Nanomechanical resonators operating in the radio frequency regime as single charge detectors

We present our recent work on nanomachined electromechanical resonators applied as mechanically flexible beams and tunneling contacts operating in the radio frequency regime. We will discuss how to build Au/Si beams of lengths varying from 1–4 μm and width down to only 80 nm. The resonators are machined out of single-crystal silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. We will demonstrate how these nanometersize devices can be used to mechanically transfer only a few electrons. Furthermore, we will show how to apply them as charge detectors and how to drive the freely suspended beams into nonlinear response. This not onlym allows even more sensitive charge detection, but also opens up new possibilities for nonlinear dynamics in mechanical systems close to the quantum limit.