NEMS articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding and controlling symmetry in nature is of paramount importance. In this work, the authors reveal an unexpected effect of the general duality relation between piezoelectricity and piezomagnetism on their symmetries, enabling novel phononic Chern insulators.

    • Qicheng Zhang
    • , Li He
    •  & A. T. Charlie Johnson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving both low energy consumption and radiation-hardness is highly challenging in memory devices. Here, the authors demonstrate a sub-10 fJ/bit, radiation-hard nanoelectromechanical non-volatile memory through structural and material approaches.

    • Yong-Bok Lee
    • , Min-Ho Kang
    •  & Jun-Bo Yoon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The motion of a vibrating object is set by the way it is held. Here, the authors show a nanomechanical resonator reversibly slides on its supporting substrate as it vibrates and exploit this unconventional dynamics to quantify friction at the nanoscale.

    • Yue Ying
    • , Zhuo-Zhi Zhang
    •  & Guo-Ping Guo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experimental studies of the Casimir effect have involved only interactions between two bodies so far. Here, the authors observe a micrometer-thick cantilever under the Casimir force exerted by microspheres from two sides simultaneously.

    • Zhujing Xu
    • , Peng Ju
    •  & Tongcang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The real-world object localization application needs a low-latency and power efficient computing system. Here, Moro et al. demonstrate a neuromorphic in-memory event driven system, inspired by the barn owl’s neuroanatomy, which is orders of magnitude more energy efficient than microcontrollers.

    • Filippo Moro
    • , Emmanuel Hardy
    •  & Elisa Vianello

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Low dissipation of fundamental mode is a determinant factor in nanomechanical resonator design. Here the authors realize soft clamping for the fundamental mode in a nanomechanical tensile structure achieving low loss, low mass, and low resonance frequency that render it a perfect force sensor.

    • M. J. Bereyhi
    • , A. Beccari
    •  & N. J. Engelsen

  • Comment
    | Open Access

    Graphene and related two-dimensional (2D) materials have remained an active field of research in science and engineering for over fifteen years. Here, the authors investigate why the transition from laboratories to fabrication plants appears to lag behind expectations, and summarize the main challenges and opportunities that have thus far prevented the commercialisation of these materials.

    • Max C. Lemme
    • , Deji Akinwande
    •  & Christoph Stampfer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    NEMS devices, nano-electro-mechanical systems, by virtue of their minute size, offer ultra-high sensitivity, though at the expense of manufacturing complexity. Here, Stassi et al succeed in manufacturing high quality factor NEMS devices using high resolution 3D printing.

    • Stefano Stassi
    • , Ido Cooperstein
    •  & Carlo Ricciardi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electron beam lithography (EBL) is renowned to provide fabrication resolution in the deep nanometer scale but their incapability of arbitrary 3D nanofabrication poses a major limitation to the technique. Here, the authors demonstrate a manufacturing technique of functional 3d nanostructures at a resolution of sub-15 nm using voltage-regulated 3d EBL.

    • Nan Qin
    • , Zhi-Gang Qian
    •  & Tiger H. Tao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, authors report on acoustic cavities in 2D materials operating in the 50–600 GHz range and show that quality factors approach the limit set by lattice anharmonicity. Functionality expanded by heterogeneities (steps and interfaces) is demonstrated through coupled cavities and frequency comb generation.

    • Maxim K. Zalalutdinov
    • , Jeremy T. Robinson
    •  & Brian H. Houston

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors present on-chip and electromechanically reconfigurable nanokirigami with optical functionalities. 3D deformations are achieved via attractive electrostatic forces between a gold nanostructure layer and silicon substrate, resulting in optical reconfigurations with high modulation contrast and small unit size.

    • Shanshan Chen
    • , Zhiguang Liu
    •  & Jiafang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The geometry dependence of the Casimir force could enable applications in nanomechanical systems if the effects can be enhanced. Here, the authors demonstrate that the Casimir force between two interpenetrating nanoscale gratings can exceed the proximity force approximation by a factor of 500.

    • Mingkang Wang
    • , L. Tang
    •  & H. B. Chan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors use Raman spectroscopy on circular graphene drums to demonstrate dynamical softening of optical phonons induced by the macroscopic flexural motion of graphene, and find evidence that the strain in graphene is enhanced under non-linear driving.

    • Xin Zhang
    • , Kevin Makles
    •  & Stéphane Berciaud

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of one dimensional devices in nanomechanical mass spectrometry leads to a trade-off between analysis time and resolution. Here, the authors report single-particle mass spectrometry using integrated optomechanical resonators, impervious to particle position, stiffness or shape.

    • Marc Sansa
    • , Martial Defoort
    •  & Sébastien Hentz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Carbon nanotube mechanical resonators are difficult to couple optomechanically to microwave fields. Here, the authors exploit Coulomb blockade’s nonlinearity to amplify the single photon coupling between a suspended carbon nanotube quantum dot and a microwave cavity by several orders of magnitude.

    • Stefan Blien
    • , Patrick Steger
    •  & Andreas K. Hüttel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Qubits in solid state systems like point defects in diamond can be influenced by local strain. Here the authors use surface acoustic waves to coherently control silicon vacancies in diamond, which have the potential to reach the strong coupling regime necessary for many applications.

    • Smarak Maity
    • , Linbo Shao
    •  & Marko Lončar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing active nanomaterials that can instantly respond to external stimuli with designed mechanical motions for nanorobotics applications remains a challenge. Here, the authors propose a Si-NWs light programmable nanomotors design based on optically tunable in-phase electric polarization.

