arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Robert H. Blick.
We demonstrate single electron shuttling through two coupled nanomechanical pendula. The pendula are realized as nanopillars etched out of the semiconductor substrate. Coulomb blockade is found at room temperature, allowing metrological applications. By controlling the mechanical shuttling frequency we are able to validate the different regimes of electron shuttling.
We present spontaneous symmetry breaking in a nanoscale version of a setup prolific in classical mechanics: two coupled nanomechanical pendulums. The two pendulums are electron shuttles fabricated as nanopillars and placed between two capacitor plates in a homogeneous electric field. Instead of being mechanically coupled through a spring they exchange electrons, i.e. they shuttle electrons from the source to the drain 'capacitor plate'. Nonzero DC current through this system by external AC excitation is caused via dynamical symmetry breaking. This symmetry-broken current appears at sub- and superharmonics of the fundamental mode of the coupled system.
We observe direct mechanical mixing in nanoelectromechanical transistors fabricated in semiconductor materials operating in the radio frequency band of 10-1000 MHz. The device is made of a mechanically flexible pillar with a length of 240 nm and a diameter of 50 nm, placed between two electrodes in an impedance matched coplanar wave guide. We find a non-linear IV-characteristic, which enables radio frequency mixing of two electromagnetic signals via the nanomechanical transistor. Potential applications for this mixer are ultrasensitive displacement detection or signal processing in communication electronic circuits requiring high-throughput insulation.
We present measurements on direct radio-frequency pumping of ion channels and pores bound in bilipid membranes. We make use of newly developed microcoaxes, which allow delivering the high frequency signal in close proximity to the membrane bound proteins and ion channels. We find rectification of the radio-frequency signal, which is used to pump ions through the channels and pores.
We report on strongly enhanced electron multiplication in thin silicon membranes. The device is configured as a transmission-type membrane for electron multiplication. A sub-threshold electric field applied on the emission side of the membrane enhances the number of electrons emitted by two orders of magnitude. This enhancement stems from field emitted electrons stimulated by the incident particles, which suggests that stacks of silicon membranes can form ultra-sensitive electron multipliers.
A new transmission-type electron multiplier was fabricated from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) material by integrating an array of one dimensional (1D) silicon nanopillars onto a two dimensional (2D) silicon membrane. Primary electrons are injected into the nanopillar-membrane system from the flat surface of the membrane, while electron emission from the other side is probed by an anode. The secondary electron yield (SEY) from nanopillars is found to be about 1.8 times that of plane silicon membrane. This gain in electron number is slightly enhanced by the electric field applied from the anode. Further optimization of the dimensions of nanopillars and membrane and application of field emission promise an even higher gain for detector applications and allow for probing of electronic/mechanical excitations in nanopillar-membrane system excited by incident particles or radiation.
The dream of every surfer is an extremely steep wave propagating at the highest speed possible. The best waves for this would be shock waves, but are very hard to surf. In the nanoscopic world the same is true: the surfers in this case are electrons riding through nanomechanical devices on acoustic waves [1]. Naturally, this has a broad range of applications in sensor technology and for communication electronics for which the combination of an electronic and a mechanical degree of freedom is essential. But this is also of interest for fundamental aspects of nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), when it comes to quantum limited displacement detection [2] and the control of phonon number states [3]. Here, we study the formation of shock waves in a NEMS resonator with an embedded two-dimensional electron gas using surface acoustic waves. The mechanical displacement of the nano-resonator is read out via the induced acoustoelectric current. Applying acoustical standing waves we are able to determine the anomalous acoustocurrent. This current is only found in the regime of shock wave formation. We ontain very good agreement with model calculations.
Self excitation is a mechanism which is ubiquitous for electromechanical power devices such as electrical generators. This is conventionally achieved by making use of the magnetic field component in electrical generators [1], where a good example are the overall visible wind farm turbines [2]. In other words, a static force, like wind acting on the rotor blades, can generate a resonant excitation at a certain mechanical frequency. For nanomechanical systems [3,4,5] such a self excitation (SE) mechanism is highly desirable as well, since it can generate mechanical oscillations at radio frequencies by simply applying a DC bias voltage. This is of great importance for low-power signal communication devices and detectors, as well as for mechanical computing elements. For a particular nanomechanical system - the single electron shuttle - this effect was predicted some time ago by Gorelik et al. [6]. Here, we use a nano-electromechanical single electron transistor (NEMSET) to demonstrate self excitation for both the soft and hard regime, respectively. The ability to use self excitation in nanomechanical systems may enable the detection of quantum mechanical backaction effects [7] in direct tunneling, macroscopic quantum tunneling [8], and rectification [9]. All these effects have so far been over shadowed by the large driving voltages, which had to be applied.
We present a new generation of nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), which are realized by doping the semiconductor base material. In contrast to the traditional approach these doped NEMS (D-NEMS) do not require a metallization layer. This makes them far lighter and hence increases resonance frequency and quality factor. Additionally, D-NEMS can be tuned from the conductive state into an insulating one. This will enable a host of new device designs, like mechanically tunable pin-junctions and nanomechanical single electron switches. We demonstrate D-NEMS fabrication and operation from the intrinsic, to the light, and to the heavy regime of doping.
In quantum dot circuits, screening electron clouds in strongly-coupled leads will hybridize with the states of the artificial atom. Using a three-terminal geometry, we directly probe the atomic structure of a quantum dot with Kondo coupling. Our measurements reveal that this hybrid system behaves as a non-linear entity with orbital degeneracy. Geometric distortion reduces the symmetry, lowers the energy, and lifts the degeneracy--the Jahn-Teller effect.
Relaxation of single defects in a nanometer sized resonator is observed by coupling surface acoustic waves to a freely suspended beam. The surface waves act on the resonator as driving forces being able to modify the internal friction in the beam. In analogy to classical experiments on internal friction in macroscopic samples, we perform frequency, amplitude, and temperature dependent experiments on the nano resonator and find a scenario which is consistent with the observation of single defect relaxation.
We demonstrate the formation of confinement potentials in suspended nanostructures induced by the geometry of the devices. We then propose a setup for measuring the resulting geometric phase change of electronic wave functions in such a mechanical nanostructure. The device consists of a suspended loop through which a phase coherent current is driven. Combination of two and more geometrically induced potentials can be applied for creating mechanical quantum bit states.
We present measurements on nanomechanical resonators operating in the radio frequency range. We apply a setup which allows the comparison of two schemes of displacement detection for mechanical resonators, namely conventional power reflection measurements of a probing signal and direct detection by capacitive coupling via a gate electrode. For capacitive detection, we employ an on-chip preamplifier, which enables direct measurements of the resonator's displacement. We observe that the response of the mechanical resonator depends on the detection technique applied, which is verified in model calculations. We show results on the detection of subharmonics.-Paper withdrawn
We demonstrate how to build a vibrating wire resonator for phonon excitation in liquid helium. The resonator is designed as a nanoscopic mechanically flexible beam machined out of a semiconductor/metal-hybrid. Quenching of the mechanical resonance around 100 MHz by phonon excitation in liquid ^4He at 4.2 K is shown. First measurements operating the nano-resonator in a dilution of ^3He/^4He at 30 mK are presented.