Peculiarities of the Acoustic Wave Propagation in Diamond-Based Multilayer Piezoelectric Structures as “Me1/(Al,Sc)N/Me2/(100) Diamond/Me3” and “Me1/AlN/Me2/(100) Diamond/Me3” under Metal Thin-Film Deposition

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The author presents acoustic wave propagation in diamond-based multilayer piezoelectric structure Me1/(Al, Sc)N/Me2/(100) and Me1/AlN/Me2/(100) diamond deposition. Many results are taken from other works of the authors and in this sense, we have an abnormal number of self-citations (7 from the last 5 years). In other words, this number is justified because there are no similar concerns in other research groups - it is based on a patent. The paper follows all the written and unwritten rules of the scientific paper. The neat way of writing it can be recommended for publication as it is, but I propose a clear highlight of the new results produced in this paper in relation to the previous works.  I suggest the authors:

(1) It is better to explicitly write down the contribution of this work.

row 110: A number of diamond-based HBARs as the sensors of thin and ultrathin metal films deposition have been studied earlier in detail [20,21,22]. Self-citations

In the introduction section, you may add one paragraph, such as "This work makes the following contribution: (i)... (ii) ... and (iii) ...." I believe that a serious motivation is needed to avoid similarities with other results from your research group.

(2) A comparative analysis with the results published by the authors in order to highlight the progress, the performances obtained in this case in relation to the previously published results.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

In this manuscript, acoustical behaviors of diamond-based smart sandwich systems with piezoelectric effect is studied through both experimental measurements and numerical modeling. The results seem interesting. The topic is of high importance in this field. In the reviewer’s viewpoint, however, the article needs serious modifications before making the final decision about it. Therefore, the authors are invited to give their feedback about following comments to the reviewer.

1. First of all, the authors must introduce the abbreviations in their first appearance in the text. If such kind of introducing is not easy for you, you can provide a table for abbreviations after Abstract and before Section 1 (Introduction).
2. The reviewer could not find any data about necessity of the accomplished study. The authors are seriously asked to provide such a data in the Abstract section. In the first sentence of Abstract, you just reported the main novelty of your work and did not mention the necessity of the topic and what motivated you to carry it out!
3. The reviewer would like to see further discussions about presented illustrations. In the current format, figures are just reported. Writing the observed trends in the figures is not enough for a scientific journal article. More physical explanations are required in this regard.
4. Literature review on wave propagation analysis of smart systems is poor. The authors are invited to discuss about this issue by referring to most important studies in this regard:

• "On wave dispersion characteristics of magnetostrictive sandwich nanoplates in thermal environments." European Journal of Mechanics-A/Solids85 (2021): 104130.
• "Wave propagation analysis of magnetostrictive sandwich composite nanoplates via nonlocal strain gradient theory." Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science232, no. 22 (2018): 4180-4192.
• "Thermo-magnetic field effects on the wave propagation behavior of smart magnetostrictive sandwich nanoplates." The European Physical Journal Plus133, no. 3 (2018): 1-12.
• "Wave propagation analysis of embedded nanoplates based on a nonlocal strain gradient-based surface piezoelectricity theory." The European Physical Journal Plus132, no. 11 (2017): 1-14.
• "Wave dispersion characteristics of rotating heterogeneous magneto-electro-elastic nanobeams based on nonlocal strain gradient elasticity theory." Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications32, no. 2 (2018): 138-169.

5. The text should be seriously checked for grammatical errors. For example, see lines 168 and 169. In sentence “The enhanced experimental data, including the relative frequency shift and quality factors vs. the thickness of a deposited film, are presented in Figures 2 - 5.”, the verb “are” must be replaced with “is”. This verb returns to subject “data” which is a singular noun. The authors are hence invited to completely check the text for possible grammatical errors.
6. Applications of acoustic waves in different engineering disciplines are not referred. The authors can find useful data in book ("Wave Propagation Analysis of Smart Nanostructures.", CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA (2019).) to revise the text.

Author Response

Please see the attachment

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Revised manuscript sounds much better! The necessity of the accomplished study is reported as well. Detailed explanations about existing trends are now added to the text and more physical reasons are added. Therefore, I think that this work can be accepted for publication in this journal in its present form.