Embodiments of a Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) device and methods of fabrication thereof are disclosed. In some embodiments, a SAW device includes a quartz carrier substrate, a piezoelectric layer on a surface of the quartz carrier substrate, and at least one interdigitated transducer on a surface of the piezoelectric layer opposite the quartz carrier substrate, wherein a thickness of the piezoelectric layer is less than twice a transducer electrode period of the at least one interdigitated transducer. Using the piezoelectric layer on the carrier substrate suppresses acoustic radiation into the bulk, thereby improving the performance of the SAW device. Further, by utilizing quartz for the carrier substrate, additional advantages of small viscous losses, small permittivity, and small thermal sensitivity are achieved. Still further, as compared to Silicon, the use of quartz for the carrier substrate eliminates resistive losses.