A Love wave sensor uses a single-phase unidirectional interdigital transducer (IDT) on a piezoelectric substrate for leaky surface acoustic wave generation. The IDT design minimizes propagation losses, bulk wave interferences, provides a highly linear phase response, and eliminates the need for impedance matching. As an example, a high frequency (˜300-400 MHz) surface acoustic wave (SAW) transducer enables efficient excitation of shear-horizontal waves on 36° Y-cut lithium tantalate (LTO) giving a highly linear phase response (2.8° P-P). The sensor has the ability to detect at the pg/mm2 level and can perform multi-analyte detection in real-time. The sensor can be used for rapid autonomous detection of pathogenic microorganisms and bioagents by field deployable platforms.