Nano Carbon 1D and 2D Nanomechanical Resonators

Abstract

ABSTRACTWe demonstrate one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) resonant nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) derived from nano carbon materials, where the resonance frequency and the quality (Q) factor of the devices are measured experimentally using ultrasensitive optical interferometry. The 1D nano carbon resonators are formed using carbon nanofibers (CNFs) which are synthesized using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process, while the 2D nanocarbon resonators are based on CVD grown graphene. The CNFs are prototyped into few-μm-long cantilever-shaped 1D resonators, where the resonance frequency and Qs are extracted from measurements of the undriven thermomechanical noise spectrum. The thermomechanical noise measurements yield resonances in the ∼3–15 MHz range, with Q of ∼200–800. Significant changes in resonance characteristics are observed due to electron beam induced amorphous carbon deposition on the CNFs, which suggests that 1D CNF resonators have strong prospects for ultrasensitive mass detection. We also present NEMS resonators based on 2D graphene nanomembranes, which exhibit robust undriven thermomechanical resonances for the extraction of ultrasmall strain levels.