elements we have considered.
By taking account of their known wavelength range, surface waves may be
attenuated relative to upcoming longtitudinally polarised waves. They may
also be reduced by muting the early portions of the traces.
Sea based data, in particular, is characterised by short-period multiple
reflections caused by the reverberation of the seismic energy between the
seabed and the sea surface, which acts effectively as an acoustic wave guide.
The result is for each primary reflection to be accompanied by an oscillatory
tail having a period equal to the acoustic two-way travel time between the
seabed and sea surface. It may be readily identified on the trace autocova-
riance function. The modelling of this system and its removal via predictive
deconvolution is a major success of the application of digital signal processing
techniques to seismic processing (Kulhanek, 1976; Robinson and Treitel,
1978; Silva and Robinson, 1978). The underlying theory is statistical and is
based upon the two assumptions: (i) that the seismic event sequence is ran-
dom in arrival time, and (ii) that the seismic wavelet associated with each
reflection is minimum delay, i.e., its energy is concentrated towards the first
point of nonzero amplitude, i.e., the “break-point,’’ as much as is permitted
by the constraint of causality (Robinson and Silva, 1981; Arya and Aggarwal,
1982).
High-velocity noise, principally due to incoherent backscattering, may be
removed by filtering within the frequency- wave-number space, known as
“f-k” filtering. The filter acceptance extends over a wedge about k = 0 in f k
space, with an angle set by the acoustic velocity. As a final preprocessing op-
eration, the traces within a common midpoint gather are noise equalised, with
possible schemes being via their average or root mean square values either for
the entire trace or in a time dependent manner along the trace.
C. F - K Filtering
On a common shot gather, the refracted wave energy precedes the earliest
reflected waves and hence may be removed by muting the traces with a time
delay that increases with offset distance, with the rate of increase being
determined by the observed diffracted wave velocity. Direct arrivals may be
removed both by receiver array design and by f - k filtering.
The acoustic amplitude u(h, t), where h is the offset distance and t the two-
way travel time, is expanded as an inverse Fourier transform in angular
frequency -w and wave number k.
-u(o,k)exp(-i(kh - ot)}. (163)
Since the amplitude is real,

u*(-w,k) = u(--w, - k ) ,
whereas, since it is a solution of the wave equation corresponding to velocity c,
u(w, k) = 6(w - ck)u'+'(k) + 6(w + ck)u'-'(k); (165)
therefore, in the o - k plane, the amplitude is localised along the lines
W = kck, (166)
with a strength that is k-dependent.
Now we may interpret w > 0, k > 0 as a wave travelling in the direction of
increasing offset h, and w < 0, k < 0 as a wave travelling in the direction of
decreasing offset, hence the amplitude spectrum in the w-k plane may be
conveniently represented as shown in Fig. 17.
FIG. 17. The dispersion relation of a forward propagating wave.

Any physical seismic amplitude is sampled at a set of discrete values both

in space h = nAh, n = -N, -N + 1,..., N, and in time t = mAt, m =
O , l , ...,2M. Therefore, the expansion equivalent to Eq. (163) is that of a
double discrete Fourier transform.'
The acoustic amplitude is zero for negative time, hence the appropriate
Fourier expansion is
u(h,t) = (2N + 1)-'(2M + 1)-' c c u"(k,w)exp{-i(kh -

N 2M
n = - N I=O
wt)}, (167)
where
h=nAh; t=lAt -N<n<N, 01212M
2zn 2x1 (168)
k= w=
(2N + *
1)Ah' (3M + 1)At
with
N 2M
u"(k,w)= C C u(h, t)exp{i(kh - wt)}
n=-N m=O
If we require that v(h, t) be a solution of a discretised wave equation, viz.,
1
--
-
(c At)'
{u(h, t + At) - 2 + u(h, t - At)},
then
N 2M
n=-N m=O
(0' - c2k2)u"(k,w)exp{-i(kh- at)} + O(Ah4,At4) = 0, (171)
and therefore, the discrete Fourier amplitude u"(k,w), will be approximately

zero unless
w(1) = +ck(n), (172)
+
where the equality is modulo (2N 1)in n and modulo (2M 1)in 1due to the +
periodicity of the discrete exponent. Solutions for k and w that correspond to
Algorithmic implementations of Fourier transforms are most efficient when implemented

over numbers of points that are powers of 2. In the subsequent development, the ranges of
n and / may be modified to - N +1 5 n I N and 0 5 I < 2M - 1, with (2N + 1) + 2N and
+
(2M 1) + 2M, which may then be chosen to be powers of 2. We have chosen and maintained
the ranges - N I n 5 N and 0 I l I 2M, since these arise naturally from an analogy with the
continuous Fourier transform.
-n/Ah +n/Ah
-c
“1
FIG. 18. Aliasing of the dispersion relation due to discrete spatial and temporal sampling.
values outside the ranges - N 5 n IN , 0 II 5 2M are permitted. As a result,

the dispersion relation between angular frequency and wave number may
consist of disjoint segments, and hence aliasing may arise, as illustrated in
Fig. 18.
Now the velocity which enters the above wave equation is the effective
wave velocity across the common midpoint gather, viz., as given by the
gradients on Fig. 18. Therefore, by defining a triangularly (wedge) shaped
muting filter in (w,k ) space that is symmetric about the average velocity of the
water waveguide mode energy of Fig. 18, the corresponding energy may be
removed from the gather in (h, t) space. If the acoustic medium is dispersive,
viz., the velocity c is dependent on the frequency, then a linear dispersion
relation passing through the origin of (w, k) space may not suffice. The explicit
form may be determined from a preliminary analysis of the gather prior to
coherent noise attenuation. The limits of the wedge are determined by the
range of velocities across the gather which it is required to remove. The upper
limit, in particular, needs to be chosen with care in order that primary
reflection energy is not muted inadvertently.
A major problem may arise, however, due to the aliasing of the dispersion
relation. Since the energy from primary reflections, this being the signal we
wish to preserve, has a very high velocity across the gather, the moveout
hyperbolae have small curvatures, and hence the corresponding dispersion
curves in (w,k) space are nearly vertical. Therefore they may intersect the
aliased components of the water waveguide mode, and as a result, any filter
that mutes that portion of the waveguide noise contained within the aliased
component would then mute the primary reflection signal. In addition, Gibb’s
oscillation effects may occur, caused either by discrete filter edges or discrete
data cutoff at the edges of the gather. An example of just such an effect is
shown in Fig. 19, which is a frequency-wavenumber plot of a shot gather in
the marine data set shown in Fig. 15, where both aliasing and Gibbs effectsare
evident.
The response of the filter with regard to Gibb’s oscillations may be
improved by smoothing the theta function cutoff at the edges and by
progressively reducing its effect along the dispersion relation. An improve-
ment with respect to aliasing is obtained by padding the midpoint gather with
zero values in the range N < (nl < 2 N , thereby preventing noise. Gibb’s
oscillationsdue to sudden termination of coherent signals at the gather edges
may be reduced by muting the contributions from the long offset traces
consistently with the rate of decrease of the wedge-shaped filter response
function. The general principles governing the design of filters in the (0, k)
plane are that a minimal region should be muted, that the filters should be
smooth with tapered edges, and that the data of the common midpoint gather
should be padded with zeroes to obviate aliasing.
D. Multiple Suppression and Primary Reflection Enhancement
We wish to exhibit the reflection coefficients of the primary reflectionswith

as accurate a location as possible and in such a way that their character, viz.,
local structure, is retained. This latter condition is highly necessary, since a
large part of the geological interpretation, for which seismic processing is
merely an aid, depends upon such information, whose significance is not
diminished by the fact that it is difficult to describe in quantitative terms. The
analysis is applied to a sequence of successive common midpoint gathers. It
will be assumed that the individual traces of which the gathers are comprised
have been muted at short arrival times to remove refracted wave energy, while
the gathers have been f-k filtered in the frequency-wave number plane in
order to suppress directly propagated water-bourne (waveguidemode) energy.
The standard sequence of processing operations is firstly to remove short-
period multiples by predictive convolution applied to each separate trace; then
to normal moveout correct the common midpoint gather using the velocity
field available from earlier analyses and to sum the traces into a stack; finally,
to apply a spiking deconvolution filter to the stacked trace. Each component
step will be considered in turn.
E. Predictive Deconvolution
The observed amplitude g(t), after removal of refracted wave energy and
direct water-bourne (waveguide) noise, is assumed to be linearly related to the
reflection coefficient field r(t) by
g(t) = jy H ( t , t’)r(t’)dt’ + n(t). (173)
The kernel H(t,t’) represents the effects of the source wavelet, multiple
reflections, absorption, receiver (geophone) response, and recording instru-
mentation, together with source and receiver ghosts. Uncorrelated noise is
represented by the additive term n(t).The problem is to recover r from g, given
a knowledge of H.
As a first approximation, the effects are assumed to be separable and to
be invariant under time translations. Hence, each individual effect may be
expressed as a convolution
where h(t) depends on the underlying physics, and may be compensated for
by an appropriate inversion. The overall system may be represented by a
succession of such convolutions, and hence the required reflection coefficient
field may be recovered by a sequence of inversions. The basic techniques
employed are those of crosscorrelation and Wiener filtering.
1. Source- Wavelet Compensation

Suppose that the subsurface consists of discrete reflecting interfaces of
varying reflectivities, ra,a = 1,. . . . The reflection coefficient field is hence a set
of impulses
r(t) = Crah(t - (175)
a
where ta is the reflection time from interface a. Given a source wavelet s(t) and
ignoring amplitude decrease due to geometrical spreading, absorption and
multiple reflection,the reflected amplitude from such an idealised subsurfaceis
where s ( t ) represents the source wavelet. Now the correlation of s ( t ) with g ( t ) is,
SIGNAL ANALYSIS IN SEISMIC STUDIES
as defined by geophysicists,
Rsg(t)= jym s(t’)g(t + t’)dt’.

For the case considered it, becomes
where
R,,(t) = s(t‘ + t)s(t‘) dt’ (179)
is the autocorrelation of the source wavelet. Therefore the crosscorrelation of

s with g is a sum of autocorrelations of s localised about the reflection times of
the reflecting interfaces. By the Schwartz inequality, given square integrable
functions u(t) and u(t),
Irw u(t‘)u(t’)dt’l 5 [ U 2 ( t t ) dt’ ;jmu’odt.]1’2, (180)
and hence, upon identifying,

u(t’) = s(t‘ + t - ta); u(t’) = s(t‘)
m
R,,(t I
- la) s2(t’)dt’,
J -m
with equality being achieved for t = t,. Therefore the crosscorrelation R,,(t) of
a set of maxima at t = to,a = 1,2,. . .,whose local structure
s with g consists of
is approximately that of an autocorrelation of the source wavelet with itself.
Ghost Deconuolution
The effect of the sea surface on the source wavelet s(t) is to subtract from it a
delayed replica, i.e.,
s(t) + s(t) - s(t - t, sec a), (183)
where the subtraction occurs since the water-air reflection coefficient is - 1,
and t s is the two-way travel time from the source to the water surface along the
normal to the surface.
The combination may hence be expressed as a convolution
s(t) -+ jo@ h S ( t - t’)s(t’)dt’,

where the surface ghost is represented by

hs(t) = d(t) - 6(t - t s sec a). (185)
By a similar argument, the effect of the sea surface on the received wavelet is
represented by convolution with the kernel
hR(t)= 6(t)- d(t - tRsec a), (186)
with t , being the two-way travel time from the receiver to the water surface
along the normal. The overall effect of ghosts is provided by convolution with
1;
the convolution of both kernels, explicitly,
h,(t - t’)h,(t‘)dt’
= d(t) - d(t - t s sec a) - 6(t - t, sec a) + d(t - ts sec a - t , sec a)

(187)
3. Multiple Deconoolution
In general the autocorrelation of a random function is localised about the
origin; that of a periodic function is itself periodic with the same wavelength.
The periodicities contained within a reverberant seismic trace appear as
prominent secondary peaks, either positive or negative, in the autocorrelation
function. This characteristic permits their identification and hence removal.
Consider a single plane reflector with reflection coefficient ro at a two-way
travel time to. The reflection coefficient field at zero offset is then
r(t) = ro d(t - to). (188)
The effect of a water layer (the sea) upon an upcoming seismic signal f ( t )is to
add a regular sequence of reflections at time delays that are multiples of the
two-way travel time tw in the water, i.e.,
f (t) s(t)
+
= f(t) - r f ( t - t w ) + r2f(t - 2t,) - . .* , (189)

where r is the sea bottom reflection coefficient. This expression may be written
as a convolution
g(t) = [:‘ m(t - t’)f(t’)dt’, (190)
where
m(t) = d(t) - rd(t - tw) + rZd(t - 2,) - .... (191)
In terms of a Z operator formalism, where 2 denotes time translation
through a time interval tw, viz.,
Zf(t) = f(t - tw), ( 192)
the convolution kernel of the reflection sequence may be represented as
rn = (1 - rZ + r 2 Z 2 - . ..)
= (1 + Kq-1. ( 193)
Each seismic signal is doubly affected by the reverberant water layer, once for
the downgoing and once for the upcoming amplitudes, hence the overall
convolution kernel is
m2 = (1 + r Z ) - 2
=1 - 2rZ + 3r2Z2 - -.a,
(194)
with the corresponding convolution being
g(t) = Jym rn(2)(t- t‘)f(t’)dt’, (195)
where
d 2 ) ( t )= d(t) - 2rd(t - tw) + 3r2 d(t - 2tw)- ..-. (196)
It follows that if the time period t w may be determined, for example from the
autocorrelation of the trace, then application of the inverse operator
will deconvolve the reverberant effects of the water layer, viz., remove the
corresponding short-period multiples. This assumes, however, that the time
period tw and the sea-bottom reflection coefficient r are known accurately.
The above problem, the removal of the reverberant wave train, may be
regarded as a particular case of a more general problem, namely that of
designing a stable linear filter that deconvolves a known signal from a noisy
realisation of it. Such an identification then permits the application to the
problem of general methods of solution, in particular the Wiener filter.
Specifically,Eq. (195)may be regarded as a particular case of Eq. (1 73), and we
may seek a filter function h(t), such that
f(t) = J-: h(t - t’)g(t’)dt’ (197)
best approximates a known form of seismic wavelet f(t) in an average sense

across a common midpoint gather. This enables us to use the statistical
properties relative to the gather as a means of optimising the deconvolution
for each individual trace.
Formally, we wish to minimise

f(t)12),
e = ( C f ( t )- (198)
where ( ) denotes the average relative to the common midpoint gather. As
shown in Appendix A, the optimum h is a solution of the Wiener-Hopf
equation
rw
( f ( t ) g ( t ’ ) ) = J (g(t’)g(t - t”))h(t’’)dt”.
0
If the seismic trace may be modelled as a stationary stochastic process, then

the equation becomes
Rrg(t)= 1; R,,(t - t’)h(t’)dt’, (2W
where R f g , and R,, are the crosscorrelations and autocorrelations, re-

spectively, of f and g, relative to the comon midpoint gather. In order to
remove short-period multiples at any value of time, h(t) is defined to be that
filter that predicts the amplitude at time t , ahead, given the values of the
amplitude at all times less than t.
f(t) = j)(t - t’)f(t’)dt‘ t 2 0, (201)
with
e = ( C f ( t + tw) - m2> (202)
being a minimum. The required filter is then a solution of the Wiener-Hopf
equation (Eq. 199), with
g(t) = f ( t + tw). (203)
As a result of this definition, f(t) then contains any of the reverberant
characteristics of the seismic amplitudes that occur with period t , or greater,
and therefore
f ( t >- At - t w ) W - tw) (204)
yields the deconvolved trace.
In terms of discretised variables, Eq. (199) is
f
(.LA+,,> = 1 <S,f,-t~>h,*,
t’=O
(205)
which, assuming stationarity, becomes

