Thermomechanical Noise Measurements of Very High Frequency (VHF) Nanomechanical Resonators
ORAL
Abstract
We have designed and built a near infrared (NIR) optical interferometer for ultra-sensitive displacement measurements on nanomechanical resonators. At moderate optical power levels, we are able to resolve the thermomechanical displacement fluctuations of stiff doubly-clamped beams with fundamental mode frequencies in the 100 MHz range. In a first set of noise measurements, we have determined the quality factors and resonant frequencies of the nanomechanical resonators under ambient atmospheric pressure at room temperature. We will compare these values to those extracted from driven resonance measurements and discuss sources of disagreement. Furthermore, we will discuss extraction of the local temperature of the nanomechanical resonators in order to assess the heating due to the optical probe.
*This work was sponsored by the Department of the Air Force under Air Force Contract No. FA8721-05-C-0002 and NSF Award ECCS-0643178. The opinions, interpretations and conclusions belong to the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the US Government.
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