On-chip piezoelectric actuation of nanomechanical resonators containing a two-dimensional electron gas
A. A. Shevyrin+, A. K. Bakarov+*, A. A. Shklyaev+*, A. S. Arakcheev*×, M. Kurosu°∇, H. Yamaguchi °∇, A. G. Pogosov+*
+Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
*Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
×Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
630090 Novosibirsk, Russia
°NTT Basic Research Laboratories, Atsugi-shi, 243-0198 Kanagawa, Japan
∇Department of Physics, Tohoku University, 980-8578 Sendai, Japan
Abstract
The on-chip piezoelectric actuation is experimentally shown to
be a suitable method for driving the resonant vibrations of
AlGaAs/GaAs-based nanomechanical resonators containing a two-dimensional
electron
gas. Both flexural and torsional vibrations of 166 nm-thick cantilevers
and doubly clamped beams can be driven using this method at room
temperature. At least two points should be addressed when reducing the
size of the piezoelectrically-driven resonators. First, as shown in the
paper, the parasitic attenuation of the driving electrical signal becomes
the main factor limiting the actuation efficiency at the eigenfrequencies
increased to the megahertz range due to the size reduction. Second, thin
and relatively long bridge-like AlGaAs/GaAs-based resonators are prone to
the Euler buckling instability caused by the longitudinal compressive
stress. It is demonstrated that the buckling does not hinder the
actuation at near-critical compression. However, a large super-critical
compression can lead to a complete suppression of the
piezoelectrically-driven vibrations. A method to avoid this suppression is
proposed.