    • Zexi Liang
    • , Daniel Teal
    •  & Donglei (Emma) Fan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bolometers are highly sensitive instruments that can detect radiant energy. Here, authors report micro-bolometers based on suspended graphene nano-electromechanical membranes that can detect light at room-temperature with a NEP coefficient of 2 pW/Hz^1/2 and bandwidth up to 1.3 MHz.

    • Andrew Blaikie
    • , David Miller
    •  & Benjamín J. Alemán

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite the potential of self-assembly strategies for fabricating 3D micro-electronic devices, technological limitations prohibit widespread industrial adoption. Here, the authors report the magnetic field-assisted Origami-based assembly of high-performance devices with high yield.

    • Felix Gabler
    • , Dmitriy D. Karnaushenko
    •  & Oliver G. Schmidt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-speed electrostatic micromotors with low energy consumption are attractive for small-scale electromechanical systems, but applications are limited by power supplies. Here the authors use a triboelectric nanogenerator for actuation of a high-speed micromotor by low-frequency mechanical stimuli.

    • Hang Yang
    • , Yaokun Pang
    •  & Zhong Lin Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fabrication methods to pattern thin materials are a critical tool to build molecular scale devices. Here the authors report a selective etching method using XeF2 gas to pattern graphene based heterostructures with multiple active layers and achieve 1D contacts with low contact resistivity of 80 Ω·µm

    • Jangyup Son
    • , Junyoung Kwon
    •  & Arend M. van der Zande

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nuclear spins in solids can be implemented into quantum devices but their manipulation usually requires microwave irradiation. Here instead the authors show that they can shift the NMR frequency and drive the nuclear spins into the resolved-sideband regime by using the tunable phonon states from an electromechanical resonator.

    • Yuma Okazaki
    • , Imran Mahboob
    •  & Hiroshi Yamaguchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nano-electro-mechanical system-based mass spectrometry holds promise for detecting supramolecular assemblies at large molecular weights, but its efficiency is too poor to be practical. Sage et al. overcome this problem using a nanomechanical resonator array, which significantly decreases detection time.

    • Eric Sage
    • , Marc Sansa
    •  & Sébastien Hentz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the dynamics of nanomechanical probes is important for improving high-sensitivity force field sensing. Here, the authors study the vibrations of a suspended nanowire in the presence of a rotational optical force field which breaks the orthogonality of the nanoresonator eigenmodes.

    • Laure Mercier de Lépinay
    • , Benjamin Pigeau
    •  & Olivier Arcizet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fabricating complex nanodevices requires joining techniques such as welding, common for metals but still out of reach for ceramics. Here the authors use MgO as a solder in a transmission electron microscope with a CO2 atmosphere to weld ceramic nanowires, and show their novel technique can also weld bulk ceramics.

    • Liqiang Zhang
    • , Yushu Tang
    •  & Jianyu Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fully integratable spectrometers have trade-offs between size and resolution. Here, the authors present a nano-opto-electro-mechanical system where the functionalities of transduction, actuation and detection are fully integrated, resulting in an ultra-compact high-resolution spectrometer with a micrometer-scale footprint.

    • Žarko Zobenica
    • , Rob W. van der Heijden
    •  & Andrea Fiore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving fast, sensitive and room temperature detection of terahertz waves remains a formidable scientific and technological challenge. Here, the authors propose a compact terahertz device combining concepts from metamaterial resonators, optomechanics and semiconductor nanotechnology.

    • Cherif Belacel
    • , Yanko Todorov
    •  & Carlo Sirtori

  • Article
    | Open Access

    By utilizing electron-hole asymmetry in ultra-short single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) transistors, McRaeet al., develop ‘two-in-one’ SWCNT quantum devices that can switch from behaving as quantum-dot transistors for holes to quantum buses for electrons by changing the transistor’s gate voltage

    • A. C. McRae
    • , V. Tayari
    •  & A. R. Champagne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Preparation and detection of mechanical objects at the quantum zero-point level has been achieved in both the optical and microwave regimes. Here, the authors develop silicon nitride nanomembranes that are suitable for integrating nanophotonic, nanomechanical and superconducting microwave circuits together.

    • J. M. Fink
    • , M. Kalaee
    •  & O. Painter

  • Article |

    Obtaining efficient transduction in nanomechanical beam resonators is challenging. Here, the authors describe a mechanism for enhanced piezoresistive transduction in silicon beams, based on asymmetry in the beam shape, removing the need for large piezoresistive coefficients.

    • Marc Sansa
    • , Marta Fernández-Regúlez
    •  & Francesc Pérez-Murano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Minimizing vibrational energy loss between mechanical resonators and their supports in nanomechanical systems is highly desirable. Here, the authors use the tip of an atomic force microscope to press down on the clamping region of the resonator, so as to study and control energy loss of different vibrational modes.

    • Johannes Rieger
    • , Andreas Isacsson
    •  & Eva M. Weig

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Casimir force between two objects in close distance to each other can be an important yet undesirable force for nanoscale devices. Here, Intravaia et al. observe that nanostructured metal surfaces show a Casimir force that is reduced even further than suggested by existing theoretical models.

    • Francesco Intravaia
    • , Stephan Koev
    •  & Daniel López

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Advances in nanoelectromechanical systems have brought improvements in the quality factor of nanomechanical resonators, yet few low-loss transduction schemes exist at high temperature. Using non-dissipative dielectric coupling to a microwave cavity, Faustet al. present an integrated nanomechanical transducer.

    • T. Faust
    • , P. Krenn
    •  & E.M. Weig

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