Nanomechanical Motion Research Articles

Nanomechanical motion of Escherichia coli adhered to a surface.

Nanomechanical motion of bacteria adhered to a chemically functionalized silicon surface is studied by means of a microcantilever. A non-specific binding agent is used to attach Escherichia coli (E. coli) to the surface of a silicon microcantilever. The microcantilever is kept in a liquid medium, and its nanomechanical fluctuations are monitored using an optical displacement transducer. The motion of the bacteria couples efficiently to the microcantilever well below its resonance frequency, causing a measurable increase in the microcantilever fluctuations. In the time domain, the fluctuations exhibit large-amplitude low-frequency oscillations. In corresponding frequency-domain measurements, it is observed that the mechanical energy is focused at low frequencies with a 1/fα -type power law. A basic physical model is used for explaining the observed spectral distribution of the mechanical energy. These results lay the groundwork for understanding the motion of microorganisms adhered to surfaces and for developing micromechanical sensors for bacteria.

Ground-state cooling of a carbon nanomechanical resonator by spin-polarized current.

We study the nonequilibrium steady state of a mechanical resonator in the quantum regime realized by a suspended carbon nanotube quantum dot in contact with two ferromagnets. Because of the spin-orbit interaction and/or an external magnetic field gradient, the spin on the dot couples directly to the flexural eigenmodes. Accordingly, the nanomechanical motion induces inelastic spin flips of the tunneling electrons. A spin-polarized current at finite bias voltage causes either heating or active cooling of the mechanical modes. We show that maximal cooling is achieved at resonant transport when the energy splitting between two dot levels of opposite spin equals the vibrational frequency. Even for weak electron-resonator coupling and moderate polarizations we can achieve ground-state cooling with a temperature of the leads, for instance, of T = 10 ω.

Microcantilevers Bend to the Pressure of Clustered Redox Centers

The redox-activated deflection of microcantilevers has attracted interest for nanoactuation and chemical sensing. Microcantilever sensors are devices that transduce (bio)chemical reactions into a quantifiable nanomechanical motion via surface stress changes. Despite promising applications in analytical science, poor signal-to-noise ratios and a limited understanding of the molecular origins of the surface stress changes that cause the observed deflections remain obstacles to cantilever-based sensing becoming an established (bio)detection method, such as surface plasmon resonance and electrochemistry. We use phase-separated, binary self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of ferrocenyldodecanethiolate and n-undecanethiolate as a model system to study the effect of the steric crowding of the redox centers on the surface stress change and cantilever deflection produced by the electrochemical oxidation of the surface-tethered ferrocene to ferrocenium. We correlate the measured surface stress change to the fraction of the clustered ferrocenyldodecanethiolate phase in the binary SAMs. The pairing of anions with the sterically crowded clustered ferroceniums induces a collective molecular reorientation which drives the cantilever deflection. The results provide fundamental insights into the response mechanism of microcantilever-based actuating and sensing technologies.

Nanomechanical readout of a single spin

The spin of a single electron in a suspended carbon nanotube can be read out by using its coupling to the nanomechanical motion of the nanotube. To show this, we consider a single electron confined within a quantum dot formed by the suspended carbon nanotube. The spin-orbit interaction induces a coupling between the spin and one of the bending modes of the suspended part of the nanotube. We calculate the response of the system to pulsed external driving of the mechanical motion using a Jaynes-Cummings model. To account for resonator damping, we solve a quantum master equation, with parameters comparable to those used in recent experiments, and show how information about the spin state of the system can be acquired by measuring the mechanical motion of the nanotube. The latter can be detected by observing the current through a nearby charge sensor.

High-amplitude dynamics of nanoelectromechanical systems fabricated on the basis of GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures

Nonlinear vibrations of nanoelectromechanical beam fabricated from the GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure containing two-dimensional electron gas are investigated. The measurement of time-averaged conductance is shown to be a sensitive method for the nanomechanical motion detection. The possibilities to excite high-amplitude (up to 20 nm) mechanical vibrations and to effectively detect them using the simple conductance measurement make such systems promising for practical applications. High-amplitude vibrations of the beam are shown to demonstrate softening nonlinearity. This can be attributed to the bending of the beam due to Euler buckling instability caused by the compressive stress though GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures are typically considered as stress-free.