The correlation functions R, are obtained by averaging across the gather.
Solving the above equations is equivalent to inverting a symmetric Toeplitz
matrix, for which a fast algorithm due to Levinson exists. The forward
predicted amplitude is then given by the discretised analogue of Eq. (201)
A= i
t’=O
ht-t!fk (207)
with the reverberant free amplitude following from Eq. (204).

If a prediction length of one time interval is chosen, then a spiking
deconvolution filter is obtained, viz., one which replaces each primary
reflection by a single impulse. Such an operation is usually applied after
stacking, however, because interpreters prefer to retain some of the character
of the wavelet by extending the prediction distance to the order of the wavelet
duration.
The validity of the entire approach of predictive deconvolution depends
upon the absence of periodic structure within the reflection coefficient
sequence, at least over the length of the filter. Practical experience has shown
that the filter can still yield adequate results even when this condition is not
rigorously valid. The four parameters required for the application of a
predictive operator are prediction time delay, operator length, design window,
and application window. Their validity for a given section is established by a
set of preliminary trial deconvolutions. The major constraint on the above
algorithm for short-period multiple removal is imposed by the assumption of
stationarity, which limits both the prediction time delay and the length of the
convolution operator that may be employed with confidence. The prediction
length, i.e., the minimum period of any multiple energy that is to be removed,
may be obtained from the autocorrelation function of the unfiltered traces of
the section, a sectional autocorrelogram. For long reverberant periods, the
traces are no longer stationary due to the effect of dip and moveout; such
multiples are removed more effectivelyby normal moveout stacking. The same
effects limit the length of the deconvolution operator to less than 0.5 s,
whereas, in addition, long operators may inadvertently attenuate primaries as
a result of chance correlations. The duration of the design window should be
at least ten times that of the operator length in order to achieve statistical
significance. Since the travel time is not, in general, a multiple of the recording
sample length, the prediction filter will also act as an interpolator.
The effect of a noise impulse is to generate a signal in the filtered trace that
is proportional to the strength of the impulse. It follows that a noise transient,
which will be without an accompanying echo, will have a set of associated
reverberants that have been erroneously predicted and removed from the
deconvolved trace.
Figure 20 shows the effect of predictive deconvolution on the marine
gather of Fig. 14. The deconvolution operator had a variable window length
ooo
1. OOO 1.
2. OOO 2.
FIG.20. A predictively deconvolved marine shot gather.
from [SOO, 40001 ms for a near trace to [2000,4000] ms for a far trace. The
predictive gap was 28 ms.
The effect of muting the data within one operator length of the first breaks
is demonstrated in Fig. 21. Later sections of this paper deal with amplitude
versus offset analysis, for which this data is examined. Therefore, a front-end
mute was used, instead of applying an ‘fk’filter to remove the first breaks and
refraction arrivals, because, by considering Fig. 19, the result of employing
such a filter would be to affect the region of the ‘fk’spectrum that also contains
primary energy.
The sensitivity of the geophones may be determined by averaging each of
their individual responses along a seismic line, viz., determining the average
energy of a receiver gather. The effect of thereby equalising the geophone
sensitivities upon the processed shot gather is displayed in Fig. 22.
It may be observed that the systematic trace variability that was previously
present in Fig. 21 has been removed.
am
1. Ooo 1. OOO
2. m 2. Ooo
FIG.21. A front-end muted, deconvolved marine shot gather.
V. VELOCITY-FIELD
DETERMINATION
AND STACKING
A. Stacking Velocity
A basic assumption common to all processing systems that do not employ

prestack migration is that determination of the velocity field may be
separated, at least approximately, from that of the reflectance field. Recall that
both are required for depth recovery. The analysis described in Section IV was
designed for reflectance-field analysis with the component techniques being
optimised for its accurate recovery. Assuming that such an analysis has been
performed, we may now reanalyse the data with regard to the second objective
of velocity analysis, subject however, to consistency with the reflectance field.
The processing applied so far has been directed towards the suppression of
CAOOO
1. OOO 1. OOO
2. ooo 2. OOO
FIG.22. A geophone sensitivity-equalised processed marine shot gather.
coherent noise, removal of refracted energy by muting the early arrivals,

attenuation of direct waterbourne energy by f-k filtering, source and receiver
ghost compensation by inverse filtering, and short-period multiple removal by
predictive deconvolution.
The result of the preprocessing sequence is a data set of filtered geophone
responses, in the form of individual geophone traces that are grouped into sets
of common midpoint gathers. Each such gather consists of traces where the
shot point and geophone location are symmetrically disposed about a
common midpoint at progressively increasingseparations on the same seismic
line. Geometrical dispersion has been approximately compensated by a time-
dependent gain factor. The shot and geophone are effectively on the same
horizontal datum level. Each shot is effectively identical. Surface waves and
short-period reverberations have been eliminated. The traces have been
compensated so as to be of equal statistical weight.
S hi hi M G
:/
\ I I I I
I I
I I
I I
I 1
ZI
I
I
FIG.23. Refraction in a two-layer system.
Apart from f - k filtering and noise equalisation, the processing up to this

point has been one-dimensional and, to that extent, may be regarded as signal
processing. The further processing becomes increasingly two- and three-
dimensional, and hence becomes progressively more akin to image processing.
Algorithms for estimating the velocity field are based on a more detailed
analysis of the ray acoustic approximation.
It is shown in Appendix B that if the reflector of Fig. 13, rather than being
horizontal, has an angle of dip 8, then Dix’s equation, Eq. (161), becomes
2hcos8
($-(lo)
=
The effect of refraction on Dix’s equation is demonstrated by the two-layer
system of strata having velocities c1 and c2 with interfaces at depths z1 and z 2
shown in Fig. 23.
The total half-separation between source and receiver may be expressed as
h = cltl sin 8, + c 2 t 2sin 82, (209)
where the total half-reflection time is
t = t, + t2, (210)
with the time to at zero offset being given by
to = tl cos el + t2 COS 8,. (21 1)
Snell’s law at the interface requires that
hence
c2
h =-tsinO,,
C1
where
E2 = t-'(c:t, + cit2)
is a mean square velocity. A further application of Snell's law to Eq. (213)
yields
h
F2
-= cl't,sine, + c;'t2sine2,
and therefore, upon multiplying Eqs. (209) and (219,
h2 -
_
c2- t(tl sin2el + t2 sin2 02). (216)
But, from Eqs. (210)and (21 l),

t 2 - t g = t(tl sin2 8, + t2 sin20,) + t,t2(cos O1 - cos 82)2, (217)
with it following that
h2
t2 = ti + -z + t , t , ( ~ ~ ~-e ,
C
this being the generalisation of Dix's equation (Eq. (161)),that is, the normal
moveout equation for a two-layer system of horizontal strata.
The above equation is again hyperbolic to the extent that the final term is
negligible. Snell's law permits its reformulation as
8, - cos 82)2 = C O S ~el

(COS [( 1 - -tan2 8,
c:
- 11'. (219)
where
Ac2 = C: - c:.
The square root may be expanded by the binomial theorem, subject to the
condition
tan2e, <
Ic: - c y
when the first-order approximation is
and yields a negligible contribution to Eq. (218). However, for cz > c l , again
by Snell's law, Eq. (221)is equivalent to
(sin8,I < 1. (223)
It is therefore violated at the critical angle of incidence, when 8, = 5, while the
first-order approximation will become increasingly invalid as the critical angle
is approached. We may therefore expect the normal moveout equation to
deviate from the hyperbolic form near the critical angle.
+
For a sequence of ( A 1) horizontal strata separated by A interfaces,
indexed by Q = 1,. ..,A, the source receiver half-separation distance h may be
expressed as
A
h= 1 catasinOa,
a= 1
while the half-reflection time t is
with the half-reflection time to at zero separation being
1 t, cos 6,.
A
to =
a= 1
Snell's law of refraction at each interface requires that

-=--...=-
sin6, sine, - sin eA
C1 c2 CA
Analogously to Eq. (213), we may express h as

c2
h =-csinO,,
C1
where
A
c2 = t-' 1 c;ta
a= 1
by again applying Snell's law
and hence, by multiplying with Eq. (224),

h2
1 tasin20a.
A
-= t
z2 a=l
The analogue of Eq. (218) is

A A
t 2 - tg = t 1 ta sin’ en + 1
a= 1 a<b=2
t,tb(cos en - cos 8b)2; (232)
and hence the normal moveout equation is
As in the two-layer case, since the correction term to the hyperbolic form is a
sum of differences of cosines,it may be neglected in comparison with the h2/C2
term unless one of the incident angles approaches the critical angle of the
corresponding interface.
For a sequence of A strata, having velocities c,, a = 1,. ..,A and angles a,
to the horizontal, the offset dependence of reflection time remains approx-
imately hyperbolic (Shah, 1973),
where the squared stacking velocity is given by
in which 0, and 0; are the incident and refracted angles of the zero-offset ray
path at the ath interface, with cos20, = cos2 Ob, i.e.,
h2
t2 = tg + -2
C
+ o(h4). (236)
The velocity field, viz, the acoustic velocity within a given stratum, may be
obtained from the change in stacking velocity on entering a statum if the angle
of dip of the interface is known. Determination of the dip, however, requires
that the imaging problem be solved, hence the two problems of geometric
structure and velocity field determination are at best only approximately
separable.
Given a midpoint gather of amplitudes g(t, h) composed of recorded
amplitudes at reflection time t and source receiver separation h, the method for
determining the stacking velocity field F(t) is to apply the normal moveout
transformation
for a representative set of velocity fields and then to select or “pick” from the
set a function c(t),usually piecewise linear, that provides a best estimate, as
measured by maximum signal coherence across the transformed gather.
Initially, this may be performed by transforming the midpoint gather using a
set of constant velocity fields, with the resulting set being known as a constant
velocity gather, and by visually estimating the reflection-time interval during
which each is applicable. Operational consistency and the occurrence of large
data sets require standardisation and automation of the procedure. A suitable
measure of coherence, though by no means the only one, is provided by the
semblance (Al-Chalabi, 1979)
where 0 S s ( t ) I1, with s ( t ) = 1 when an identical pulse appears at the same

time delay for each trace of the gather.
Uncertainties of the stacking velocity field arise, however, due to the
combined effects of the distortion of a reflected pulse, known as NMO stretch,
introduced by the normal moveout transformation, and the occurrence of
multiple reflections. The effect of the distortion may be demonstrated by
considering the reflection of a Ricker wavelet (Eq. (74)) from a plane-
horizontal interface at a depth z in a medium of velocity c. Since the ray path
r in a common midpoint gather for a source receiver separation of 2h is
given by
r(h) = ( c 2 t i + 4h2)1/2, (239)
where
to = 2c/z (240)
is the zero-offset travel time, it follows that the amplitude recorded by the
receiver at offset 2h is
The wavelet is a maximum for t = (ti+ 4h2/c2)’/’; hence we may define a

relative time variable
when the amplitude becomes
-
g(t, h) = 21’2 ( w ~ h ) ) 5 ” [- ~ r ] { --Gf2}
-2 1 exp
Now the normal moveout transformed amplitude g’(th,h) at offset2h is defined

by
where
Hence
exp[
0
-2cr(h)
(r(h) - ( c 2 t ; + 4h2)1/2)2.
The exponent of the transformed wavelet is zero when

1
th = to
and the corresponding relative time variable is

th = th - to,
in terms of which the squared term of the exponent becomes
where the higher-order terms may be neglected, since the wavelet is of signi-
ficant magnitude only for zh << t,. It follows that to O(T:),the normal moveout
transformed wavelet is
Upon comparing Eqs. (243) and (250), it may be observed that the approx-
imate NMO corrected wavelet may be obtained from the original by the
transformation
and that the wave-number expansion of the corrected wavelet is consequently
The width of the Gaussian distribution has altered by the factor

