In this study, we investigated AlN-based film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen(CEA). CEA is a glycoprotein most often associated with breast, colorectal and lung cancer and used to monitor patients with this type of cancer. AlN thin film was deposited on Mo (200 nm)/Ti (10 nm)/Si(3)N(4) (300 nm)/Si (300 mu m)/Si(3)N(4) (300 nm) substrate by reactive RF magnetron sputtering method. Deposited AlN films showed strongly c-axis preferred orientation with main (002) peak as well as the high intensity of 2.50 degrees for FWHM in rocking curve. The FBAR has a resonant frequency of 2.477 GHz and a sensitivity of 3514 Hz cm(2)/ng. To investigate optimal condition of self-assembled monolayer (SAM) and anti-CEA concentration for detecting CEA, protein A and protein G as SAM and anti-CEA concentration from 0.2 to 1.0 mg/ml were adopted. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.