A High Quality Factor Carbon Nanotube Mechanical Resonator at 39 GHz

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 193 - 197
• Main Authors: Laird, Edward A, Pei, Fei, Tang, Wei, Steele, Gary A, Kouwenhoven, Leo P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 11-01-2012
• Subjects: Carbon nanotubes; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Devices; Electric Impedance; Electron tunneling; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Exact sciences and technology; Excitation; Lattice dynamics; Materials science; Materials Testing; Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems - instrumentation; Microwaves; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanostructure; Nanotubes; Nanotubes, Carbon - chemistry; Nanotubes, Carbon - ultrastructure; Particle Size; Phonons in low-dimensional structures and small particles; Physics; Quality factor; Relaxation time; Resonators; Stress, Mechanical; Vibration; quantum dots; electromechanical devices; carbon nanotubes; Nanomechanics; Vibrations; Quality factor; Tunnel effect; Carbon nanotubes; Resonance; Excited states; Nanostructured materials; Resonators; Relaxation time
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl203279v

We measure the mechanical resonances of an as-grown suspended carbon nanotube, detected via electrical mixing in the device. A sequence of modes extending to 39 GHz is observed with a quality factor of 35 000 in the highest mode. This unprecedentedly high combination corresponds to a thermal excited state probability below 10–8 and a relaxation time of 140 ns with microsecond relaxation times for lower modes. The effect of electron tunneling on the mechanical resonance is found to depend on frequency as the tunneling time becomes comparable to the vibration period.