- 112
h=(l+%) , (253)
with the wave number distribution progressively narrowing as the offset

increases. Therefore, the effect of the NMO transformation is to increase the
longer wavelength content of the wavelet. In fact, the wavelet has been simply
“stretched” by the factor (1 + 4h2/~2t6)1/2. An alternative method of exhi-
biting this effect is to notice from Eq. (243) that the first zero of the original
Ricker wavelet occurs at
(254)
whereas, from Eq. (250), that of the NMO corrected wavelet is at
(255)
The effect of the NMO transformation has thus been to broaden the wavelet
by the same factor, (1 + 4h2/~2tg)1/2,which occurred in the narrowing of the
wave-number distribution.
A consequence of the wavelet distortion is that, even when the correct
normal moveout is applied to the gather, any measure of coherence, including
the semblance as defined by Eq. (238),no longer yields a uniform maximum
within the time interval occupied by the wavelet. This situation is exacerbated
by the not infrequent occurrence of multiple reflections that are received
contemporaneously with the primary reflection pulse.
Multiple reflections arise either from surface or interbed reflections at
shallower depths. Although the amplitudes of such events are substantially
reduced by the multiple nature of the reflections in comparison with the
corresponding direct reflection amplitudes, since their transmission time

intervals are longer, the geometrical and absorptive gain factors that are
applied to the traces means that their amplitudes may be comparable in
magnitude with the direct reflection data that is received simultaneously.Since
the multiply reflected wavelets spend a greater time interval in the upper strata,
their velocities are, usually, significantlydifferent, most commonly lower, than
the contemporaneously received direct data. Hence their moveout hyperbolae
have relatively larger curvatures and thus intersect those of the direct events.
As a result, interference effects are introduced between the direct and mul-
tiple wavelets, thereby further reducing the effectiveness of coherency criteria,
such as the semblance of Eq. (238), for determining a correct stacking velocity
field F(t).
A further complication arises from the discontinuous nature of the velocity
field. If we consider the reflections from three closely spaced interfaces, with
a decrease in velocity from the first to the second layer, and an increase in
velocity from the second to the third, the resulting midpoint gather is shown
in Fig. 24.
Since the moveout hyperbola of the second reflector is less curved than
that of the first, the event wavelets have begun to interfere at the larger
moveouts. The figure demonstrates the general principle that the velocity field
is being determined by the behaviour of the far offset traces, whilst the arrival
times of the wavelets, and thus the horizon locations, are most reliably
represented by the short offset traces. This principle has implications for any
technique of signal-to-noise improvement, a topic that will be considered in
Synthetic Reflection Sectlon
- . .... ..
FIG.24. Wavelet interference.

the sequel. In particular, any attempt to simply sum the normal moveout-
corrected traces corresponding to the gather of Fig. 24 will have difficulties,
since the discontinuous change of stacking velocity will introduce a distinct
gap in the data between the first and second wavelets in the corrected traces
at large offsets: a gap that must somehow be interpolated.
Given a picked velocity field F ( t ) obtained by optimising coherence across
a gather, it is then possible to estimate the corresponding interval velocities.
For a horizontally layered model, Eq. (233) yields successive estimates of the
c, whilst for planar, though nonhorizontal, layers, the more general equation
[Eq. (235)l yields successive estimates of the vertical components c, cos 8,.
Both models assume an absence of anomalies, such as sand lenses, which may
affect only one of the downgoing or upcoming raypaths.
Noise, i.e., amplitude distributions that do not follow a hyperbolic distri-
bution across a common midpoint gather, may be classified as source gen-
erated, such as scattering from near surface discontinuities; or ambient
noise, arising from extraneous sources such as far off ocean storms, earth-
quakes, deeply sited seismic activity; or noise emanating from the recording
activity itself, such as tow noise from the streamer cable at sea. The transfor-
mation of the data from shot gathers to common midpoint gathers decor-
relates source-generated noise, thereby lessening its effect. An exception,
however, is provided by energy that has been diffracted from discontinuities on
the seabed, due to the waveguide effect of the water layer, since it appears to
resemble a dipping reflector whose angle of dip changes for different common
midpoint gathers. This distinguishing characteristic permits the identification
of diffractions and their explicit nullification in the velocity-field analysis. The
general effect of noise is to cause a deterioration in the localisability of the true
maxima and an increase in the number of spurious maxima. In those cir-
cumstances where reflection from an interface having angle of dip 8 is being
considered, then, as follows from Eq. (235), (ccos 8)’ is obtained from a
coherent common midpoint stack. In addition, however, the reflection point
of the rays is displaced in the up-dip direction as the source-receiver offset
increases. Any variation in the reflection coefficient of the interface will exhibit
an effect on the amplitude across the gather and hence affect the coherence.
The initial estimate of the velocity field of an exploration prospect requires
considerable intervention from an experienced interpreter, who is able to take
account of the possible existence of diffractions with higher stacking velocities
than primary events, and multiples with, usually, lower stacking velocities.
Such an interpretation should take into account any information from
previous surveys, and the resulting interval velocities should exhibit geological
consistency, at least qualitatively. In consequence, the accuracy of the results
depends heavily on the skill of the interpreter.
B. Normal Moveout and Stacking
Following the sequence of preprocessing operations, the seismic data

set is a common midpoint gather {g}, which consists of M seismic traces
g(a), a = 1,..., M, at increasing offsets. Each trace is a vector g t , t = A t ,
2 A t , . . .,N At, whose elements are time-sampled amplitudes. A typical marine
gather may consist of 72 traces, each with a sample interval of 4 ms over a 4 5 s
-
duration, thus N 1000. From Eq. (173), the traces take the form
where Htt, is a symmetric Toeplitz matrix and n, is the additive noise

distribution. The Htr,convolution matrix represents the combined effect of all
of the inherent physical processes and approximations, such as dip, velocity
variations, nonplanar geometry, angular dependence of reflection coefficients,
and ray-geometrical acoustics, which have not been taken into account by the
preceding processing; f,(a) is the reflection coefficient for two-way travel time
t at an offset indexed by a. Assuming horizontal plane interfaces, this takes the
form
where r, is the reflection coefficient from the ath interface, having two-way
time t,. Due to the assumed geometry, the two-way travel time takes the
approximate form given by a normal moveout hyperbola
where Cis the stacking velocity obtained from the velocity field analysis, and t o
is the travel time at zero separation between source and receiver. Upon making
the normal moveout transformation
gt(a) + 8’ = g(t2+ h2(a)/E2)1/2(a), (259)
the reflection from a given interface will occur at approximately the same
travel time for every trace of the gather. If the set of such corrected traces are
now summed, or “stacked,”
then the contributions from an interface will tend to reinforce each other while
any additive noise will be distributed randomly and hence, by the central limit
theorem, be attenuated by a factor (M)-’/’. An example of a normal moveout-
corrected gather (with amplitude clipping) is shown in Fig, 25.
1 1 I 1 I 1 12222222222333333332 144444444:
ao00 234: 345678901234567890 1234567E 123456789i
a
OOO
1. OOO 1. aK)
2. OOO
mt 2. OOO
FIG.25. A normal moveout-corrected gather.
A further benefit accrues from the effect of stacking upon energy arising
from multiple reflections. These are due to reflections between widely spaced
interfaces, frequently, though not invariably, involving a surface reflection. As
a result, the curvature of the moveout hyperbola differs significantly from that
of any primary reflections with which it may be temporally coincident, since
the summation appearing in the stacking velocity of the multiple [Eq. (229)]
is over a different set of strata than those corresponding to nearby primary
reflections. As velocity generally increases with depth, and the summation
yielding the multiple's stacking velocity will be confined to shallower layers, its
C is smaller than those of nearby primaries; in consequence its moveout
hyperbola is more curved. It follows that a normal moveout transformation
that is performed with the stacking velocity of the primaries will leave any
reflection wavelet due to a multiple unaligned across the gather, so that, upon
stacking, its energy becomes dispersed into a smooth background.
The effect of stacking has been to reduce the set of common midpoint
gather traces {g} to a single average trace g via Eq. (260).This achieves a data
reduction by a factor of M , the fold of the gather, at the expense, however, both
of a loss of resolution, due to the inevitable fluctuations of position and
structure of the normal moveout traces, and of the discarding of any wavelet
variation, and hence reflection-coefficient variation, across the gather.
Were it not for the poor signal-to-noise ratio of individual traces, then the
trace having minimum offset would be the most reliable, since it is the
geometry of this trace that corresponds most closely to a normal incidence ray
path upon which the validity of the subsequent migration will depend. (This
argument is subject to the caveat that the trace should not be corrupted by
propellor noise from the survey ship.) From this point of view, we may regard
the purpose of the remainder of the gather as that of providing a statistical
sample set that may be employed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the
minimum offset trace. A development of the above approach is given in
Appendix C, where the use of Bayesian statistics to, maximise the posterior
probability of the traces leads to a weighted estimate f(a)for each trace, having
where the weighting factor v, is given in terms of the trace and noise variances
0,2 and a:, respectively, by
The mean trace Q of Eq. (261) is now replaced by the estimate T(1) of the
minimum offset trace.
The traces of the weighted gather { T ) preserve the resolution and wavelet
localisation of the original traces, whilst attaining a signal-to-noise ratio
comparable to that of the stacked trace. In addition, they retain any amplitude
variation across the gather, thus permitting the characterisation of intrinsic
reflection coefficient dependence on angle of incidence. The effect of maximum
a posteriori (MAP) processing on the gather of Fig. 25 is displayed in Fig. 26.
The final signal processing operation before display or migration is that of
band-limiting filtering, with time variant band limits. Reflected wavelets
received at early arrival times have larger signal-to-noise ratios and broader
bandwidths compared to those received at later times. The objective of the
band-limiting filters is to obtain the broadest signal bandwidth permitted
by the prevailing signal-to-noise conditions. Structural interpretation of an
exploration prospect is based on the filtered and deconvolved common
midpoint stacked section.
am a000
0.100 a 100
0.200 0.200
0.300 0. 300
0.400 0.400
0.500 0.m
0.600 0. My)
0.700 0.700
am 0.En0
0.900 0.900
1. m 1. OOO
1. im 1. 100
1.200 1.200
I. a0 1.300
1.400 1.400
1. 500 1.500
1.600 1.600
1. m 1.700
1.800 1. BM
1.900 1.900
2. OOO 2. OOO
FIG.26. A MAP-processed gather.
VI. MIGRATION
A . Geometrical Migration
The result of the velocity determination and stacking is, firstly, a stacking
velocity field as a function of position and, secondly, a set of seismic traces
approximating to the seismic response that would have been observed at a grid
point of the datum plane if the shot and geophone had been coincident at that
point and only the response due to primary reflections had been recorded. This
latter property, however, is contingent upon the ability of the normal moveout
transformation, using the stacking velocity field, to compensate for the effect
of the offset dependence of the trace of a common midpoint gather. This
supposition becomes invalid for steeply dipping interfaces due to reflection-

point dispersion,in the neighbourhood of faults or unconformities,when, due
to migration, primaries may intersect across the common midpoint gather,
thereby yielding an ambiguous stacking velocity (Rocca, 1984), and in regions
having complex overburdens, when the incident and reflected rays may
traverse significantly different geologies (Chambers et al., 1984). A partial
alleviation of these difficulties is provided by the technique of dip moveout. It
has been shown (Hale, 1984; Fowler, 1984) that, for a constant velocity earth,
dip moveout, followed by stacking and poststack migration, is equivalent to
the ideal of prestack migration of every trace followed by stacking. This
development will be considered in the next section. The remaining, highly
nontrivial, problem is to convert the information from a surface-geophone
response as a function of time to a map of the seismic-reflectioncoefficient at a
true location in depth.
The necessity for a redistribution of energy becomes apparent from ray-
acoustic considerations, since for a coincident source-receiver pair, a pulse
received at time t may have originated from a reflector at any point of a
hemisphere of radius $ct and center the source-receiver position. The process
of migration may be regarded as a redistribution of the energy of each pulse
over the surface of such a hemisphere.
If we apply ray acoustics to the reflections observed from a dipping
reflector (Robinson, 1983)as shown in Fig. 27, then the angle of dip , 6 in (x, ct)
space, as measured by the difference of half-reflection times between successive
traces with an offset interval of Ah, satisfies
At
tan8, =c-.
Ah
Ah x hh x
(a1 (bl
FIG.27. Dipping reflectors.
In the true earth coordinate system, the rays are reflected normally from the
interface, thus the true angle of dip 6, satisfies
A1
sin 9, = -.
Ah
The spaces are related by
A1 = c At,
and hence
sin 0, = tan 6, ; (266)
therefore the true dip is always larger than the observed dip unless the reflector
is horizontal. From a consideration of Fig. 27, it follows that the reflected
energy at (x,ct) must be migrated through a distance of 2ctsin()6,) in the
direction at an angle $9, to the horizontal, in order to coincide with its correct
physical location. Arguments such as this, based upon ray acoustics, were
utilised to formulate geometrical migration algorithms, but have been
superseded by methods founded on the acoustic-wave equation.
B. D i p Moveout
As just noted, reflection-point dispersion occurs when dipping reflectors

are present (Deregowski, 1982).The ideal method for its removal would be to
take the wave equation in offset h, which follows from Eq. 37, and use that to
continue the trace to offset zero. Since this would entail continuation of every
trace of each midpoint gather, the computational load would be considerable.
A number of approximations to the above, termed variously “prestack partial
migration” (Yilmaz and Claerbout, 1980), “offset continuation” (Bolondi et al.,
1982; Salvador and Savelli, 1982), “dip moveout” (Deregowski and Rocca,
1981) may be arrived at from a consideration of ray acoustics.
In the analysis that follows we shall, for simplicity, consider a homo-
geneous earth of constant seismic velocity c in only two spatial dimensions, x
and z. Let the shot-geophone offset be 2h and let the geophone detect a single
pulse at time t after the emission of an impulsive shot.3 Since the geophone
responds omnidirectionally,the direction of the reflected ray is unknown. As
shown in Fig. 28, since the sum of the lengths of the incident and reflected rays
is determined, the point of reflection lies on the surface of the ellipse in (x, ct)
Notice that we now consider the two-way reflection time rather than the one-way time
variable that was utilised in Sections IV and V.
5 B M G
I ct
FIG.28. The fixed offset ellipse.
space having the shot and geophone positions as foci and a semimajor axis of
1
ZCt,
The reflection point may lie anywhere on the ellipse, and hence, to achieve a
partial migration, the recorded pulse should be smeared along it. If we now
consider how such a notional reflector would be observed at zero offset,
characterised by coincident incident and reflected rays if t , is the observed
reflection time, then, since the rays are normal to the reflecting surface,
whereas in terms of the lateral position x of the observation point B,
(;y + (;y =1
for values of x such that

