Characterization of nanomechanical graphene drum structures
01 Nov 2010-Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering (IOP Publishing)-Vol. 20, Iss: 11, pp 115029
TL;DR: In this article, an analytical framework was formulated to model the deflection behavior which was verified through finite element simulations (FEM) and the experimental measurements agree well with analytical and finite element results using Young's modulus of 1 TPa.
Abstract: Characterization of nanomechanical graphene drum structures is presented in this paper. The structures were fabricated by mechanical exfoliation of graphite onto pre-etched circular trenches in silicon dioxide on a silicon substrate. Drum structures with diameters ranging from 3.8 to 5.7 µm and thicknesses down to 8 nm were achieved. Mechanical characterization of the devices was then carried out by using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure their electrostatic deflection. The structures were found to have linear spring constants ranging from 3.24 to 37.4 N m−1 and could be actuated to about 18–34% of their thickness before exhibiting nonlinear deflection. An analytical framework was formulated to model the deflection behaviour which was verified through finite element simulations (FEM). The experimental measurements agree well with analytical and finite element results using Young's modulus of 1 TPa. The resonance characteristics of the structures were derived by both plate theory and FEM simulations. It was found that our drum structures could potentially vibrate at frequencies in excess of 25 MHz. The small size and high operating frequencies of our nanomechanical graphene devices make them very promising for resonant mass sensing applications with 10−20 g Hz−1 sensitivity, a two order of magnitude improvement over other reported silicon structures.
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University of Cambridge1, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia2, Lancaster University3, University of Manchester4, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies5, Technical University of Denmark6, Nokia7, University of Trento8, Queen Mary University of London9, fondazione bruno kessler10, Technische Universität München11, Polytechnic University of Milan12, Centre national de la recherche scientifique13, University of Trieste14, University of Ioannina15, University of Geneva16, Trinity College, Dublin17, Texas Instruments18, University of Paris19, Spanish National Research Council20, Leiden University21, Delft University of Technology22, University of Patras23, École Normale Supérieure24, Radboud University Nijmegen25, Nest Labs26, Airbus UK27, Seoul National University28, Yonsei University29, University of Oxford30, Chalmers University of Technology31, University of Groningen32, STMicroelectronics33, Chemnitz University of Technology34, Max Planck Society35, Aalto University36
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Journal Article•
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Cites background from "Characterization of nanomechanical ..."
...Work has been done on circular drum structures of few layer graphene in order to characterize the frequency response [77]....
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