Abstract
Reliable operation of a miniaturized mechanical system requires that nanomechanical motion be transduced into electrical signals (and vice versa) with high fidelity and in a robust manner. Progress in transducer technologies is expected to impact numerous emerging and future applications of micro- and, especially, nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS); furthermore, high-precision measurements of nanomechanical motion are broadly used to study fundamental phenomena in physics and biology. Therefore, development of nanomechanical motion transducers with high sensitivity and bandwidth has been a central research thrust in the fields of MEMS and NEMS. Here, we will review recent progress in this rapidly-advancing area.
Highlights
A miniaturized mechanical system or a mechanical resonator [1,2] is based on the motion of a tiny solid element, typically in the form of a cantilever, a doubly-clamped beam or a torsion pad
Our focus in this article has been on the development of motion transducers for miniaturized mechanical systems, especially for nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) devices
It is worth re-emphasizing that MEMS devices owe much of their success to robust motion transducers, such as the interdigitated capacitive motion transducer
Summary
A miniaturized mechanical system or a mechanical resonator [1,2] is based on the motion of a tiny solid element, typically in the form of a cantilever, a doubly-clamped beam or a torsion pad. Depending on the relevant linear dimension, the generic names for these classes of miniaturized devices are micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), with the understanding that nanomechanical motion is typically actuated and sensed in the electrical domain. Our aim in this article is to provide a review of nanomechanical motion transducers for miniaturized mechanical systems, i.e., MEMS and NEMS. Some previous reviews do exist both for MEMS [10,11] and NEMS [2], but this is a rapidly advancing sub-field with contributions from different disciplines. We will not limit this review to either MEMS or NEMS. The common theme in all the reviewed work will be the transduction of nanoscale motion (or nanomechanical motion), regardless of the size of the mechanical system. The emphasis of the review, will tend to be on NEMS
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