1x1 x,,
where
xm =-
2h2
cth ’
and
for
Thus, upon transforming to a zero-offset section, the ellipse of Eq. (267) is
converted into the partial ellipse, or “smile,” defined by Eqs. (269) and (272).
The transformation from the observed amplitude u(x, t; h) at midpoint x
and offset h to the zero-offset amplitude u,(x, t ; O ) may be achieved via the
convolution
where
Vo(X,
ss
t;0) = dth dx‘s(x - x’, t, th)U(th,X’, h),
s(x, t, t h ) = L(x)h[t - t,(l - x2h-2)”2]
L(x) defines the amplitude distribution along the smile. If we define
t ( x ) = (2xJ’ 1x1 < x,

=o 1x1 > x,,
i.e., if we assume constant reflectivity but neglect the horizontal ray

contributions of Eq. (267), then, upon Fourier-expanding the convolution
kernel
we find that
S(k, w, th) = (2x,)-’

”:s [
dx exp i kx + ot, (
1 --
;:)”’I
The integral may be approximated by using the method of stationary phase
. (278)
when it yields
where
and
282 J. F. BOYCE A N D L. R. M U R R A Y
whereas @(x) is the probability integral (Gradshteyn and Ryzhik, 1965). A

necessary condition for the validity of the stationary phase approximation is
that the point of stationarity xo should not approach the end points of the
integration range, i.e., xo < x,. A sufficient condition to ensure this is (kl <
20/c, viz, that the angle of dip be small.
From the properties of the probability integral,
lim S(k,w,th) = lim exp[i(h’k’
h-0 h-0
+ 0’t,2)”’],
(282)
= exp(iot,)
leading to an identity for Eq. (274) in the h -+ 0 limit. Alternatively, for large
values of h,
t h ) = (2X,)-’
S(k,0, exp[i(h2k2 + o’t,2)’/’], (283)
consistent with the result of Deregowski and Rocca (1981).
Now, from Eqs. (268) and (269), the time t on the zero-offset section is
related to the observed time t h at offset h by
t = (t,” - 4h2C-2)’/2(1 - x2h-2)1/2, (284)
whereas, since zero-offset reflection is along the normal to the ellipse, for a
given angle of dip 8,
cos’ 6 = h-’[h4 - ( + C t h X ) ’ ] ( h ’ - x2)-’, (2851
with it following that
(1 - x2h-2)-1 = (t: - 4 ~ ~ - 2 ) - 1 ( t-; 4~ cos2 8); (286)
and hence, from Eq. (284),
t = t,”(tl + 4h2c-’ sin’ 8 p 2 , (287)
where we may identify (tf + 4h2c-’ sin’ 8)’/’ as the zero moveout time that
would be observed at M if the reflector consisted of a straight line passing
through P with angle of dip 8.
This identification suggests an alternative formulation of the dip moveout
correction in terms of the normal moveout amplitude un(x,t; h), defined by the
normal moveout transformation [Eq. (237)], to be
V n ( x , t h ; h) = u(x, (t’ + 4h2C-’)’/’; h). (288)
Upon Fourier expanding the observed amplitude at offset h,
o(k, t h ; h) eXp(- k X ) , (289)

together with the amplitude at zero offset
where, from Eqs. (288) and (289),the integral may be expressed in terms of the
normal moveout amplitude as
s
vo(k,o;O) = dt,t,(ti + 4h2c-2)-”2S(k,w; th)V,(k,t,; h).
Using the approximation to S(k, o;t h )given by Eq. (282), the above relation
(292)
becomes
s
uo(k,w;0) = dt,t,(t; + 4h2~-2)-1’2exp[i(h2k2 + ~ ~ t i ) ~ ~ ~ ]t,;u h),
when it may be identified with the expression obtained by Hale (1984) by
, , ( k(293)
,
assuming that the wave number k conjugate to the midpoint coordinate x, is

related to the angle of dip by
k = 2oc-’ sin 6, (294)
i.e., that the wave vector of the reflecting wave front is at an angle 6 to the
vertical. As may be observed from Fig. 42 of Appendix B, for small angles
of dip, a ray along M P will have an emergence angle that closely approximates
to 6.
The significant feature of either expression, [Eq. (283) or Eq. (293)], is that,
acting upon a normal moveout corrected plane wave
exp[i(wt, - kx)], (295)
they introduce a time shift
At = ( t i + h2k2m-2)1’2 - t ,
= 2h2(c2t,)-’ sin2 6,
which exactly compensates for the dip moveout of the sloping reflector.
C. The Common Midpoint Frame
The seismic traces of the common midpoint gather may be regarded as

samples of the seismic amplitude. Assuming only dilatational waves, and that
first-order density variations may be neglected, the amplitude u ( x ~t ,G ;xs, ts)

observed at position xG and time tG in response to a seismic shot at position
xs and time ts satisfies the acoustic wave equation
By the principle of reciprocity (that sources and receivers may be inter-

changed), the amplitude similarly satisfies
These equations are invariant under the transformation

fs + ts +T tG + t G + T, (299)
hence u is a function of t = t , - t s . Upon defining midpoint and offset
coordinate systems x and h by
then, following Stolt (1978), if the second-order derivatives of mixed midpoint

and offset coordinates are neglected, both equations transform to the form,
1
V(X, t;h) = - S 3 ( h ) b(t).
c2 atz 2
If it is assumed, in addition, that the offset dependence is small compared with
that due to the midpoint, then the V,Z derivatives may be neglected.
The common midpoint traces relate to coincident source and receiver, viz,
to lim,,-o u(x, t ; h) [(which will be denoted simply by u(x, t)]. The section of
common midpoint gathers is u(x,y,z = 0, t), with x and y being at grid
points of the datum plane. The seismic reflectivity is the ratio of the reflected to
the incident amplitudes. As shown by Claerbout, the wave equation [Eq.
(30111 may be utilised to downwardly continue the surface amplitudes, both
the wave field that propagates from the shot and that which is observed at the
detector. Their values in the neighbourhood of a given point permit the
determination of the required reflectivity.
In order to relate the dip moveout and offset continuation expressions
(Eqs. (278) and (293), respectively) to that of prestack partial migration, we
shall assume a constant velocity in Eq. (301), when, except for h = 0, it has
the solution
where
1
0 = -C(k2
2
+ K2)”2. (303)
We wish to continue the amplitude at known frequency w, lateral midpoint

wavenumber K,, and depth z from finite moveout h to zero moveout (Berg,
1984).Considering, for simplicity, only two space dimensions and a horizontal
moveout component h, from Eq. (302),
u(K,,z,w; h) = jK(24
s d K , a ( K x , K , , w ;k)exp[i(K,z
(24
- kh)]. (304)
In a ray acoustic approximation

K = kG + ks k = kG - ks, (305)
with ks and kG being in the directions of the shot and geophone rays,
+
respectively, and having angles of emergence (a 8) and (a - 0) as shown in
Appendix B. Hence
K, = wc-1[cos(a + 8) + cos(a - ,911. (306)
This is known as the “double square root” equation. If the k dependence of the
integrand is weak, then the integral may be approximated by using the method
of stationary phase. As shown by Deregowski and Rocca (1984),the stationary
point is determined by the requirement
2h = ([tan(B + a) - tan(8 - a)], (307)
where ( is the depth of the reflection point. But Theorem 3 of Appendix B
shows that this condition is satisfied by the shot and geophone rays. Hence, as
pointed out by Deregowski and Rocca, the condition of stationarity, as is
usual, implies the condition of ray acoustics. If the amplitude is simply
approximated by its value at the stationary point, then the expression becomes
u(K,,z,w; h) = ~(K,,w)exp{iwc-’[cos(8 + a) + cos(8 - a)]z
- ioc-’[sin(8 + a) + sin(8 - a)]h}. (308)
But from Appendix B,
22 cos 8 = ct,; ct, tan a = 2h cos 8; (309)
hence, in terms of the time th at offset h related to the normal moveout time t,
by Eq. (2681,
u(K,,z,w; h) = u(K,,w)exp{i[wth + O(h4)]}, (3 10)
representing a time shift from zero offset to finite offset consistent with that of
Eq. (296).
D. Fourier Space Migration
The major problem inherent in migration is that of taking proper account

of complex interfaces and the corresponding spatial dependence of the
velocity field. The techniques of migration may be classified as either direct or
Fourier-space techniques (Hood, 1981; Gazdag and Sguazzero, 1984). For a
homogeneous earth of constant velocity c, if we consider only the upcoming
s$$
wave amplitudes,
u(x,t) = s$u(k,w)exp[-i(k-x - w t)], (31 1)
with
k, = - [ ~ W ~ C - ’ - (k: + k;)]1’2. (3 12)
Since u(k,w) may be recovered from the surface amplitude via the inverse
Fourier transform,
ss
u(k,w) = d2x dtu(x,y,z = O,t)exp[i(k x - at)]; -
hence u(x, y, z = 0) may be recovered from the surface data. These relations,
(313)
since they depend upon Fourier transforms, may be readily discretised and
implemented using “fast” numerical algorithms. They form the basis of most
migrations presently performed. Alternatively, the k,, k,, and w dependence of
Eq. (311) may be integrated out, yielding a Kirchoff integral relation between
u(x, t = 0) and its time derivative at the surface. Of course, the basic premise,
that the earth is homogeneous, is invalid, so the above approach must be
progressively modified to take account of increasing geological complexity.
E . Finite-Diflerence Migration
At the opposite extreme, the wave equation may be used directly to

continue the amplitude. As the equation is second-order in the space and time
derivatives, two classes of plane wave solutions, downgoing and upcoming,
occur. The only boundary data available, however, is the amplitude at the
surface. It follows that only one set of solutions, either downgoing from the
shot, or upcoming to the receiver, may be c o n t i n ~ e d The
. ~ two sets are
separately continued downwards in space and either forwards or backwards in
The situation may change, at least for marine data, if vertically double streamers of
geophones are utilised, since the amplitude and an estimate of its first derivative would then
become available.
time until the same space-time point is reached by each continuation, when
their ratio yields the reflectivity at that location. A one-way wave equation for
upward propagating waves is given by
where the square root operator is defined by expanding the amplitude as a

frequency space Fourier integral.
when it becomes
u(x, t ) =
SI: (dw)u(x,o)exp(iwt) (3 15)
au
-(x, 0)= D(x,W)U(X, w), (316)
aZ
where
This equation is not in a suitable form for finite-differenceimplementation due

to the large magnitudes that the square root factor on the right-hand side may
assume. It may be reformulated by transforming to a time-retarded frame of
constant velocity u by the depth-variant time translation,
t +7 = t + z/u. (318)
The actual phase velocity c may be position dependent, in particular a function
of depth; the frame velocity is chosen close to the mean value of the range of
phase velocities corresponding to the range of depths for which migration is
being performed.
The square-root operator in the retarded frame becomes
D(x,o)= i [("' + a2 + --r -:]
c ax dy
a2)lI2
, (319)
enabling the equation to be separated (with slight error) by Marchuk splitting

into diffraction, Da(x,o),
and refraction, Dr(x,w), components as
and
D,.(x,w)= i(: - :).

288 J. F.BOYCE AND L. R. MURRAY
The above two components are the diffraction and refraction components of
the operator. The wave equation may now be solved in finite intervals of z by
the alternate application of the two parts. In the sequel, we shall consider only
two space dimensions, suppressing any y dependence. The techniques of
analysis extend directly to three dimensions, although implying a significant
increase in computational load. Moreover, in order to develop the technique,
only the diffraction term will be considered explicitly,since the refraction term
may be included in any migration scheme without approximation. Now
expansion of the square root as a continued fraction
Y = (1 + X2)”2
X2
=1+-
l + Y
yields various orders of approximation. In particular, from the third-order
approximation,
X2
Y=l+ (323)
2 + X2/2’
the 45-degree equation results.
{4d + C Z pa 2
with expression in (z,T ) space as
I au dX
a20
z(x,z,w) = 2ioc+x,z,w), (324)
We may exhibit the error inherent in this approximation by considering

plane waves of frequency w with angle of propagation 6, i.e.,
with
v,,(x,z,T) = exp(ik,x +i
(
k, -- z
3+ I iwz ,
w 0
k,=-sin8 k, =-cosO. (327)
C C
The phase shift experienced by such a wave due to migration through a

distance Az is
w
~ ( 6W,) = -( 1 - cos 6 )Az. (328)
C
x
0
c
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Ang Le (degrees)
FIG.29. Phase errors of the continuous 45-degree equation. The contours are of phase
errors lo, lo", loo", respectively.
The corresponding phase shift that arises from a solution of the 45-degree
equation is
A plot of the resulting phase error (Whitlesley and Quay, 1977), is shown in
Fig. 29 for a phase-velocity of 2400 ms-' and a migration length Az of 24 m.
In order to formulate a migration algorithm in the (x, z, z) domain, the
derivatives in Eq. (325) are approximated by finite differences for the second-
order derivatives in x and 7,together with Crank-Nicholson averaging for the
z derivative. The phase shift corresponding to a finite-difference approxi-
mation to the 45-degree equation is
where
i,x =2sin(F)/Ax (331)
and
GI = sin(GAClz)/A.z, (332)
120
100
-.. 80
I
x
60
m
0-
3
m
& 40
\
\
20 - \
\
.. - - - _ _
\
0
0 10 20 30 40 so 60 70 80 90
hng l e (degrees)
FIG.30. Phase errors of the discrete 45-degree equation.
with
Lj = 2 sinr+)/Az, (333)
while A x and AT are the increments in x and T,respectively. The corresponding

phase errors for a migration step of 24 m at a phase velocity of 2400 ms-'
when A x = 15 m and AT = 4 ms are shown in Fig. 30. The errors exhibited in
this figure are much greater than those of the continuous 45-degree equation.
They arise both from the third-order approximation to the square root and
from the finite-difference approximations to the derivatives. Koehler (1983)
noted that the finite-difference migration equation could be formulated as
U(X, z + Az, T) = - U ( X , Z, T + AT)
N
+ n =1- N An[u(x + n A x , z, z) + u(x + n A x , z + A z , z + AT)],
(334)
where the A , are defined by requiring that the plane wave
u,(x, z, z) = exp ik,x

I (+ : ) i k, - - z + iwz
at a fixed angle be a solution of the equation. The phase errors resulting from
I (335)
such an approximation for an angle t9 = 30" and N = 12 are shown in Fig. 31.
The region of small errors is more extensive than that of Fig. 30.
120
100
- 80
z
x
2 60
m
&
k 40
20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Angle (degrees)
FIG.31. Phase errors of the discrete equation, optimised to a 30-degree propagation angle.
An alternative approach may be made in the space-frequency domain. By

approximating the z-derivative using a Crank-Nicholson scheme, we obtain
the finite-differenceequation
U ( X ,z + Az,W ) = H ( x , W ) U ( X ,Z,w), (336)
where
[:
H ( x , w ) = 1 --D(X,W)
I-" : 1 +-D(x,w)
with D ( x , w ) being given by Eq. (317), without the y-dependence. We wish to

], (337)
construct a linear finite-difference approximation to the above, i.e., to

approximate H by
N
Q(X,W) =
n=-N
2 Hn(0)Z", (338)
where 2 is the linear translation through A x in x .

