Modal “self-coupling” as a sensitive probe for nanomechanical detection

We present a high-sensitivity measurement technique for mechanical nanoresonators. Due to intrinsic nonlinear effects, different flexural modes of a nanobeam can be coupled while driving each of them on resonance. This mode-coupling scheme is dispersive and one mode resonance shifts with respect to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2013-07, Vol.103 (1)
Main Authors: Defoort, M., Lulla, K. J., Blanc, C., Bourgeois, O., Collin, E., Armour, A. D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed Matter
Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect
Physics
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Summary:We present a high-sensitivity measurement technique for mechanical nanoresonators. Due to intrinsic nonlinear effects, different flexural modes of a nanobeam can be coupled while driving each of them on resonance. This mode-coupling scheme is dispersive and one mode resonance shifts with respect to the motional amplitude of the other. The same idea can be implemented on a single mode, exciting it with two slightly detuned signals. This two-tone scheme is used here to measure the resonance lineshape of one mode through a frequency shift in the response of the device. The method acts as an amplitude-to-frequency transduction which ultimately suffers only from phase noise of the local oscillator used and of the nanomechanical device itself. We also present a theory which reproduces the data without free parameters.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4812718