Recent Progress in Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors Based on Low-Dimensional Materials and Their Applications

Benefitting from high sensitivity, rapid response, and cost-effectiveness, surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors have found extensive applications across various fields, including biomedical diagnostics, environmental monitoring, and industrial automation. Recently, low-dimensional materials have shown great potential in enhancing the performance of SAW sensors due to their exceptional physical, optical, and electronic properties. This review explores recent advancements in the fundamental mechanisms, design, fabrication and applications of SAW sensors based on low-dimensional materials. Specifically, the utilization of low-dimensional materials, including zero-, one- and two-dimensional materials, as sensing materials in SAW sensors are summarized. Their applications in SAW-based gas sensing, ultraviolet light sensing, humidity sensing, as well as biosensing are discussed. Furthermore, major challenges and future perspectives regarding employing low-dimensional materials to enhance SAW sensors are highlighted, providing valuable insights for future research and development in this field.