Z U ( X ,Z, W ) = U ( X + AX, Z, a), (339)
since the migration then becomes
N
v(x, z + 6 2 , W ) = n =C- N H,(o)u(x + n A x , z, a). (340)
Following Stolt (1978)and Berkhout (1984), we consider the effect of thefinite-

difference approximation upon the plane wave uo(x) [Eq. (326)]. The
migration equation yields
N
exp( - ir(8,w))= n = - N Hn(w)exp(inK,), (341)
where
K, = k, AX. (342)
Hence, by defining the expansion coefficients H,,(o) to be the discrete Fourier
transforms of the exact transfer function, the approximation
H ( x , w)= E?(x,w ) (343)

will yield the correct phase shifts for plane waves at the values
2n
K, =n -NlnlN. (344)
+
(2N 1)
Since
w
K, = -sin 8 Ax, (345)
c
this is equivalent to plane waves propagating at angles with
2nn
sin 8 = (346)
(2N + l ) K ’
where
C
K=- (347)
WAX‘
In terms of K,, we have
and hence the expansion coefficients H n ( o ) may be obtained directly. The

range over which the transform is applied is
However, the physical range is determined by
Isin81 I 1. (350)
Therefore, if w is such that
Ax
w- I sc, (351)
C
then the range of application of the transform extends beyond the physical
range. For values of K , beyond the physical range, (1 - x2K;}'/' becomes
complex, the transfer function is no longer of unit modulus, and the ap-
proximation of H(x,w) by A(x,w) breaks down. This effect occurs at the
lower frequencies. In terms of wavelength, it corresponds to the condition
A x I4. (352)
Physically it means that we are attempting to fit data having a sampling length
of A x by waves whose wavelength is too long to accommodate the possible
variation. The problem may be overcome by increasing A x to 2 A x or 3 A x
at the lower frequencies, i.e., by Fourier expanding in terms of 2K, or 3K,
whilst maintaining the order of the expansion. The input data to the migra-
tion algorithm at lower frequencies for a given x value will be the wave field
at displacements 2 A x or 3 A x from it; however, since the number of such
contributions is maintained, the range in x is correspondingly increased. If this
principle of adapting the effective A x to w is accepted, then it becomes possible
to envisage migration utilising 3 Ax12 or 5 Ax12 for certain frequency ranges,
with the wave field at half-integer values of A x being obtained by inter-
polation. The phase shift that arises from the finite-difference approximation is
(353)
The corresponding phase errors are shown in Fig. 32.

The frequency at which Eq. (352) applies is 40 Hz. For lower frequencies,
the discrete Fourier expansions were made in terms of 3KX/2,2K,, 5KX/2,.. .,
as appropriate. The region of phase errors of less than 1' extends much further
than that of the optimised 45" equation. The spatial Nyquist frequency
inherent in our approximation is
K, = X, (354)
i.e.,
c
V =
2 A x sin 8' (355)
For frequencies of 40 Hz and below, the limit is set both by the order of
the discrete Fourier transform and by the effective A x corresponding to the
frequency. For example, since 3KX/2was utilised at 30 Hz, the maximum angle
N
Frequency (HA \o
N c. OI 0)
-
0 N p
0 0 0 0
00 -00
01 01
oa 02
03 03
04 04
06
p 06 00 g
i:: 0s
O7
O8
09
6
j
B
I 0 LO
11 11
12 12
1s 15
14 14
FIG.34. Migrated section, interpolated in steps of Ax/2.
permitted at the frequency is 63". A synthetic seismic section is shown in

Fig. 33. It consists of a single curved discontinuous horizon with a maximum
angle of 50" in a medium of constant velocity, 2400 ms-'.
Figure 34 shows the effect of migration using the migration algorithm
corresponding to Fig. 32, together with an eight-point interpolation operator
for the wave field at half-integer values of A x .
The limiting angle at which spatial aliasing occurs due to discrete sampling
in x follows from equation 354. For low frequencies, this extended beyond the
physical range - 4 2 5 0 In/2, hence causing the migration operator,
equation 338, to become undefined. Increasing the effective A x to 3 Ax12 or
greater alleviates the problem, but at the expense of introducing an aliasing
angle that is less than n / 2 for that frequency. Ideally it should be possible to
utilise an effective sampling interval that may be increased continuously from
the lower limit A x set by the physical sampling length. This, in turn, implies the
requirement of interpolating the field at any position between the sample
points, not just at the Ax12 values. We shall now show how such an
interpolation filter may be based upon the forward and inverse discrete
Fourier transform. Let the wave field u(x, z, w) be defined at the sample points
x = n A x , - N I n IN . The forward and inverse discrete Fourier trans-
form is
- 1 N 2inmn
u(x, z, 0 )= ~
2N +1 1m = - W,
~ 2, a)exp ( ( 2 N + 1 ) A x ) '
(354)
where
1 u(x,z,w)exp
N
ij(rn,z,o) = (357)
n= -N
Since, by the discrete Fourier transform,

F(x, 2, 0) = u(x, 2, 0) (358)
for x = n A x , - N In I N , ?(x, z, w), which is defined for all x, will provide an
approximation to u(x, z, w) at any intermediate value. In particular, we shall be
interested in values of x in the range 0 s x I A x . The accuracy of the ap-
proximation may be exhibited by considering the transfer function of the
interpolation filter defined by eqs. (356) and (357). Before doing so, however,
notice that, by interchanging the order of the summations, for the range
O S E I 1 ,
?(aAx,z,w) = c A(a,n)u(nA x , z , w ) ,
n= -N
N
(359)
where
1 sin[n(a - n)]
A(a,n) =
(2N + 1) sin(rr(u - n)/(2N + 1))’
with the corresponding transfer function being
N
F(w)=
n=-N
1 A(a,n)exp(ino).
Further, the asymmetry that exists between the data range n Ax( - N I n S N )
and the interpolation range a A x ( 0 I us 1) may be removed by averaging the
interpolated field over the value obtained from Eq. (359), and that obtained
from the equivalent operator defined over the range - N 1I n I N 1+ +
and interpolated within the same range, a A x ( 0 I a I 1). The interpolation
equation then becomes
F(CIA X ,Z, W) =
[:
- A(u, - N)u(- N A X ,Z , W)
+ j1A ( a , N + l)U((N + 1 ) A x , Z, W)
+ c N
n= - N + I
A(a,n)u(nAx,z,co)
1. (362)
The modulus of the resulting transfer function is shown as a function of

frequency f in Fig. 35, when N = 7, for various values of u. When compared
'"rl
T r a n s f e r f u n c t I on - modulus. N = 7
m = 1/8 (I = 218
0.5
H If) H I i r Y
0.0 n/2 f n/2 6 "

(I i 3/8
"12 f
FIG.35. Interpolation operator transfer function.
with that which results from an eight-point polynomial interpolation filter

(Hamming, 1977)for tl = 0.5, the discrete Fourier transform filter is superior at
frequencies approaching the Nyquist.
Figure 36 shows the effect of migration utilising the corresponding
migration algorithm.
00 - -00
01 01
02 02
03 03
04 04
06 05
Boa 08 g
6
io7
P O 8
07
08
I
1
09 09
10 ia
11 11
12 10
13 13
14 I4
FIG.36. Migrated section, interpolatedin steps of Ax/16.

The slight amount of dispersion exhibited in Fig. 34, due to spatial aliasing
in the frequency range 30 to 40 Hz, has now been eliminated as a result of the
improvement in the design of the interpolation operator. By interpolating to
Ax/16, the limiting angle of dip has been extended to 70”. We may expect that
increasing the order of the interpolation operator in Eq. (362) will enable
reflections arising from arbitrarily large angles of dip to be migrated
successfully.
The method may be extended to three space dimensions by replacing the
single-dimensional Fourier transform by one of two dimensions.
VII. AMPLITUDE WITH OFFSET

VARIATION
A. Approximations to the Zoeppritz Equations
The variation of reflection coefficient of the dilatational (P-wave) am-

plitude with angle of incidence may be utilised to obtain information about
subsurface parameters, specifically to identify and locate “bright spots” caused
by shale-gas sand interfaces. This possibility arises since the P-wave velo-
city is lower in a gas-filled porosity than in a water-filled one, whilst the
S-wave velocities are almost equal. This in turn means that the Poisson ratio
1/2(A + p ) (Hamilton, 1976; Gregory, 1976; Domenico, 1976, 1977), de-
creases from ~ 0 . to 4 ~0.1.
In the case where the two strata that border the interface have properties
that differ only slightly, since the acoustic impedance is small, the transmission
coefficient will be large for waves of the same type as the incident wave, but all
other coefficients will be small. The ratios of the changes of the parameters
across the interface to their means will be much less than unity, viz.,
6 p / p << 1; 6cp/Fp<< 1; 6c& << 1, (363)
where
6 p = p’ - p ; 6cp = c(p - c p ; 6c, = c$ - cs, (364)
and
p = )(p’ + p); +
Cp = Q(cl, cP); Cs = *(c; + cS). (365)
It is possible to develop an approximation to the expression for the P-wave
reflection coefficient of Eq. (157) assuming that none of the angles approaches
~ / 2 Snell’s
. law then gives, to first order in the changes of the velocities,
)::(
6e=tan - ; d $ = tan(%),
where
6%= $1 - e; 64 = 41 - 4, (367)
and
-
e= $(el + e); 6 = $(4’ + 4). (368)
Expanding the terms of Eq. (157) to first order in the changes of the param-
eters yields the approximate form of P-wave ~oefficient.~
This equation, known as the Aki and Richards equation (1980) is a rewritten
version of an expression given by Bortfeld (1961) as part of a more general
approximation to the Zoeppritz equations. Various alternative expressions
have been derived by other authors (Richards and Frazier, 1976; Shuey, 1985).
An estimate of the parameter ratios in Eq. (369) may be obtained by a least-
squares fitting to the reflection events of a common midpoint gather (Mayne,
1962), having first determined the angle of incidence of the P-wave on the
interface at each offset. Such an analysis is known as “amplitude versus offset.”
Its efficacy relies on the approximation that a common midpoint gather
provides multiple realisations of the reflection response from the same
reflection point at different angles of incidence. An approach of this kind was
developed by Smith and Gidlow (1985)from earlier work by Stolt and Weglein
(1985) to perform a weighted averaging process (“geostack”) to display
information concerning rock properties in the form of P- and S-wave
reflectivities.
Smith and Gidlow rearrange Eq. (369) to the form
+--tan2e (370)
and then used the “mudrock line” assumption for water-saturated silicate
rocks (Castagna et al., 1985)
cp N 1360 +1.66~~ (371)
to express cs in terms of c p and hence to utilise in Eq. (370). Unfortunately the
constants in Eq. (371) are survey dependent, so well control data, i.e.,
compressional and shear wave velocities obtained by drilling, is required. This
is not always available, and, although estimates may be made from the seismic
data (Carrion and Hassanzadeh, 1985), the values so obtained may not be
For notational simplicity, the bars indicating the means across the interface will be omitted.
reliable. In addition, Eq. (371) is incorrect for regions where carbonates are
present, such as the North Sea.
A further problem arises from the terms sin’ 0 and tan’ 0 in Eq. (370).These
have similar magnitudes at small angles; thus small errors in the data may
produce an incorrect distribution between the two terms. To combat this
effect, Smith and Gidlow assumed a relationship between density and P-wave
velocity that holds for water-saturated rocks, excluding evaporites (Gardner
et. al., 1974),namely,
p N 0.23cy4, (372)
where c p is in feet/sec. It follows that
6p 1 6cp
- (373)
P 4 CP’
yielding the final form of the equation to be fitted to the common mid-
point data
When this equation is fitted to the seismicdata, the ratios 6cp/cpand 6c,/c, can
be obtained, where the latter relies upon the validity of Eq. (373). Notice that
the former is the P-wave reflectivity at zero offset, and should, in principle, be a
more accurate estimate than that obtained by stacking.
By assuming a constant density model, Smith and Gidlow showed that the
6 p l p term in Eq. (370) could be removed without significantly affecting the
results, indicating that the parameters that determine the characteristics of the
reflection are primarily the phase velocities of the dilatation and shear waves.
The problem of reliably estimating the shear wave velocity was clearly
demonstrated when, even with well control allowing cross-plots of the two
velocity fields cpand cs and thus the constants of Eq. (370)to be determined for
the gas prospect being investigated, the results did not give a satisfactory
indication of the gas-bearing sediments.
A form of Eq. (369) that is more suitable for amplitude variation with offset
analysis may be obtained by rewriting it as a parabola in terms of the three
parameters of intercept, gradient, and curvature at zero offset. Upon defining
the P- and S-wave moduli of the two strata by
Then
to first order, where
SM = ( M ’ - M ) ; 6 p = (p’- p), (377)