Plasmon Nanomechanical Coupling for Nanoscale Transduction

We demonstrate plasmon-mechanical coupling in a metalized nanomechanical oscillator. A coupled surface plasmon is excited in the 25 nm wide gap between two metalized silicon nitride beams. The strong plasmonic dispersion allows the nanomechanical beams' thermal motion at a frequency of 4.4 MHz to be efficiently transduced to the optical transmission, with a measured displacement spectral density of 1.11 × 10(-13) m/Hz(1/2). When exciting the second-order plasmonic mode at λ = 780 nm we observe optical-power-induced frequency shifts of the mechanical oscillator. Our results show that novel functionality of plasmonic nanostructures can be achieved through coupling to engineered nanoscale mechanical oscillators.

An Analytical Model for Thermal Effect of Microcantilever-DNA Biosensors

The thermal effect of microcantilever-DNA biosensors is investigated by the energy method. Based on a liquid crystal theory for DNA solutions and a two-variable method for laminated cantilevers, an analytical model for nanomechanical cantilever motion under the combination of bio-interactions and thermal loadings is provided and then it is extended to T-shaped cantilevers. Then, the effects of chemo-physical properties of DNA biofilm (i.e., grafting density, nucleotide number, and ionic strength) and temperature change on deflections are discussed. In order to reduce noise signals, the controlling temperature and size optimization of cantilevers with different substrate materials and ionic strengths are also studied. Results show that SU-8 polymer cantilevers can preserve the sensitivity of molecule adsorption and thermal stability, which agrees well with the related experiments; the layer-to-layer thickness ratio of SU-8 polymer cantilevers should be as small as possible, while for silicon nitride cantilevers, there exists an optimal value. These results help to understand the sensitivity and reproducibility of biosensors.

Self-Assembled Nanoparticle Drumhead Resonators

The self-assembly of nanoscale structures from functional nanoparticles has provided a powerful path to developing devices with emergent properties from the bottom-up. Here we demonstrate that freestanding sheets self-assembled from various nanoparticles form versatile nanomechanical resonators in the megahertz frequency range. Using spatially resolved laser-interferometry to measure thermal vibrational spectra and image vibration modes, we show that their dynamic behavior is in excellent agreement with linear elastic response for prestressed drumheads of negligible bending stiffness. Fabricated in a simple one-step drying-mediated process, these resonators are highly robust and their inorganic-organic hybrid nature offers an extremely low mass, low stiffness, and the potential to couple the intrinsic functionality of the nanoparticle building blocks to nanomechanical motion.

Full photon statistics of a light beam transmitted through an optomechanical system

In this paper, we study the full statistics of photons transmitted through an optical cavity coupled to nanomechanical motion. We analyze the entire temporal evolution of the photon correlations, the Fano factor, and the effects of strong laser driving, all of which show pronounced features connected to the mechanical backaction. In the regime of single-photon strong coupling, this allows us to predict a transition from sub-Poissonian to super-Poissonian statistics for larger observation time intervals. Furthermore, we predict cascades of transmitted photons triggered by multi-photon transitions. In this regime, we observe Fano factors that are drastically enhanced due to the mechanical motion.

Enhanced Quantum Nonlinearities in a Two-Mode Optomechanical System

In cavity optomechanics, nanomechanical motion couples to a localized optical mode. The regime of single-photon strong coupling is reached when the optical shift induced by a single phonon becomes comparable to the cavity linewidth. We consider a setup in this regime comprising two optical modes and one mechanical mode. For mechanical frequencies nearly resonant to the optical level splitting, we find the photon-phonon and the photon-photon interactions to be significantly enhanced. In addition to dispersive phonon detection in a novel regime, this offers the prospect of optomechanical photon measurement. We study these quantum nondemolition detection processes using both analytical and numerical approaches.

