Condensed Matter and Materials Physics(DCMMP)
Physique de la matière condensée et des matériaux (DPMCM)

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Robert KNOBEL
Queen's University

Integrated Mechanics and Electronics at the Nanoscale

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Exciting new advances in fabrication technology are allowing researchers to start making mechanical devices at the nanoscale. The simplest of such devices, tiny flexing beams, will respond to vanishingly small forces at frequencies up to the microwave range. These can form the heart of novel force sensors, more sensitive scanning probe microscopes and integrated radio-frequency filters. One intriguing possibility is that nanomechanical resonators at cryogenic temperatures may allow the detection of quantum mechanical effects in a macroscopic mechanical object. A critical challenge to reach this limit is the measurement of the displacement, since existing techniques are either not sensitive enough or do not scale well to sub-micron structures and sub-Kelvin temperatures. The exquisite charge sensitivity of the Single Electron Transistor (SET), as an integrated nanoelectronic device, is well suited to measurements of quantum systems. I will present measurements exploiting the SET to detect the displacement of a nanomechanical resonator^[1]. This close coupling of a quantum electronic system with a (possibly) quantum mechanical system suggests a fascinating laboratory for studies of decoherence, quantum control and measurement. I will survey experiments proposed to reach these limits.

^[1] R. G. Knobel and A. N. Cleland, Nature 424, 291 (2003).