and
M = +(M’ + M); ji = f(p’ + p). (378)
Upon utilising Eq. (376) in Eq. (369),
sin2~+2&
-sin40. (379)
M
This is the Pan and Gardner (1985, 1987) approximation to the Zoeppritz
equations. It is of the form
y = a, + a,x + u3x2, (380)

where
y = R cos2 8; x = sin2 8.
Fitting the above equation to common midpoint data provides estimates for
the parameter ratios 6p/p, 6 M / M , and d p / M . Model calculations (Murray,
1989) have shown that even with significant changes in the values of the
parameters (16c,l < 20%, 16c,l < 29%, 16pJ< 12%), good agreement is ob-
tained between the fit to a common midpoint gather yielded by Eq. (380)
and that of a calculation using the exact Zoeppritz equations. Hence it may be
inferred that the approximation should be adequate to account for any
parameter variations likely to be encountered when fitting real seismic data.
Due to preprocessing, however, real data are scaled in a manner that precludes
the determination of the true values of the ratios in Eq. (380); nevertheless, the
relative values that can be obtained are sufficient for the characterisation of
the horizons of interest.
-DO
01
02
03
04
OL
00
07
FIG.37. Stacked section of real data.
B. Subsurface Parameter Estimation
Given an amplitude anomaly such as that between 1.1 s and 1.2 s on the
stacked section of Fig. 37, amplitude versus offset analysis may be used to
determine whether the anomaly is hydrocarbon related. Although methods for
analysing the amplitude of a seismic event have existed for a couple of decades
(Grant and West, 1965; Anstey, 1980), only in the last few years have
quantitative methods been proposed, due to the improvement in acquisition
techniques and a better appreciation of the effects of the processing operations
on the true amplitude of the seismic wavelet (Gassaway and Richgels, 1983;
Gelfand and Larner, 1984).
The problem may be approached from a knowledge-based, forward-
modelling point of view, the elements of which may be summarized as:
(i) identifying a possible hydrocarbon prospect from bright-spot or
related anomalies on a section, usually by visual inspection;
(ii) proposing the lithologic constituents of the suspected reservoir by
using knowledge of the regional geology;
(iii) calculating synthetic seismograms or reflection coefficient plots to
give an indication of the amplitude variation with offset that may be anti-
cipated from this lithology;
(iv) designing a filter based on this expected amplitude variation that
characterises the horizon and applying it to the data, such that post filtering,
only those sections of the gather that possess this amplitude variation remain.
The last step may be regarded as a form of automatic pattern recognition.
Pursuant to the above scheme, the amplitude variation with offset observed
for a synthetic top gas-sand reflection was characterised and used to construct
a pattern-recognition filter. This filter was then applied to the real data of
Fig. 37.
A stacked section data set is shown in Fig. 38, on which a gas sand can be
seen from 1.10 s to 1.18 s. The fault in the base of the gas sand can be clearly
seen around trace 375 at 1.14 s, as can the faults in the Base Tertiary at traces
303 to 345 and 0.48 s to 0.53 s. It should be noted that the data of Fig. 38 has
been scaled in such a way as to preserve relative amplitude. All the data in the
gather has been scaled such that the maximum amplitude in the gather has a
set number of trace deflections, in this case 1.5 trace deflections.
The values of the parabolic coefficients a , , . . u3 of Eq. (380) were obtained
for each sample of the MAP-processed section. In order to obtain a confident
estimate of these coefficients, no sample time was fitted that did not have nine
live traces. This resulted in no output for the data at times less than w0.4
seconds, however this region of the section is of little interest. The physical
am a
O O0
a la, a LOO
am am
a m a m
am aw
am am
am am
a m a m
am amo
asm asm
1. ooo 1. ooo
1. la, 1. loo
1.200 1.m
FIG.38. Stacked section showing gas sand.

parameters that can be derived from the parabolic coefficients, namely 6 p / p ,

6 M / M , and 6 p / M , were then derived.
It was immediately apparent from the corresponding sections that the
main area of signal is not in the region of the gas sand, but at around 0.85 s to
0.95 s. This region is in fact a Karst sequence of beds, an area where leaching of
limestone or dolomitic rocks by percolating ground water or underground
streams has occurred, producing a deposit of terra rossa, a red soil similar to
clay. The leaching process itself may have been initiated by the erosion and
gradual downcutting of a stream through a layer of other sediments until it
reached the limestone,by the uplift of the limestone on which there has already
been normal surface water runoff, or most probably due to the presence of the
Late Cimmerian Unconformity, which may have allowed water to penetrate
the rock and eventually completely transform the limestone.
Whatever the method, the result is to create a sequence of variable velocity
layers, some of relatively high velocity, some of relatively low velocity, which
generates the large reflections evident on the section. The gradual conversion
of some carbonates in this manner is the reason why their presence in a
sedimentarysequence creates problems in amplitude variation with offset. It is
possible to overcome these, however, by applying a filter to the data that
rejects any events that are not hydrocarbon related.
What is required is some form of selection criterion whereby the gas-sand
interface can be recognised in the data and displayed, whilst at the same time
all other horizons are rejected. The Bacton layer above the gas sand is known
to be a conglomeritic mixture of shales and sandstones, thus some form of
shale-gas sand horizon amplitude variation with offset pattern-recognition
filter is required.
By making reasonable assumptions about the Poisson ratios of the
adjacent strata, or alternatively the S-wave velocity, and the densities of the
shale and gas sand Koefoed (1955) showed that if there is a significant change
in the Poisson ratio across the reflecting interface, the P-wave reflection
coefficient can vary greatly with angle of incidence for values well within the
critical angle. For a decrease in Poisson ratio across the interface, positive
reflection coefficients decrease with angle of incidence whilst negative reflec-
tion coefficients increase. If the Poisson ratio increases across the interface,
the reverse situation occurs. Poisson ratios, therefore, play a significant role
in describing any amplitude variation with offset behavior.
There have been several detailed studies of the Poisson ratio for various
sedimentary rocks made in recent years. These indicate several points that
allow an estimate of Poisson ratios for the shale-gas sand interface to be made
with some confidence, namely,
SIGNAL ANALYSIS I N SEISMIC STUDIES 305
(i) exceptionally high Poisson ratios, of 0.45-0.5, the maximum value
they can have, are found for shallow, relatively unconsolidated brine-
saturated sediments such as shales;
(ii) the value of the Poisson ratio decreases with depth of burial, usually
due to the sediments becoming more consolidated, resulting in a reduced
porosity;
(iii) brine-saturated sandstones of high porosity have Poisson ratios of
the order of 0.3-0.4, but when they are gas saturated, the Poisson ratio is
reduced to approximately 0.1.
These points can be explained by the observation that the shear modulus
of a formation p is independent of the type of formation fluid present, but the
incompressibility or bulk modulus K, where, by Eq. (27),
2
K=A+-p (382)
3
may alter greatly because, for example, a liquid is incompressible but a gas is
easily compressed. Now
(383)
II;
so the c p of a brine-saturated sediment is significantly greater than that of a

gas-saturated sediment, whilst the cs of a gas-saturated sediment is greater
than that of a brine-saturated sediment, owing to its lower density. This
explains why the significance of the factor 6 p / p in the fit Eq. (379)is negligible
when compared to changes due to SM/M and 6 p / M . Ostrander (1984), using
results obtained by Gassmann (1951), demonstrated that when the interstitial
fluid of an initially brine-saturated formation is gradually changed to
complete gas saturation, the main reduction in Poisson ratio observed occurs
within 10% replacement for a high-porosity sandstone. This means that the
porosity of the reservoir, and hence the actual amount of gas physically
present, does not need to be accurately determined, and the Poisson ratio of
both the shale and gas sand can be estimated with some confidence without
knowing it.
The a, coefficient is a measure of the amplitude at zero offset, not the
physical reflection coefficient, so this was not used to characterise the
amplitude variation with offset behavior observed, except for the fact that it
was noted to be negative for the shale-gas sand interface. What are more
important, however, are the relative values of the coefficients a, and a 3 ,
because these are derived from the amplitude variation across the gather.
From the calculated amplitude variation with offset coefficient, a2 is negative
whilst a3 is positive in both cases; and this fact, together with their ratio and
the negative a, observation was used to characterise the shale-gas reflection.
From these considerations, the conditions characterising a shale-gas sand
interface can be stated as
Note that
Therefore, if la,l < a 3 ,
giving
6P
- < 0,
P
that is, 6p must be negative. As p' < p, this is physically consistent with
the model
Also, if a3 < 21a21,
8P SP
2-<-+ 4-SP
M P M
or
6P
- + 2-6 P > 0.
P M
Using Eq. (386), this results in the condition
2-6P > 0, (387)

M
which in turn states that 6 p must be positive. As c;, > c& by an amount
proportionally greater than p' < p, Eq. (387) is valid and the constraints of
Eq. (384) are physically acceptable.
FIG.39. The a p / p stack after filtering.
FIG.40. The 6 M / M stack after filtering.
When the constraints of Eq. (384) are applied to the coefficient stacks and
the conversion to 6p/p, 6 M / M , and Bp/M is made, the results obtained are
shown in Figs. 39 to 41. The cumulative action of the constraints of Eq. (384) is
to produce a filter that passes only that region of the data consistent with the
shale-gas sand horizon characterisation. Comparing the three “subsurface
FIG. 41. The 6 p / M stack after filtering.
parameter sections” with the stacked section of Fig. 38, the only area where
there is a significant amount of coherent signal is where the shale-gas sand
horizon is in fact situated.
The success of the filter is qualified, however, firstly by the fact that the
signal at the shale-gas sand horizon is only evident on one side of the
reservoir. This is most likely due to the incorrect estimation of angles of
incidence, arising from an erroneous velocity model, across that half of the
section containing the dipping Base Tertiary horizon, and the deleterious
effect the faulted portion of this same interface has on the true amplitude of the
wave front. Secondly, the lack of response from the edges of the gas sand is
probably due to tuning effects between the top and bottom gas-sand
reflections.
APPENDICES
A. The Wiener Filter for Common Midpoint Seismic Gathers
The traces { g(t)j of a common midpoint gather are assumed to be of the

form [Eq. (173)]
g(t) =
:1 +
h(t,t ‘ ) f ( t ’ ) d t ’ n(t), (388)
where f ( t )is an “ideal” trace and n(t) represents the effect of additive random
noise. We wish to find a filter function h(t) such that
is a minimum, where
f(t) = h(t - t’)g(t‘)dt‘, (390)
and the average, ( ), is taken with respect to the common midpoint gather.
Now
therefore, a necessary condition for e to be a minimum is
( f M t - 1)) = Y
j m- (g(t t ’ )s (t - z)>h(.r’)dz’, (392)
which, if we require h(z) = Ofor t < 0, is known as the Wiener-Hopf equation

[and upon making the replacements t - z + t’ and t’ -,t“, yields Eq. (199)l.
But
RJ, = ( f ( t ) s ( t- 7)) (393)
is the crosscorrelation of f with g relative to the gather, whereas
R,, = ( g ( t - t’)s(t - 7)) (394)
is the autocorrelation of g. If we assume that the seismic traces of a common
midpoint gather are stochastic processes (Parzen, 1962) that are jointly
stationary, viz., of constant mean, with auto and crosscorrelations that are
invariant under time translations, then RJgdepends only on z and R,, only on
z - t’.Hence the (Wiener-Hopf) equation becomes
Upon taking the Fourier transform, this becomes

R f , ( 4 = R,,(4h(o). (396)
Therefore h(w)is the ratio of the crosspower spectrum of the true signal with
the observed signal to the power spectrum of the observed signal. Instabilities
due to random zeroes of R,,(w) may be eliminated by adding a small constant
background to it. This is equivalent to adding a small component of Gaussian
noise to the signal and is known as “pre-whitening.”
For discretely sampled functions, Eq. (173) becomes the matrix equation
where, since it is derived from a convolution, h,. is a Toeplitz matrix, viz., the
elements on any diagonal are all equal.
The discrete analogue of the Wiener-Hopf equation is
ca,
1” = -m
h,t,*(gt,,gt,>= ( f t S t * > , (398)
viz., in matrix formalism

h = RfgRij, (399)
where R,, and R,, are the cross- and autocorrelation matrices, respectively.
If the signal and noise are uncorrelated, i.e., if
<f(W’)>
= 0,
then, from Eq. (397),
(f,s,,>= C(f,f,->&,,
1”
or
R,, = R,,HT,
where HTis the transpose of H, and similarly,
and consequently, from Eq. (447),
h = R,,HTpR,,HT + R,,]-’, (405)

Although Eq. (405) is a formal solution to the problem of deconvolution, the
absence of knowledge of the detailed structure of H, coupled to its lack of
stationarity along a trace, together with the computational overhead implied
by the matrix inversion inherent within it, means that the direct application of
the equation is infeasible and necessitates the sequence of approximate
deconvolutions described in Section 1V.E.
B. Ray-Acoustic Geometry
Consider seismic reflections in a subsurface of constant velocity c from a

plane reflector having an angle of dip 8.
Theorem 1. The points formed by the shot, geophone, reflection point, and
the intersection of the shot-receiver perpendicular bisector, with the per-
pendicular to the line of reflection at the reflection point, all lie on a circle.
Proof. As shown in Fig. 42, S and G are the shot and geophone positions,
respectively; M is their midpoint. AD is the reflection line, with D being
vertically below M. S, G, and D define a circle whose centre lies on M D ; P is its
intersection with AD. Since ED is a diameter of the circle, E P is perpendicular
to the reflection line AD. The proof consists of showing that the angles a and a’
are equal and therefore that P is the reflection point for a ray that emanates
from S and is reflected from AD to be received at G . Now it follows from the
property that the angle subtended by the chord of a circle at any point of the
circumference is a constant and that ct and a’, subtended at P by SE and EG,
respectively, are equal to the corresponding angles subtended at D, with the
latter being coequal, by the property of congruent triangles, since M is the
midpoint of SG.
Corollary 1. It follows directly from the above that

SM
tana = -.
MD
FIG.42. The ray-acoustic circle.

