We study frequency dependent noise of a suspended carbon nanotube quantum dot nanoelectromechanical resonator induced by electron-vibration coupling. By using rigorous Keldysh diagrammatic technique, we build a formal framework to connect the vibration properties and the electrical measurement. We find that the noise power spectrum has a narrow resonant peak at the frequency of vibrational modes. This fine structure feature disappears due to a coherent cancellation effect when tuning tunneling barriers to a symmetric point. We note that measuring the electrical current noise spectra provides an alternative and ultra-sensitive detection method for determining the damping and dephasing of the quantum vibration modes.
The structural flexibility of low dimensional nanomaterials offers unique opportunities for studying the impact of strain on their physical properties and for developing innovative devices utilizing strain engineering. A key towards such goals is a device platform which allows the independent tuning and reliable calibration of the strain. Here we report the fabrication and characterization of graphene nanoelectromechanical resonators(GNEMRs) on flexible substrates. Combining substrate bending and electrostatic gating, we achieve the independent tuning of the strain and sagging in graphene and explore the nonlinear dynamics over a wide parameter space. Analytical and numerical studies of a continuum mechanics model, including the competing higher order nonlinear terms, reveal a comprehensive nonlinear dynamics phase diagram, which quantitatively explains the complex behaviors of GNEMRs.
We propose and analyze the detector of modulated terahertz (THz) radiation based on the graphene field-effect transistor with mechanically floating gate made of graphene as well. The THz component of incoming radiation induces resonant excitation of plasma oscillations in graphene layers (GLs). The rectified component of the ponderomotive force between GLs invokes resonant mechanical swinging of top GL, resulting in the drain current oscillations. To estimate the device responsivity, we solve the hydrodynamic equations for the electrons and holes in graphene governing the plasma-wave response, and the equation describing the graphene membrane oscillations. The combined plasma-mechanical resonance raises the current amplitude by up to four orders of magnitude. The use of graphene as a material for the elastic gate and conductive channel allows the voltage tuning of both resonant frequencies in a wide range.
We report on experimental demonstration of a new type of nanoelectromechanical resonators based on black phosphorus crystals. Facilitated by a highly efficient dry transfer technique, crystalline black phosphorus flakes are harnessed to enable drumhead resonators vibrating at high and very high frequencies (HF and VHF bands, up to ~100MHz). We investigate the resonant vibrational responses from the black phosphorus crystals by devising both electrical and optical excitation schemes, in addition to measuring the undriven thermomechanical motions in these suspended nanostructures. Flakes with thicknesses from ~200nm down to ~20nm clearly exhibit elastic characteristics transitioning from the plate to the membrane regime. Both frequency- and time-domain measurements of the nanomechanical resonances show that very thin black phosphorus crystals hold interesting promises for moveable and vibratory devices, and for semiconductor transducers where high-speed mechanical motions could be coupled to the attractive electronic and optoelectronic properties of black phosphorus.
We present measurements of current noise in quantum point contacts as a function of source-drain bias, gate voltage, and in-plane magnetic field. At zero bias, Johnson noise provides a measure of the electron temperature. At finite bias, shot noise at zero field exhibits an asymmetry related to the 0.7 structure in conductance. The asymmetry in noise evolves smoothly into the symmetric signature of spin-resolved electron transmission at high field. Comparison to a phenomenological model with density-dependent level splitting yields quantitative agreement. Additionally, a device-specific contribution to the finite-bias noise, particularly visible on conductance plateaus (where shot noise vanishes), agrees quantitatively with a model of bias-dependent electron heating.
We work out a theory of shot noise in a special case. This is a noise of the Coulomb drag current excited under the ballistic transport regime in a one-dimensional nanowire by a ballistic non-Ohmic current in a nearby parallel nanowire. We predict sharp oscillation of the noise power as a function of gate voltage or the chemical potential of electrons. We also study dependence of the noise on the voltage V across the driving wire. For relatively large values of V the noise power is proportional to V^2.