AVS 51st International Symposium
    MEMS and NEMS Monday Sessions
       Session MN-MoP

Paper MN-MoP4
Electron Transport in Nanomechanical Devices

Monday, November 15, 2004, 5:00 pm, Room Exhibit Hall B

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: N.V. Lavrik, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Authors: P. Datskos, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
N.V. Lavrik, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
New phenomena can be observed in electronic nanosystems because of quantum confinement, the resonant electronic structure associated with this confinement and due to the discreet nature of electric charge. More recently, we have explored Focused Ion Beam (FIB)-induced growth in order create vertical pillar-like nanomechanical structures using direct-write FIB-assisted growth. These nanomechanical resonators have resonance frequencies in the range of 1 to 30 MHz. We have created Si QPC structures using an FIB milling approach that consists of a suspended microbridge (about 2000 nm long) with a narrow (20-40 nm) constriction in the middle of the microbridge. Mechanical actuation of the structure was found to cause significant modulation of stress in the nanobridge region and, in turn, changes in the Si bandgap. We found that mechanical deformations act as a gating mechanism for the electron transfer through the nanoscale constriction. Our preliminary results confirmed modulation of the electron current through the suspended nanorestriction upon its actuation with a modulated diode laser. The fabricated structures suffered from poor mechanical stability and loss of mechanical integrity during our experiments. Furthermore, mechanical and photonic effects of laser actuation still need to be delineated. We will discuss our findings and address potential problems associated with the designs and approaches.