Lemma 1. The angles of emergence of the incident and reflected rays are
(a - 8) and (a + 8), respectively.
Proof. The angle of emergence of the incident ray SP is 4 2 - A i P . But,

from the triangle ASP, ASP = (n/2 - 0 + a); hence the result for the incident
ray follows, while, by considering the triangle SPG, the angle of emergence of
the reflected ray is obtained.
Theorem 2. In a subsurface of acoustic velocity $c, the travel-time t at a

shot-geophone offset distance of 2h is related to the travel time t o at zero
offset by
Proof. If SG is of length 2h and D is a distance z below M, then both SD and

G D are of length (h2 + z ~ ) ~By
’ ~considering
. the triangles SPD and GDP and
utilising Lemma 1, we find that
Their sum yields the ray path length

SP + PG = (h2 + z2)lI2 cos 8 (409)
with consequent travel time
Similarly t o , the zero-offset travel time, is given by

22 cos 8
to=----, (411 )
C
and hence
(
t = t ; + ( 2 h y 0”””
Theorem 3. The shot-geophone offset 2h and reflection point depth [ are

related to the angles of emergence, (a - 0) and (a + 0) of the incident and
SIGNAL ANALYSIS IN SEISMIC STUDIES
reflected rays, respectively, by
2h = ([tan(cr + 0) - tan(a - O)]

Proof. From Fig. 42,
( = APsin 8,
where, from the triangle APG,
But
AG=AM+h
and
CtO
AM=-
2 sin 8 ’
hence
+ a) sin 0.
r = (&
COqe
+ h) cos a
Upon utilising Corollary 1,
5 + 1)cos(e
= h cot 8 cot(&
+ a) sin 6
cos a
- 2h cos(8 - a)cos(8 + a)
- 3
sin 2a
and since we may write
2u = (e + a) - (e - a),
the theorem follows by trigonometric identity.
C. Stacking by Maximisation of the Posterior Probability Distribution
The objective of stacking is to coalesce the gather into a single trace that
displays the signal characteristic of primary seismic reflections while suppress-
ing noise and spurious signals caused by long-period multiples or diffractions.
Realisation of this intention requires a model to determine the statistical
behaviour of a trace element across the gather. The model may be expressed in
terms of an ideal trace, it being the trace that would be observed if the system
were noise free, the instrumentation were perfect, and the static and normal
moveout corrections exactly compensated for seismic propagation path
differences.
Since the recorded amplitude is regarded as being derived from an ideal
signal that has been transformed by propagation and instrument response
effects, and corrupted by noise, from Eq. (173), an individual trace of the
normal moveout corrected gather takes the form
g(a) = (H* f)(a) + n(a), (42 1)
where the action of dispersion and instrumentation effects on the signal f (a) is
represented by convolution with H,whilst n(a) represents noise, assumed to be
additive and independent for different traces.
If the static corrections, stacking velocity analysis, and corresponding
normal moveout corrections were to compensate exactly for the seismic
propagation path differences, then f (a) would be the ideal signal. If second-
order effects, such as normal moveout stretch, may be neglected, then for
primary reflections,f (a)would be the same for each trace of the gather. In fact,
due to errors arising both inherently from the approximations underlying the
preliminary processing and from observational effects, f (a) varies around
some mean trace f, assuming that, since the errors are due to many residual
effects, the probability distribution p(f(a)) of observing a trace f(a) may be
approximated by a Gaussian distribution
- " ~ -(f(a) - ?)T(2Rf)-'(f(a) - i)}, (422)
p(f(a)) = [ ( ~ X ) ~ I R ~ I ] exp{
where Rf is the autocovariance matrix.
Systematic errors do arise when there is signal due to a long-period
multiple reflection. The ideal trace then contains a wavelet whose location'
varies across the gather along the residual moveout hyperbola arising from the
difference between the primary and multiple stacking velocities at the same
time. This effect, however, may be removed by introducing a semblance
threshold consistent with the velocity field analysis.
The noise is similarly assumed to be Gaussian distributed about zero
mean, with the probability of observing a trace containing noise component
n(a)being
p(n(a)) = [ ( ~ x ) ~ I R , ~ ] -exp{
' / ~ - n(a)T(2R,)-'n(a)}, (423)
where R, is the autocorrelation matrix of the distribution of noise traces.
Now the conditional probabilities for observing either f (a) or (H * f (a)),
given that g(a) has been observed, are related by
p(f(a)lg(a)) = ldet Hlp(H * f(a)/g(a))* (424)
The optimum trace for each offset distance is that f(a) that maximises the
above quantity, the posterior probability distribution of the ideal trace f, given
the observed trace g. It depends both on the observed trace g(a) and the overall
statistics of the complete gather, with the latter dependence being expressed
via the autocovariance matrices RHf and R, of signal and noise, respectively.
The maximum occurs for
a
---In[p(f(a)/g(a))] =0 i = 1, ..., N , (425)
afi (a)
which leads to the specific estimate
where g is the mean trace of the observed gather. This equation expresses the
optimum trace?@)for each offset distance in terms of the mean observed trace
g and the observed trace g(a) at that offset,weighted by the inverse correlation
matrices R,' and R;? of the noise and noise-free signal, respectively. When
the signal-to-noise ratio is small, the optimum trace is weighted towards the
usual stacked trace g, and when the ratio is large, the optimum is weighted
towards the observed trace g(a).
The common midpoint gather of observed traces f (a), a = 1,. . . ,M has
been transformed into a common midpoint gather of optimal traces H * T(a),
a = 1,. . .,M . The arithmetic means of both sets are equal, being the usual
stacked trace. The signal-to-noise ratio of an optimal trace is significantly
increased relative to that of the corresponding observed trace, being of the
same order as that of the stacked trace, whereas its resolution is comparable to
that of the observed trace. Moreover, since the minimum offset trace g(1) is
least affected by errors due_to stacking, velocity determination, and normal
moveout corrections, H * f(1) will be chosen as the overall optimum trace.
Effectively, the minimum offset trace g(1) has been regarded as the most
reliable, and the remainder of the gather has been employed to constru_ct a
statistical filter to convert from g(1) to the corresponding MAP trace H * f(1).
The continued appearance of the dispersion and instrumentation convolution
H is not surprising since the poststack processing is designed to remove it.
Although Eq. (426) defines the optimal trace, its application requires a
knowledge of the autocovariance matrices. Fortunately these may, to a
sufficient approximation, be assumed to be diagonal. In addition, the noise
variance may be identified with a background upon which signal peaks are
superimposed, with this structure enabling the signal component c& to be
separated from that of the noise 0,' and permitting the MAP equation to be
simplified to
) (1 + Vi)-l(gi
j i ~ a= + vigi(a)), (427)
where
V =
&c + 0;
0; ‘
The effect of systematic variations in the noise due to long-period multiple

reflections may be taken into account by introducing a filter on the com-
ponents of v, which is based on the coherence of the signal across the gather.
If the semblance, as defined by Eq. (238), is less than a threshold, then the
signal is presumed to be noise, i.e., aHris set equal to zero. As a result, the
corresponding optimal trace element is equal to that of the usual stacked trace,
thus reducing the significance of the multiple.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to thank Seismographic Services (United Kingdom) Ltd. for permission to
utilise the seismic data contained within the figures showing real data. They also wish to thank
Mr. D. W. March and Dr. R. Silva of Seismographic Services for their generosity both of time
and patience during many discussions. Any shortcomings within the above work are the respon-
sibility of the authors alone.
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A Chemical detectors, 131
a, coefficient, 305-306 Chromaticity diagram, full-color TFT LCD,
Absorption, wave equation, 225-229 60-61
Acceleration sensitivity, 129 Clay minerals, 156-172
Acoustic amplitude, 251-252 Coating, 154, 155
Acoustic wave equation, 284 Coherent energy, types, 249
Active-matrix LCDs, see Liquid-crystal Color filter, TFT LCD, 61-63
displays, active-matrix Color imaging, 149
Aki and Richards equation, 299 Common midpoint frame, 283-285
Amorphous Si field-effect transistor, 33-35 Common midpoint seismic gathers, Wiener
Amorphous Si TFT filter, 308-310
characteristics, 33-37 Computers, LCD applications, 73-74
gate electrode, 32 Conservation laws, 89
gate insulator film, 32 Conservation of traction, 233
metal contact, 32 Constant Q-model of attenuation, 228
mobility, 33 Convolution kernel
multigap liquid-crystal cell spacing method, Fourier-expansion, 281
37-38 reflection sequence, 259
performance, 37-39 Coordinates (normal), 99
Cove flood, 193
photoconductivity effects, 35-36
stability, 37 Critical point drying, 150-152
Cryogenic drying, 153
structure and fabrication processes, 31-33
threshold voltage, 33 Crystals, 84
uniformity, 37
very-thin-film transistor, 36 D
Amplitude-frequency effect, 116, 118
Deconvolution, 256-263
Attenuation, 100, 106
filter function, 259
marine shot gather, 261-263
B multiple, 258-263
Backlighting, LCDs, 27 predictive, validity, 261
color-image TFT, 63-64 source-wavelet compensation, 256-257
Back scattered electron imaging, 141 Weiner-Hopf equation, 260
Band-limiting filtering, 276 Defects, elimination, TFT, 25-27
Bulk acoustic waves, 103 Diagenesis, 157, 173, 175
Bulk modulus, 305 Dilational field, wave equation, 220-221
Dilational stress, 216
Diode LCDs
C
compared with TFTs, 66-67
Cathodoluminescence, 144-149 configuration, 10-11
CdSe TFT, 13, 29-31 Dip moveout, 278-283
characteristics, 30-31 amplitude distribution along smile, 281
performance, 31 fixed offset ellipse, 280
structure and fabrication processes, 29-30 Fourier-expansion of convolution kernel, 281
319
320 INDEX
method of stationary phase, 281-282 Fourier space migration, 286

Dipping reflectors, 278 Freeze drying, 152
Dispersion, 98 Frequency-wave number dispersion, marine
Dispersion relation gather, 254-255
aliasing due to discrete spatial and temporal
sampling, 253-254
G
forward propagating wave, 251
Displacement, 86 Gas sand
Dix’s equation, 244-248 interface, 304
refraction effect, 265 stacked section, 303
Double square root equation, 285 Gaussian distribution, 271
Driving schemes Geophone array, 211
color LCD panels, 64-65 Ghost deconvolution, 257-258
TFT LCDs, see Thin-film transistor liquid- Grey-scale operation
crystal displays input-signal modification, 53-54
Dye-type color filter, fabrication method, 62 line-at-a-time driving scheme, 52
Gruneisen parameter, 102
E
Effective constants, 123 H
ELDs, 74 Harmonics, 114
Electrical circuit, 84, 106, 110-111 Heat conductivity, 102
Electric field sensitivity, 130
Electromechanical coupling factor, 105
Environmental cell, 156 I
Impurities, 131
Integrated TFT drivers, 55-57
F
Interaction energy, 101
Field-effect transistor, amorphous silicon, Intermodulation, 115
33-35 Internal friction model, seismic energy, 228
Filter function, 259
Finite-difference migration, 286-298
Crank-Nicholson scheme, 291 L
discrete Fourier transform, 295-296 Large-scale integration drivers, LCDs, 54-55
one-way wave equation, 287 Limestone, 173
phase errors, 289-291, 294 Line-at-a-time data transfer method, 50-53
spatial Nyquist frequency, 293 Liquid-crystal displays
square-root operator, retarded frame, 287 active-matrix
synthetic section, 294-295 advantages, 9-11
transfer function, 296-297 compared with directly multiplexed, 67-68
Finite-difference migration equation, 291-292 based on alternative technologies,
f-k-filtering, 251-255 performance, 65-68
Fluorescent tube, peak-enhanced, 64 comparison between TFT and diode-
Force law, 214-215 controlled, 66-67
Forces (electrical), 88 diode, 10-11
Force sensitivity, 127 directly multiplexed. 67-68
Forces (surface), 88 dot-matrix-type, 55
Forward propagating wave, dispersion relation, full-color, 38-39, 46-47
251 historical background, 2-4
INDEX 32 1
portable personal computer, 3-4 P
status relative to other technologies, 74-75
supertwisted-nematic, 67-68 Paleontology, 185
temperature effects, 27 Particle analysis, 149
TFT addressed, 9-10, 12-17 PDPs, 74
CdSe, 13 Petrography, 157, 173, 175
history, 12-13 Phonons, 100
silicon-on-sapphire, 14 Photoconductivity, a-Si TFT effects, 35-36
silicon TFTs and diodes, 15-17 Photolithography methods, 26
single-crystal silicon and diode arrays, Photomask, poly-Si TFT, 40-41
14-15 Piezoceramics, 84
Liquid-solid interface Piezoelectricity, 84
evanescent waves, 235-237 Pixel
wave propagation across, 229-235 color, arrangements, 59-60
equivalent circuit, 19-20
LCDs, 9
M Pocket TV, 69-70
Point-at-a-time data transfer method, 48-50
MAP-processing gather, 276-277 Poly-Si film, 16-17
Material constants, 93 Poly-Si TFTs, 39-47
Migration, 277-298 characteristics, 22, 42-46
algorithm, 289 dual-gate structure, 44
common midpoint frame, 283-285 film thickness effects, 44-45
dip moveout, 278-283 gap-state density, 42
double square root equation, 285 high-temperature-processed, 40-41
finite-difference, see Finite-difference characteristics, 43-44
migration integrated drivers
Fourier space, 286 frequency range of shift registers, 56
geometrical, 277-279 microphotograph, 57
redistribution of energy, 278 photograph, 58
Mobility, amorphous Si TFT, 33 leakage current, 44
MOS transistors, 14 low-temperature-processed, 41-42
Motional parameters, 106 characteristics, 43-44
Multiple suppression, 254 ON/OFF current ratio, 44
Muting filter, wedge, 253 performance, 46-47
stability, 45-46
structural and fabrication processes,
N 39-42
Natural, initial, final states, 119 types, 40
Nematic-phase liquid crystal, 3 Pores, 185-187
NMO stretch, 269-271 Porosity, 199
Noise Portable personal computer, LCDs, 3-4
additive distribution, 274 Posterior probability distribution,
characterisation, 249-250 maximisation, stacking by, 313-316
classification, 273 Pressure sensitivity, 128
f-k-filtering, 251-255 Pressure wavefield, space-time variation,
high-velocity, 250 211-212
trace distribution, 314 Primary reflection enhancement, 254
Nonlinearities, 85, 86 Projection TV, 71-73
Normal moveout P wave
hyperbola, 274-275 incident on interface, 230
stacking and, 269-271, 274-277 transmission, 242-243
322 INDEX
P-wave reflection, 242-243 preprocessing and prestack deconvolution,