Dynamics and Dissipation Induced by Single-Electron Tunneling in Carbon Nanotube Nanoelectromechanical Systems

We demonstrate the effect of single-electron tunneling (SET) through a carbon nanotube quantum dot on its nanomechanical motion. We find that the frequency response and the dissipation of the nanoelectromechanical system to SET strongly depends on the electronic environment of the quantum dot, in particular, on the total dot capacitance and the tunnel coupling to the metal contacts. Our findings suggest that one could achieve quality factors of 10(6) or higher by choosing appropriate gate dielectrics and/or by improving the tunnel coupling to the leads.

“Organic CantiFET”: A Nanomechanical Polymer Cantilever Sensor With Integrated OFET

Nanomechanical cantilever based biochemical sensors translate molecular interactions into nanomechanical motions that can be measured by different transduction techniques. Improved sensitivity, reliability, and also cost effectiveness of such sensor platforms have been achieved by the use of polymer materials, along with the employment of smart and compatible transduction techniques. This paper explores an ultrasensitive nanomechanical cantilever sensor platform with a novel transduction technique by integrating a strain-sensitive organic field-effect transistor within a polymer nanomechanical cantilever. This sensor, named as “organic CantiFET,” has a surface stress sensitivity of 401 with a low-noise floor. This categorizes the organic CantiFET as an efficient biochemical sensor having a minimum detectable surface stress in the range of 0.18 mN/m.

Origin of nanomechanical motion in a single-C60transistor

We present a van der Waals density functional study of a negatively charged C${}_{60}$ on a Au(111) surface to investigate the nanomechanical motion in a single-molecular transistor [Park et al., Nature 407, 57 (2000)]. We found that the position of C${}_{60}$ is shifted away from the electrode surface when C${}_{60}$ is negatively charged because of the larger contribution from the Pauli repulsion between C${}_{60}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and substrate than that from the attractive interaction with the image charge induced in the substrate. Implication to the Franck-Condon blockade is also discussed.

Motion Transduction in Nanoelectromechanical Systems (NEMS) Arrays Using Near-field Optomechanical Coupling

Development of efficient and sensitive motion transducers for arrays of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) is important for fundamental research as well as for technological applications. Here, we report a single-wire nanomechanical transducer interface, which relies upon near-field optomechanical interactions. This multiplexed transducer interface comes in the form of a single-mode fiber taper on a fiber-optic cable. When the fiber taper is positioned sufficiently close to the NEMS array such that it can attain evanescent optical coupling with the array, individual NEMS resonances can be actuated using optical dipole forces. In addition, sensitive detection of nanomechanical motion can be realized when the evanescent waves confined around the taper are scattered by the motion. We have measured resonances from an array of 63 NEMS resonators with a displacement sensitivity of 2-8 pm·Hz(-1/2) at a detection power of ~100 μW (incident on the entire array).

Nanomechanical Silicon Resonators with Intrinsic Tunable Gain and Sub-nW Power Consumption

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) as integrated components for ultrasensitive sensing, time keeping, or radio frequency applications have driven the search for scalable nanomechanical transduction on-chip. Here, we present a hybrid silicon-on-insulator platform for building NEM oscillators in which fin field effect transistors (FinFETs) are integrated into nanomechanical silicon resonators. We demonstrate transistor amplification and signal mixing, coupled with mechanical motion at very high frequencies (25-80 MHz). By operating the transistor in the subthreshold region, the power consumption of resonators can be reduced to record-low nW levels, opening the way for the parallel operation of hundreds of thousands of NEM oscillators. The electromechanical charge modulation due to the field effect in a resonant transistor body constitutes a scalable nanomechanical motion detection all-on-chip and at room temperature. The new class of tunable NEMS represents a major step toward their integration in resonator arrays for applications in sensing and signal processing.

