Parametric mechanical pumping in graphene membranes

We demonstrate tension-mediated mechanical mode coupling in suspended graphene membranes. These nonlinear effects arise due to graphene's large elastic modulus and large deflections. We show experimentally that these mode-mode interactions can be utilized to parametrically amplify or cool mechanical motion, and that the coupled system obeys similar physics to optical-cavity-coupled mechanical systems. This enables all-electrical parametric control of the resonator dynamics, including self-oscillation. Mechanical pumping can thus enhance the performance of graphene-based force sensors, or supplement traditional cooling schemes to probe coupled mechanical systems approaching the quantum regime.