coefficient. 298-299 244-263
Dix’s equation, 244-248
earth model, 245-247
Q f-k filtering, 251-255
Quality factor, 106, 111 ghost deconvolution, 257-258
multiple deconvolution, 258-263
multiple suppression and primary
R
reflection enhancement, 254
Ray-acoustic geometry, 311-313 noise characterisation, 249-250
Reflection coefficient, 235 normal moveout geometry, 245-246
field, 256, 258 predictive deconvolution, 256-263
at nonzero angles of incidence, 241 source-wavelet compensation, 256-257
at normal incidence, 240 stacking chart, 248
P-wave, 298-299 subsurface representation, 245
S-wave, 243-244 preprocessing sequence, data set of filtered
variation with angle of incidence, 298 geophone responses, 264
Refraction, two-layer system, 265 pressure wavefield, space-time variation,
Reliability 211-212
CdSe TFTs, 30 processing sequence, 213
LCDs, 28 ray-acoustic geometry, 311-313
Resonator, 84, 103 sea based data, short-period multiple
Ricker wavelet, 226-228 reflections, 250
reflection, 269-270 shot gather source-receiver configuration,
244-245
stacking, posterior probability distribution
S
maximisation, 313-316
Sandstone, 157 stacking velocity, 263-273
Scale, 197-199 traces of weighted gather, 276
Seismic energy typical shot, 211
internal friction model, 228 wave propagation, see Wave propagation
viscous fluid flow model, 227 Wiener filter, 308-310
Seismic pressure impulse, ideal, wave Shale, 175
equation, 224-225 Shale-gas sand interface, 306
Seismic signal, water layer effect, 258 densities and velocities, 242
Seismic studies, 209-214; see also Wave equation P-wave reflection and transmission
amplitude variation with offset, 298-308 coefficients, 243
Aki and Richards equation, 299 S-wave reflection and transmission
shear wave velocity, 300 coefficients, 244
stacked section, 303 Shear stress, 216-218
subsurface parameter estimation, 302-308 Shear vector field, 221
Zoeppritz equation approximation, Shear wave velocity, estimation, 300
299-301 Silicon film, deposition, 15-16
band-limiting filtering, 276 Silicon TFTs and diodes, 15-17
frequency-wave number dispersion, marine LSI and VLSI, 17
gather, 254-255 N-channel, 16
imaging characteristics, 210-211 Snell parameter, 241
MAP-processing gather, 276-277 Snell’s law, 265-266
marine shot gather, 245-246 Solid-solid interface
migration, see Migration numerical examples, 241-244
INDEX 323
wave propagation across, 236-241 projection TV, 71-73
Sound energy, propagation in earth, 211 wall-type flat TV, 70-71
Source-wavelet compensation, 256-257 backlighting, 27
Specific heat, 100 CdSe, performance, 31
Stacking circuit arrangement, 19
chart, 248 color-image, 57-65
normal moveout and, 269-271, 274-277 backlighting, 63-64
posterior probability distribution chromaticity, 60-61
maximisation, 313-316 color filter fabrication, 61-63
velocity, 263-273 driving scheme, 64-65
acoustic velocity, 268 light transmission, 60
determination of field, 268-269 pixel arrangements, 59-60
discontinuity of field, 272 structure, 58-61
Dix’s equation, 265 compared with diode-controlled LCDs,
Gaussian distribution, 271 66-67
horizontal strata, 267-268 configuration, 9-10
refraction effect, 265-267 cross-sectional view, 18
uncertainties of field, 269 defect elimination, 25-27
wavelet interference, 272 device structure, 24-25
Strains, 87 driving schemes, 47-57
Substrate material, TFT, 25 input-signal modification for grey-scale
Subsurface parameter estimation, 302-308 operation, 53-54
a , coefficient, 305-306 integrated TFT drivers, 55-57
bulk modulus, 305 line-at-a-time data transfer method, 50-53
coefficient stacks, 307-308 LSI drivers, 54-55
gas-sand interface, 304 point-at-a-time data transfer method,
parabolic coefficients, 303-304 48-50
Poisson ratios, 304-305 driving waveforms, 20-21
shale-gas sand interface, 306 electrical requirements, 21-23
Supertwisted birefringence effect liquid-crystal, environmental problems, 27-28
4 future expectations, 76-77
Supertwisted-nematic LCDs, 67-68 leakage current, 27
Surface acoustic waves, 108 OFF and ON resistances, 21
S-wave reflection and transmission photolithography methods, 26
coefficients, 243-244 physical arrangement and operation, 18-21
pixel equivalent circuit, 19-20
poly-Si, see Poly-Si TFT
T
problem areas, 75-76
Television, LCD applications, 69-73, 75 reliability problems, 28
future, 76 required voltage, 23
pocket TV, 69-70 structural requirements and fabrication
projection TV, 71-73 processes, 23-28
wall-type flat TV, 70-71 substrate material, 25
Temperature sensitivity, 125 switching ratio, 22
Thermal expansion, 102 Thin-film transistors
Thin-film transistor liquid-crystal displays, amorphous, see Amorphous Si TFT
4, 17-28 CdSe, 13, 29-31
amorphous silicon, performance, 37-39 semiconductors, 11
applications silicon-on-sapphire, 14
computers, 73-74 Threshold voltage, amorphous Si TFT, 33
pocket TV, 69-70 Transmission coefficient, 235
324 INDEX
at nonzero angles of incidence, 241 shear stress, 216-218

Twisted-nematic field-effect mode, 3 solution, uniform density, 220-224
Twisted-nematic LCD cell, 4-6 Wavelet
multiplexed, 3, 6-8 interference, 272
operating principle, 4-5 Ricker, 226-228, 269-270
optical response, 5-6 Wave propagation, 229-244
transmission as function of applied voltage, across liquid-solid interface, 229-235
53-54 conditions of continuity, 229-231
conservation of traction, 233-234
V normal component continuity, 231-232
transmission and reflection coefficients, 235
Velocity-amplitude effect, 115 wave amplitudes, 230-231
Viscous fluid flow model, seismic energy, across solid-solid interface, 236-241
227 conditions of continuity, 239
reflection coefficient, 240-241
relations among amplitudes, 239
W
transmission coefficient, 241
Wall-type flat TV, 70-71 Zoeppritz equations, 241
Wave amplitudes, incident, reflected, and evanescent waves at liquid-solid interface,
refracted, 230-231 235-237
Wave equation, 214-220 Weiner-Hopf equation, 260, 309
absorption, 225-229 discrete analog, 310
across solid-solid interface, numerical Wiener filter, common midpoint seismic
examples, 241-244 gathers, 308-310
derivation, 218-220
dilational stress, 216
force law, 214-215 Z
ideal seismic pressure impulse, 224-225 ZnO diodes, 14
one-way, 287 Zoeppritz equations, 241
Ricker wavelet, 226-228 approximations, 298-301
Advances ln Electronics and Electron Physics
Volume 77
Pew w.H a w h , Editor-in-Chief
Benjamin Kazan, Associate Editor
Errata
In the chapter "Scanning Elecmn Microscopy in the Petroleum Exploration
Industry" by J. M.Huggeu:
Figure 1 is reprinted fm Dilks. A., and Graham, S. C. (1985). J . Sed. Per.
55. 350.
Figure 5 is reprinted from Peschek, P.S.,Scriven, L. E.,and Davis, H. T.
(1981). In "Scanning Electron Microscopy" (0.Johari, ed.) p. 514-524. SEM
Figure 8 is reprinted from Houseknecht, D. W.(1988). J. Sed. Per. 58,228-
246.
Figures 11,12,13,19,20,21 and Table 1 are reprinted from White, S. H.,
Shaw, H. F., and Huggett, J. M.(1984). J. Sed. Per. 54,487-494.
Figure 15 and 16 are reprinted from Keller, W. D.,Reynolds, R.C., and Inoue,
A. (1986). Clays and Clay Minerals 34, 187-197.
Figure 17 is reprinted from Stalder, P.J. (1973). Geologic Mijnb 52,217-220.
Copyright 0 1973 by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Reprinted by permission of
Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Figures 23 and 24 are reprinted from Huang, W.L.,Bishop, A. M..and Brown,
R. W.(1986). Clay Mimr 21.585-602.
Figures 26 and 27 are reprinted from Swanson, B. F. (1977). SPE Paper 6857.
Copyright Q 1977, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Figures 28 and 29 are reprinted from Nuhfer, E.B.,Vinopal, R. J., Hohn, M.
E.,and Klandefman, D. S. (1981). In "Scanning Electron Microscopy," 1981/I
(0.Johari, ed.), p. 625-632. SEM Inc., AMF OHare (Chicago), Illinois.
Figures 30 and 31 arc reprinted from Rothbard, D. R., and Skopec, R. A.,
Bajsarowicz, C. J.. and Fa& T. H. (1987). Scanning Microscopy 1,489-494.

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ADVANCES IN ELECTRONICS AND

ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.

ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.

United Kingdom Edition published by

PRINTED IN THE U N I E D S T A E S OF AMERICA

Active-Matrix Thin-Film Transistor Liquid-Crystal Displays

Resonators, Detectors, and Piezoelectrics

VIII. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Scanning Electron Microscopy in the Petroleum

Signal Analysis in Seismic Studies

INDEX ..................................... 319

J. F. BOYCE(209), Wheatstone Laboratory, King’s College London, The

preparation techniques have increased beyond number. This wide-ranging

Parallel Image Processing Methodologies J. K. Aggarwal

Seiko Epson Corporation

B. Color Filter Fabrication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) have a much shorter history than that of

B. Basic Twisted-Nematic Liquid-Crystal Display Cell

The operating principle of a TN-LCD cell is shown in Fig. 1. As indicated

C . Multiplexed Twisted-Nematic Liquid-Crystal Display Cells

Because of the voltage threshold characteristics of the TN liquid-crystal

FIG.3. Electrode configurationand drivingwaveforms for direct-drive dot-matrix TN LCD:

applying a pulse voltage ‘‘kVO”to the row of elements connected to one of

In the active-matrix approach, a suitable “active” circuit element is incor-

‘TFT ’Pixel Electrode ‘Glass

The active-matrix liquid-crystal display was first proposed in 1969

A. Early Work on CdSe Thin-Film Transistors and

Initial research on thin-film transistors made use of evaporated polycrys-

The use of SOS technology avoided these problems, since it involved

B. Transistor Arrays Based on Single-Crystal

C . Emergence of Silicon Thin-Film Transistors and Diodes

In the early 1980s,the direction of research on active-matrix LCDs shifted

111. KEYFACTORSIN THIN-FILM

A. Fundamental Physical Arrangement and Operation of the

A cross-sectional view of the TFT LCD is shown in Fig. 7 based on the

To Data Line Semiconductor

I Data Line Common Electrode

positive field negative field

When driving the liquid-crystal elements with alternating polarity signals,

C. Structural Requirements and Fabrication Processes

These factors, determining, for example, the number of photomasks re-

(a) Contact ( b ) Proximity (c) Projection

Presently available thin-film transistors (TFTs) can be divided into three

1. Structure and Fabrication Processes

,.;.,.., ... .. ... .. CdSe

a 500-A-thick CdSe layer is deposited by vacuum evaporation after sputter-

3. Performance of CdSe TFT LCDs

B. Amorphous Si Thin-Film Transistors

1. Structure and Fabrication Processes

whether the resultant film was p or n type. In 1979,the possible application of

3. Performance of a-Si TFT LCDs

FIG. 19. Cross-sectionalview of full-color multigap LC TV panel:liquid-crystallayer thick-

of the effect of rotatory dispersion. In the parallel polarizer method, this

picture area (12.5-inch diagonal). Production yield may become a problem in

C. Polycrystalline Si Thin-Film Transistors

1. Structure and Fabrication Processes

Source and Drain

+ poly-Si (Source, Drain)

polycrystallized even at 500°C and exhibited a carrier mobility as high as

Dual Gate, Dark I

3. Performance of Poly-Si TFT LCDs

FIG. 25. Black-and-white photograph of image produced on a 5.13-inch color LCD

The basic circuit diagram for TFT-addressed liquid-crystal displays is