Cavity optomechanics and cooling nanomechanical oscillators using microresonator enhanced evanescent near-field coupling

Nanomechanical oscillators are at the heart of a variety of precision measurements. This article reports on dispersive radiation coupling of nanomechanical oscillators to the evanescent near-field of toroid optical microresonators. The optomechanical coupling coefficient which reaches values > 200 MHz/nm, corresponding to a vacuum optomechanical coupling rate > 4 kHz, is characterized in detail and good agreement between experimental, analytical and finite element simulation based values is found. It is shown that both the mode-structure and -patterns of nanomechanical oscillators can be characterized relying solely on Brownian motion. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the radiation pressure interaction can cause self-sustained coherent nanomechanical oscillations at nano-Watt power levels as well as cooling of the nanomechanical oscillator. Finally, the feasibility of coupling nanomechanical motion to two optical modes where the optical mode spacing exactly equals the mechanical resonance frequency is demonstrated for the first time. As shown here, this Raman-type scheme allows both amplification and cooling. (C) 2011 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Nanomechanical Motion of Microcantilevers Driven by Ion-Induced DNA Conformational Transitions

In this paper, we report the nanomechanical motion of a microcantilever due to the conformational transitions of DNA molecules that are functionalized on the surface of a microcantilever. In particular, the conformational transitions of DNA molecules can be induced by the change of ionic concentrations, which results in the bending deflection motion of a microcantilever. It is shown that a cantilever-DNA hybrid system is able to sense and detect the chemical environment changes such as pH change and/or ionic concentration change, and also that microscale device such as microcantilever can be actuated using molecular conformational changes. Our study provides a new insight into the development of a novel nano-bio-hybrid system based on microdevice coupled with molecular motors for chemical sensing as well as chemical-driven actuation.

Measuring nanomechanical motion with an imprecision below the standard quantum limit

We demonstrate a transducer of nanomechanical motion based on cavity enhanced optical near-fields capable of achieving a shot-noise limited imprecision more than 10 dB below the standard quantum limit (SQL). Residual background due to fundamental thermodynamical frequency fluctuations allows a total imprecision 3 dB below the SQL at room temperature (corresponding to 600 am/Hz^(1/2) in absolute units) and is known to reduce to negligible values for moderate cryogenic temperatures. The transducer operates deeply in the quantum backaction dominated regime, prerequisite for exploring quantum backaction, measurement-induced squeezing and accessing sub-SQL sensitivity using backaction evading techniques.

Super-rolloff electron tunneling transduction of nanomechanical motion using frequency downmixing

A downmixed transduction technique is demonstrated which eliminates the high-frequency cutoff problem in traditional electron tunneling instrumentation. We measure the ∼1 MHz vibrational modes of a micromechanical beam two orders of magnitude above the electronic bandwidth of our readout circuitry with no fundamental limitations anticipated up to microwave frequencies. The displacement sensitivity of 40 fm/Hz1/2 demonstrates the viability of this technique as a sensitive displacement transducer for high-frequency nanoelectromechanical systems. Backaction from the tunneling tip on the device induces resonance frequency shifts of order 1%.

Nano and micro structures for label-free detection of biomolecules

Nano and micro structure-based biosensors are promising tool for label-free detection of biomolecular interactions with great accuracy. This review gives a brief survey on nano and micro platforms to sense a variety of analytes such as DNA, proteins and viruses. Among incredible nano and micro structure for bio-analytical applications, the scope of this paper will be limited to micro and nano resonators and nanowire field-effect transistors. Nanomechanical motion of the resonators transducers biological information to readable signals. They are commonly combined with an optical, capacitive or piezo-resistive detection systems. Binding of target molecule to the modified surface of nanowire modulates the current of the nanowire through electrical field-effect. Both detection methods have advantages of label-free, real-time and high sensitive detection. These structures can be extended to fabricate array-type sensors for multiplexed detection and high-throughput analysis. The biosensors based on these structures will be applied to lab-on-a-chip platforms and point-of-care diagnostics. Basic concepts including detection mechanisms and trends in their fields will be covered in this review.